Waseda University

The life of a university student does not just consist of going to school to attend classes and then going home. Together with the university’s faculty and staff, students are the ones who support the university and help it evolve. They have unique perspectives on how the university and society should operate, and these perspectives differ from those of the faculty and staff. Waseda University will promote the proactive and responsible participation of students in education and research support activities.

Students are not just at the receiving end of the educational experience. Together with the university’s faculty and staff, they are positioned as the protagonists of the university. Given this, we aim to enrich our education and research activities through student participation and to build a system that incorporates student views and suggestions through these activities.

To promote the further development of our university, we will utilize the knowledge and experience that our students have acquired through our unique volunteer and extracurricular activities and review the roles of TAs and RAs, for example, to create jobs for students that reflect their desires, abilities, and expertise. Student jobs should not only provide career education in the form of on-campus work experience, but also be useful in providing financial support to students living alone and international students.

Through this form of student participation, the university can promote reforms aimed at incorporating novel ideas that offer great potential for the next generation, help students recognize the importance of their existence in the university community, and prepare them to take their place as responsible members of society after graduation.

1. Adopt innovative ideas—without being restrained by conventional practices and ways of thinking—to create an organizational framework for student planning and create jobs.
2. Examples of student planning:
   Academic affairs: Evaluation of courses and educational materials, evaluation of educational environments, and participation in student planning competitions for “Vision 150”
   Student affairs: Administration of the university’s festivals and other cultural events and evaluation of environments in which extracurricular activities are conducted
3. Maintain a balance between efforts to create student jobs and efforts to enhance the quality and effectiveness of education by having students help administer courses in which subjects taken by large numbers of students are reorganized into smaller groups.
4. Examples of student jobs:
   Research affairs: Support research, support faculty offices, support the operation of research equipment, and support the creation of applications and reports to be submitted
   Education and learning affairs: Support course administration, support seminar administration, support university-wide core education programs, and provide learning support for international students
   University business affairs: Support freshmen, support guidance on subject registration, and support supervisors of regular tests
   Admissions affairs: Supervise entrance examinations and support the handling of inquiries from applicants
   PR affairs: Provide translations into English (or other languages), plan and create PR materials, and provide campus tour guides
   Culture projects affairs: Provide administrative support for cultural events, support those tasked with writing commentaries for materials to be used in museums, and support the organization of materials in museums
   Students support affairs: Plan and administer events organized by students, manage and administer facilities used by students, support students with disabilities, support job counseling, and support dormitories
   IT support affairs: Support IT facilities and software use, manage PC rooms, and manage devices and printers
   Library affairs: Operate the reference counter, lend books, process returned books, organize books on shelves, provide library lectures, and conduct library PR activities and guided tours
   Sports affairs: Conduct sports PR activities and support members of sports clubs (enhancement of athletic performance, prevention of and recovery from injury, mental health issues, learning, etc.)

• Project to Create Student Jobs within the University
• Project to Review Teaching Methods by Utilizing Teaching Assistants and ICT