The 44th Executive Committee meeting was held on Thursday, December 21. Because the Program Leader, Prof. ICHIKAWA Mitsuo, was on a fieldwork trip out of the country, the meeting was chaired by Secretary General SUGISHIMA Takashi. Since most of the projects planned for FY2006, including the International Symposium and Workshops, have already been completed, there were few reports and agenda items for this meeting.  Thus, the meeting led us to the realization that there are just three months left before the end of the Program.

The first report was given, as usual, by Associate Prof. IKENO Jun on the state of budget execution. The remaining amount of budget for each division was reported, and each division was asked to complete its budget execution by the end of February.

In terms of agenda items, the Final Report of the Program was discussed. A number of faculty members have already been asked to write reports. It was confirmed that the manuscript deadline would be January 15, 2007, and that a reminder e-mail would be sent to the authors. As a way to demonstrate the educational and research outcomes of the program, study findings by graduate students and faculty members written since October 2002 will be attached to the report. It is in fact a painstaking task to collect data on research results from many faculty members and graduate students. Ms. NAGATANI Hisami, who is in charge of this work at the Secretariat, reported on the progress of the endeavor. She reported that there are more than 600 confirmed reports, including papers and oral presentations. Most of the research results from faculty members have been uploaded on our Website, but they still need to be updated.

Another agenda item involved what to do with the Field Stations established under the Program. The Field Station Division has been discussing the issue, and a final report from the discussion is expected to be presented at the next Executive Committee meeting. Several possible plans, including the consolidation and abolition of Field Stations and the partial continuation of the COE Program under the initiative for “Attractive Education in Graduate Schools” that will be implemented by ASAFAS, have been considered.(Sugishima)