The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan has approved a three-year project led by a consortium that includes Soka University under a government initiative that supports strategic alliances for both private and public universities.

The initiative, which was launched in 2008, calls for actively coordinating the academic, research and educational resources of institutes of higher learning to establish “regional intellectual hubs” across Japan and, in doing so, raise the quality of education, promote human resource development through private sector, university and government collaborations. The ministry also hopes that such regional tie-ups will reinforce administrative management of the institutions involved.

Led by Cyber Campus Consortium-TIES, a non-profit organization that aims to enhance higher education through e-learning systems, the project is represented by Kansai-based Tezukayama University, and comprised of six schools in the Hokkaido, Kanto, Tokai and Kinki regions, including Soka. It will commence in fiscal 2009 and continue over a three-year period.

Among the cooperative ventures project members will participate in are: 1) sharing of educational resources and content; 2) enhance undergraduate curricula and conduct research into educational programs; 3) engage in faculty development initiatives; 4) establish and promote region-based intellectual communities through a variety of publicly accessible curricula and other programs; and 5) contribute to the advancement of local culture and economies.

This is the second program involving Soka University that has earned education ministry recognition in 2009. The first, based on a “career portfolio system,” was designed to meet student placement needs by providing them with institutional support.