6 master’s program shall be the same as that of the fourth undergraduate year, and integrated education shall be provided across the undergraduate and graduate levels. In addition, consideration should be given in the future to the establishment of a doctoral program. The transformation from “Graduate School of Technological Science” to “University of Technological Science” was, on the surface, no more than the omission of the single character meaning “graduate school,” but in substance it involved major changes, including (1) the admission of first-year students, (2) the boundary between the undergraduate and master’s programs, and (3) the educational challenges arising from a mixed student body with different backgrounds. 1.4 Formation of the Basic Policy: The Basic Issues Examination Committee Once the FY1976 budget had been approved, the bill had been enacted, coordination had been completed with the Ministry of Education, Aichi Prefecture, and Toyohashi City, and consultations had been held with the Water Resources Development Public Corporation, landowners, and local residents, preparatory work for the founding of the University began in earnest. Unlike the case of the University of Tsukuba, the University would not be subject to the revised provisions of the Special Act for Educational Public Service Personnel. Therefore, as stated in the “Administration and Management” section of the Blue Cover, the administration of Toyohashi University of Technology was to be conducted “basically in the same manner as an ordinary national single-faculty university,” and “the university-wide formation of intentions on important matters concerning administration would be centered on the faculty council.” However, in the preparatory stage, before the faculty council that was to play the central role had been established, it was necessary to create a provisional body corresponding to it. This role was assumed by the Basic Issues Examination Committee. The matters it had to address were those stipulated in Article 59 of the School Education Act, Article 67 of the Enforcement Regulations of the School Education Act, Article 25 of the Special Act for Educational Public Service Personnel concerning university administrative bodies and their substitutes, and, where necessary, relevant provisions of the Rules Prescribing Temporary Measures Concerning the Councils of National Universities. Following the so-called Blue Cover, the broad framework of six programs was determined, each of which came to be called a “kei” (system or field). Educational organizations and research organizations were defined, and what were then termed the “key persons”—that is, the members of the Basic Issues Examination Committee, who after the University’s opening became the heads of the respective systems— gathered and selected candidates for appointment. In selecting faculty candidates, the president formulated the standards that later came to be known as the “Sakaki Doctrine.” 1.5 Educational Policy 1.5.1 Principles of the Curriculum The shift in concept from the “Graduate School of Technological Science” (Yellow Cover) to the “University of Technological Science” (Blue Cover) had a major impact on the curriculum. 1. With the admission of first-year students: a) it became necessary to require 40 compulsory credits in total in general education subjects, foreign language subjects, and health and physical education subjects as stipulated by the Standards for the Establishment of Universities; b) it became necessary to ensure curricular alignment for graduates of Colleges of Technology who would transfer into the third year. 2. A boundary emerged between undergraduate graduation and admission to the master’s program: a) practical training (equivalent to one term), which had originally been positioned as the midpoint of a four-year integrated program, would, according to the Blue Cover, be placed in the final term of the undergraduate program, immediately before graduation. If a student lacked credits, retaking the practical training in the following year would not be possible, and the student would have to repeat the year;
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