2024年９月のコラムを掲載しました

皆様ご無沙汰しております。2016年10月に物質系専攻から工学系研究科に異動となり、2021年3月に最後の新領域の学生も巣立ってから新領域とのご縁がめっきり薄くなってしまいました。創域会の会長職も2018年にバトンタッチさせていただきましたので、一会員として毎月のコラムを楽しみにしておりますが、今回、執筆の機会を頂戴しまして、大変感謝しております。
何を書こうかと考えておりましたが、私の子育て珍騒動の話は次回（の機会があれば）に回しまして、今回は会長拝命時の活動を振り返ってみたいと思います。当時は、創域会が発足してから10年ほど経った頃で、まだ若い同窓会ということもあって、新領域からの全面サポートのもとに活動を行っておりました。ただ、本来、同窓会は卒業生が主体となって組織され、活動する団体ですので、理想的な組織への一歩を踏み出すため、同窓会活動の財政的自立と自主活動拡充を目指して、会費制度の導入を主目的とした同窓会組織・運営のゼロベースでの見直しを行いました。副会長を務めておられた現研究科長の徳永朋祥先生と篠原佑也先生、さらに各系から代表の先生１名ずつで構成したワーキンググループを中心に2年近くの議論を経て現在の制度を決めていきました。勿論、様々なご意見がありましたのですんなりと進むような話ではありませんでしたが、同窓会活動の根源となる自主資金なしには持続的な同窓会活動は成り立たないであろうとの認識は共有できたのではないかと思っております。
私は柏市民ですので柏キャンパスは物理的には近いものの、最近は訪問する機会も一般公開ぐらいでなかなか足を踏み入れておりませんが、伝え聞くところによりますと創域会学生部を中心に様々な独自活動が進められているとのことで、大変喜ばしく思います。今後も、新領域の在学生が柏キャンパスで充実した活動を送れるよう、そして、新領域を巣立った同窓生が様々な枠組みでつながる、理想的な同窓会活動・つながりが今後も維持・発展されることを願っております。今年の創域会大会も楽しみにしております！

It’s been a while since I’ve been in touch with everyone. In October 2016, I transferred from the Department of Advanced Materials Science to the School of Engineering, and since the last student from the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences graduated in March 2021, my connection with the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences has significantly become less. I also handed over the role of president of the Souiki-kai in 2018, so as a regular member, I look forward to the monthly column. I am very grateful for the opportunity to write this time.
I was thinking about what to write, but I’ll save the story of my child-rearing adventures for next time (if there’s an opportunity). This time, I’d like to look back on my activities when I was appointed chairman. At that time, about 10 years had passed since the establishment of Souiki-kai, and being a young alumni association, we were conducting activities with full support from the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences. However, since an alumni association is essentially an organization formed and operated by graduates, we decided to take a step towards an ideal organization by aiming for financial independence and expansion of independent activities. We conducted a zero-based review of the alumni association’s organization and operations, primarily to introduce a membership fee system.
We spent nearly two years discussing this within a working group that included current Dean Professor Tokunaga Tomochika, who was serving as Vice President at the time, and Professor Shinohara Yuya, as well as one representative from each department, before deciding on the current system. Of course, there were various opinions, so it wasn’t a smooth process, but I believe we were able to share the understanding that sustainable alumni activities would be difficult without independent funding, which is the foundation of alumni activities.
As a resident of Kashiwa, the Kashiwa Campus is physically close to me, but I haven’t had many opportunities to visit lately, aside from public open days. However, I’ve heard that various independent activities are being promoted mainly by the student union of the Souiki-kai, and I’m very pleased to hear this. I hope that current students in the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences will continue to have fulfilling activities at the Kashiwa Campus, and that the ideal alumni activities and connections, where graduates of the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences remain connected through various frameworks, will continue to be maintained and developed. I’m also looking forward to this year’s Souiki-kai conference!

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