News & Events

To Academic Staff who have Spring Semester classes in 2020



First of all, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to all academic staff for your earnest dedication to the educational activities of our students at Meiji University.

As already announced, at an ad-hoc meeting of the Council of Deans, held on April 1st the university made the vital decision to postpone the start of classes to May 7th, 2020. However, the outlook for the spread of the COVID-19 infection is still uncertain, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has called on residents to stay home. In addition, the Government of Japan has also declared a state of emergency over COVID-19, and the turmoil caused by the spread of the COVID-19 infection does not appear to be abating at all.

All things considered, I have to say that it could be very difficult to start “Face to Face class Sessions “from May 7th, as decided previously. However, we at Meiji University have officially decided that the university will not further extend the start date of class beyond May 7th. Instead we will start online classes for the period from MAY 7th to JUNE 17 (S1), at least for the time being. We want to avoid having to require students to stand by at home for a considerable period of time. The university has a strong obligation to conduct alternative classes in order to fulfill its responsibilities to provide quality education, while at the same time to ensure the safety of our students and academic staff.

I am very sorry to burden you with necessary extra tasks. But at this this time, it would be very much appreciated if you could prepare for the online classes in accordance with the following guidelines.

1.【Period of Conducting online classes】
(1) All classes are conducted Online between May 7th through to June 17th designated as “S1” on the Academic Calendar 2020.
(2) As for the next term ”S2” between June 18th though to July 29, a further announcement will be made by the end of May, 2020.
　
2.【Number of Online Class that You Need to Prepare】
Although Quarter courses are 7 weeks long, please prepare for 8 weeks of online courses. This includes 6 online weeks of classes plus 2 weeks to compensate for the lack of regular courses compared to the same term last year.

3.【Oh-o! Meiji System (The learning management system)】
Please refer to the important information posted on the “Group” page of the Oh-o! Meiji System.

The name of the Group: Miscellaneous Information for Conducting Online Classes for the Spring Semester, 2020. Video manuals for making online classes, including an example of an online class, guidelines concerning copyright and FAQ will be posted on this page.

※ Please be reminded that the term “Online Class” in this context refers to the various methods that provide our students with distance lectures and learning materials through the learning management system named Oh-o! Meiji system. It does not always mean a real-time interactive class, such as “e-Learning”.

※ All academic staff are kindly requested to devise ways of teaching effectively with
the best mix of educational materials, assignments, feedback and so on. We are sure that despite the difficulty of being asked to prepare and conduct online classes in such a short period that you will accomplish a high academic standard in your classes, as always.

In accordance with instructions from the government under the present state of emergency, most of the administrative staff are now teleworking and their level support for academic staff may not be of the usual standard. However, we at Meiji University are making every effort to search for the best way to support our students and academic staff.

Your kind cooperation and understanding are greatly appreciated.

Best regards,

Kosaku Dairokuno,
President, Meiji University