On August 22, Okayama University held the AY 2017 External Evaluation Committee Meeting to review the implementation status of the PRIME program: producing practical-oriented human resources in a global community, which was selected to receive a grant under the Top Global University Project established by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT).
This meeting was attended by external evaluation committee members, President Hirofumi Makino, five executive directors, the director general, and three vice presidents in charge of this program. The meeting included reporting on activities in the previous academic year and a discussion on matters of concern. During the meeting, each external evaluation committee member gave feedback on the activities in the previous year and raised issues to note for future activities. Comments from the committee members included the following: "The University should provide follow-up support for students recognized as 'practical-oriented human resources.' The University should also collect 10-20 year follow-up data to determine whether former students viewed as 'practical-oriented human resources' by the University are truly playing an important role in society, demonstrating their practical ability. Such follow-up data should include evaluations of former students by their companies. Furthermore, the University should be willing to encourage companies to employ its students recognized as 'practical-oriented human resources.' "
Incorporating the feedback from external evaluation committee members and MEXT's interim evaluation results into future activities for the PRIME program, the entire university community will make further efforts to promote "university reform" and "internationalization" under the leadership of the president.
The Top Global University Project aims to help universities willing to enhance its international recognition and competitiveness through "university reform" and "internationalization" to improve their educational environment. The project, which started in AY 2014, will support selected universities for up to 10 years.