Introduction

  • Philosophy and Three Policies of the School of Government, Kyoto University
 

Philosophy and Three Policies of the School of Government, Kyoto University

Mission Statement of Kyoto University

Kyoto University states its mission to sustain and develop its historical commitment to academic freedom and to pursue harmonious coexistence within the human and ecological community on this planet.

Research

  1. Kyoto University will generate world-class knowledge through freedom and autonomy in research that conforms with high ethical standards.
  2. As a university that comprehends many graduate schools, faculties, research institutes, and centers, Kyoto University will strive for diverse development in pure and applied research in the humanities, sciences, and technology, while seeking to integrate these various perspectives.

Education

  1. Within its broad and varied educational structure, Kyoto University will transmit high-quality knowledge and promote independent and interactive learning.
  2. Kyoto University will educate outstanding and humane researchers and specialists, who will contribute responsibly to the world’s human and ecological community.

Relationship with society

  1. As a university committed to a broad social engagement, Kyoto University will encourage cooperation with local and national society, and will disseminate knowledge informed by the ideals of freedom and peaceful coexistence.
  2. As an international institution, Kyoto University will promote foreign academic exchange and thereby strive to contribute to the well-being of the world.

Administration

  1. In order to enhance the free development of learning, Kyoto University will pay due respect to the administrative independence of each of its component institutions, while promoting cooperation among them.
  2. Kyoto University will conduct its administration with regard for the environment and respect for human rights and will be accountable to society at large.

Educational Objectives of the School of Government, Kyoto University

  1. The School of Government, Kyoto University (hereinafter referred to as “this School”), aims to provide students with a high level of professionalism coupled with a strong sense of ethics. The intent is to have graduates play a public role and acquire the ability to make accurate judgments and think flexibly in order to appropriately respond to the various challenges facing the public sector given the recent drastic social changes that have greatly shaken the nation, public organizations, and other public sectors, not only in Japan but also on a global scale. This school aims to nurture highly skilled professionals with a strong sense of ethics who can respond appropriately to the various challenges facing the public sector.
  2. As a professional graduate school based on the long intellectual tradition of Kyoto University, this school aims to cultivate broad perspectives and deep insights, as well as to teach practical knowledge that can appropriately deal with real policy issues. Furthermore, the program is intended to cultivate, through appropriate curricula, the professional skills required of advanced professionals: the intellectual ability to consider social changes from a historical perspective, the insight to determine the true public interest in the context of multiple values, the ability to design systems to realize the public interest, the practical ability to effectively implement established policies and systems, and the evaluation ability to calmly analyze policies and systems. This school is a public policy school.
  3. This school, as a leading public policy school with diverse human resources, offers courses that organically combine law, political science, economics, and business administration, courses that use specific cases from those fields with practical experience, and courses that look at the public world from a principled and historical perspective. In addition, a course system has been established, from basic courses intended to teach general knowledge, through specialized basic courses intended to share basic knowledge among public policy specialists, to cluster courses intended to develop specialist skills. At the same time, we will strive to provide detailed academic support by assigning academic and career advisors to each student and establishing an individual guidance system to provide consultation on course and career decisions.

Diploma Policy

(Decided by the Faculty Meeting of the Education Department on March 7, 2019)
  1. Students must be enrolled for the prescribed period of time, receive education in accordance with the prescribed curriculum based on the educational objectives and principles established by the Graduate School of Public Policy, and earn the prescribed number of credits, including the required credits for required courses and selected cluster courses, in order to be awarded a degree.
  2. Under the curriculum established by this School, students will acquire the knowledge and abilities appropriate for advanced professionals who play a public role, particularly the intellectual ability to understand and consider social changes from historical and theoretical perspectives, the insight to identify public interests in the presence of multiple values, the concrete design of systems and policies to realize these values, the effective and practical application of these values, and the ability to objectively evaluate the effectiveness of policies. As one important criterion for completion of the program, each student will be evaluated on their capacity to acquire various abilities that contribute to the concrete design of systems and policies, their effective and practical application, and objective analysis and evaluation.
  3. In response to such social demands, students are required to engage in highly public affairs in various fields both in Japan and overseas; to contribute to the formation, execution, and evaluation of systems and policies; and to become highly skilled professionals with a long-term and broad perspective based on a rich education, the ability to think flexibly and make accurate judgments, and a strong sense of ethical responsibility, as well as the specialized knowledge and abilities necessary to formulate, execute, and evaluate systems and policies.

Curriculum Policy

(Decided by the Faculty Meeting of the Education Department on March 7, 2019)
  1. In order to nurture highly skilled professionals with a broad perspective, deep insight, and high ethical standards to play a public role, the curriculum organically combines theoretical subjects and practical subjects to enable students to take courses in stages, and this is clearly stated in the course tree. Specifically, the curriculum consists of five groups in stages: core courses (some of which are compulsory), foundation courses, practical skills courses, specific courses, and case-studies to enable comprehensive and specialized study in public policy. The practical skills courses, specific courses, and case-studies are divided into three clusters: policy analysis and evaluation, inter-organizational negotiation, and global symbiosis, enabling students to acquire the ability to analyze, evaluate, design, and operate policies and systems according to their own specialties.
  2. Through lecture and seminar courses, students will be able to acquire an accurate judgment and flexible thinking related to public policy based on a systematic understanding of the principles. Interactive, small-group education is emphasized in all courses. In addition, in the case-study courses, students acquire practical skills in public policy and develop a sense of ethical responsibility as highly skilled professionals who play a public role through multifaceted examination and discussion of specific cases by practitioner instructors. In addition, students will be provided with individualized advice on both their academic and career paths through a multiple advising system consisting, of course, of academic advisors and career advisors.
  3. The results of each course will be evaluated based on written examinations, reports, and the results of exercises and practical training, and the method of evaluation will be clearly stated for each course in the syllabus. Internships will be evaluated based on the report of the internship, and credits will be awarded. Research papers and term papers will be evaluated based on the prescribed review procedures, and the student will be awarded credits.

Admission Policy

(Decided by the Faculty Meeting of the Education Department on March 7, 2019)
  1. The educational goal of this school is to train highly specialized professionals in the field of public policy, that is to say, well-educated and able people with the expertise necessary for the planning, accomplishment, and evaluation of public policies and with a high sense of moral responsibility, to engage in the affairs of national and local administrative and legislative bodies in Japan, international organizations, NPOs/NGOs, and think-tanks, as well as in government relations roles among private companies.
  2. This school selects applicants who have the necessary academic skills and strong communication skills in any academic field related to public policy. At the same time, this school accepts a diverse range of applicants, including university graduates from Japan and abroad aiming to become highly specialized professionals in the field of public policy and experienced professionals who have already been widely involved in public policy duties and seek to acquire a higher level of professional abilities. For this purpose, we will admit professionals and international students, as well as general university graduates.
  3. For each of these admission categories, we use a comprehensive method, a combination of a written examination to test applicants’ professional knowledge and an oral examination based on the documents they submit. In the written examination, we focus on the specialized knowledge that will be the basis of study at the graduate school. In the oral examination, we will evaluate the applicant for whether she/he has a broad and deep interest in various problems in society, flexibility of thought, sense of social mission, and other qualities appropriate for becoming a high-level professional in the field of public policy.