The 9th CCSC's COC+ External Appraisal Special Committee
On Thursday, October 31, 2024, the "9th Center for Collaborative Study with Community (CCSC) COC+ External Appraisal Special Committee was held at Gifu University.
This Committee was established to objectively evaluate the progress of the COC+ programs, which are organized and implemented by the "Gifu COC+ Project Promotion Consortium" (comprising Gifu University, Chubu Gakuin University, Chubu University, Nihon Fukushi University, Nagoya Gakuin University, and related organizations) after Gifu University was selected as the lead school for the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's "Center of Community (COC+) Programs for Local Revitalization" in fiscal year 2015. The COC+ programs aim to develop human resources that meet the needs of the industrial sector, promote local employment and U-turn employment to Gifu Prefecture through industry-government-academia collaboration, and contribute to regional revitalization.
On the day of the meeting, the following six committee members evaluated the achievements of fiscal year 2023 and exchanged opinions on the future promotion of the programs and collaboration with program partners:
- Dr. YOSHIDA Toshiyuki, Chairman of the Agricultural Policy Research Committee, Inc. and former President of Takasaki City University of Economics (Chairman of the COC+ External Appraisal Special Committee)
- Mr. ICHIKAWA Satoshi, former Hida Bureau Chief of Gifu Shimbun Co., Ltd.
- Mr. TAKAI Hirofumi, Director of the News and Information Bureau and Chief Commentator of Gifu Broadcasting System, Inc.
- Mr. NAKAMURA Genjiro, Chairman and CEO of Akitaya Honten Co., Ltd.
- Mr. HATTORI Kei, Executive Director of the Gifu Prefecture Tourism Federation
- Ms. FURUTA Naoko, Advisor for Tourism and International Strategy of Gifu Prefectural Government
The committee members highly praised the consortium for its long-term continuation based on solid collaboration with program partners, the implementation of educational programs that leverage the strengths and expertise of each participating university, and the steady production of graduates. They also commended the consortium for strengthening collaboration with local governments and companies in Gifu Prefecture to promote and carry out joint projects, including education, and for ensuring that each program partner engages in activities that contribute to the consortium's efforts. On the other hand, there were comments suggesting that various measures should be taken to increase opportunities for university students in Gifu and Aichi prefectures to learn about companies in Gifu Prefecture, thereby improving local employment rates.
Based on the external evaluation decided by this committee, the Gifu COC+ Project Promotion Consortium Steering Committee will finalize the evaluation results for fiscal year 2023. These results will be utilized to enhance project development in the region and strengthen collaboration with program partners.
