Tokyo Institute of Technology: Tokyo Tech Academy for Leadership (ToTAL) welcomes 18 new students

The Tokyo Tech Academy for Leadership (ToTAL) has welcomed 18 new graduate-level students as the fourth cohort to its program. A registration ceremony and orientation for the new students were held on June 17. While taking measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the registration ceremony was held in hyflex format — meaning both in person and online — for the first time.

Established in April 2018, ToTAL offers a five-year extracurricular program for graduate-level students. The academy’s mission is to provide leadership excellence education to empower students in the science and technology fields to develop core expertise and the leadership skills to bring out the best in each other and become innovative global citizens in a rapidly-changing era.

During the registration ceremony, Tokyo Tech President Kazuya Masu explained that Tokyo Tech promotes education and research while putting emphasis on nurturing students with leadership skills along with expertise. He stated that he is proud of the members of the fourth cohort of ToTAL, who are willing to challenge themselves to achieve that goal. He also mentioned that the ToTAL program is organized on the successful elements of the Program for Leading Graduate Schools, with support from outstanding faculty members from diverse disciplines and backgrounds from the Institute for Liberal Arts (ILA). At the end of his greeting, he encouraged members of the new cohort who are experiencing difficulties — whether in conducting research, communicating with new friends and colleagues, or carrying out other activities during the COVID-19 pandemic — to engage in self-directed learning at ToTAL by making full use of both online and face-to-face communication.

Following the president’s remarks, Executive Vice President for Education Tetsuya Mizumoto and Executive Vice President for Institute Strategy Isao Satoh gave a welcoming speech, and Vice President for Teaching and Learning Jun-ichi Imura, the director of ToTAL, introduced each program faculty member individually. To conclude the ceremony, each student gave a self-introductory speech about their research and goals while at ToTAL.

During the orientation session held before the registration ceremony, faculty members explained the offerings of the ToTAL program, including the curriculum — recognition of social issues, global communication, leadership, followership and consensus building, off-campus project, and cultural skills — to the students.