Universities in an Era of Post-Corona “New Order”

Abstract

Since the beginning of 2020, the global spread of the coronavirus has caused a sudden disappearance in both supply and demand of goods. This had a major impact on the macroeconomy and corporate management. Our lifestyle is about to change drastically, and companies and universities have changed their work styles by moving to remote work and online meetings. In this memorable year, which also marks the 70th anniversary of IAU, I focus on how universities should be in an era of post-Corona "new order" from a Japanese perspective. Restrictions on entering campus have been in place since the beginning of the academic year at my institution, Meiji University. All ceremonies and physical activities , including the admission ceremony, were suspended, and all classes were moved online. Besides, the virus has had a great impact on the number of international students, which had increased sharply at Japanese universities in recent years and reached some 230,000 in May last year according to JASSO statistics (JASSO 2020). Due to cross-border travel restrictions, the exchange programs have been suspended, and the economic problems of privately funded international students and Japanese students have become apparent. Teachers were suddenly forced to give online lectures since the beginning of this academic year. We have three types of online lectures: (1) document/assignment presentation, (2) on-demand (recorded video distribution of lectures), and (3) real-time delivery (simultaneous interactive). According to a survey of students at our university conducted in May 2020, on-demand and real-time delivery lectures were highly evaluated, while the lectures consisting in document/assignment scored low in student preference. In particular, on-demand lectures received an outstandingly high rate of satisfaction (by 85% of students).