Association of Christian Universities and Colleges in Asia
(ACUCA)
Minutes of Executive Committee Meeting
International Christian University, Tokyo
04 April 2009
Present:
Dr. SYNN ILHI, South Korea President
Dr. NORIHIKO SUZUKI, Japan Vice President
Dr. BEN MALAYANG III, Philippines Member
Dr. HAYDN CHEN, Taiwan Member
Rev. Dr. PRADIT TAKERNGRANGSARIT, Thailand Member
Dr. SHINHYE KIM, South Korea General Secretary
Dr. A.C. TSOI for Dr. C.F. NG, Hong Kong Treasurer
In Attendance:
Dr. TAKESHI NAGATA, Chaplain ICU Japan
Dr. PETER MCCAGG, Director of International Affairs ICU Japan
Dr. KANO YAMAMOTO ICU Japan
Ms. MIYAKO SUZUKI ICU Japan
Mr. ANDREW BRENNAN, ACUCA Secretariat
Ms. MYUNGWHA KANG, ACUCA Secretariat
1. OPENING PRAYER AND WELCOMING REMARKS
1.1 Opening prayer of thanks given by Dr. Takeshi Nagata.
2. PRESIDENT’S OPENING ADDRESS
2.1 President Synn Ilhi gave a welcoming address and thanked all delegates for coming.
2.2 President Synn asked members of the Executive Committee to review the minutes of the Meeting held at Ateneo De Manila on the 18 October 2008.
2.3 President Haydn Chen of Tunghai University noticed repeated misspellings of his name throughout the minutes.
2.4 Dr. Tsoi of Hong Kong Baptist University noticed that his name was missing from the list of attendees.
Resolution 1: Minutes of the meeting held at Ateneo De Manila are to be accepted, with relevant corrections made to the spelling of Dr. Haydn Chen’s name and the addition of Dr. Tsoi to the list of attendees.
3. PRESENTATION OF TREASURER’S REPORT
3.1 Dr. A.C. Tsoi, standing in for Dr. C.F. Ng, gave a detailed overview of the ACUCA unaudited financial report as at 28 February 2009.
n Total asset value of $0.79 million US dollars.
n Operating surplus for the period July 2008 to February 2009 of $26,000 US Dollars.
n Investment loss of 24% in the above period.
n Ten Members out of a total of 56 have not paid their membership fees. One member has not settled 2007-2008 fees.
n A donation of $9100 US Dollars received from the United Board to support the ACUCA Management Conference held in 2008. Only $3900 spent, in accordance with the wishes of the General Secretary the balance of approx $5000 was returned to the United Board in March 2009.
n An amount of $8000 US Dollars was made available for the ACUCA general assembly held in 2008. The total cost of the general assembly was $12,000 US Dollars. Ateneo De Manila University has agreed to pay the deficit of approx $4000.
n A sum of $8000 dollars was made available for the ACUCA Student Camp, with $6200 spent.
n The budget for the Student Mobility Scheme (hereafter named SMS) is to be $10,000. According to the General Secretary, there are to be 5 applicants for travel subsidy approval.
n An amount of $5000 dollars is to be provided for the upcoming Management Conference.
3.2 President Synn enquired about the procedure for dealing with members who have not paid dues.
3.3 Dr. Haydn Chen asked about the existence of specific ground rules or regulations for the payment of the membership fee.
3.4 The General Secretary explained that there are no specific guidelines for dealing with delinquent members. It was stressed by the General Secretary that it is important to keep these members in the organization, and that all that can be done is to repeatedly remind them of their duty to pay on time.
3.5 Dr. Tsoi mentioned that the majority of the universities in question are Korean, followed by two new members.
3.6 The President mentioned that these organizations are merely negligent, and non payment is not due to any deep seated ideological reasons.
3.7 Dr. Haydn Chen suggested the formulation of rules and regulations to guard against non payment.
3.8 The president agreed with Dr. Chen’s suggestion, but said that the general assembly would be a more appropriate time to discuss this matter.
Resolution 2: The Treasurer’s report was passed without any objection.
4. GENERAL SECRETARY’S REPORT.
4.1 The General Secretary Dr. Kim Shin Hye gave her report on the recent work of the ACUCA Secretariat.
n The ACUCA website is currently under construction, with more information available, as well as enhanced functionality.
n The General Secretary welcomed suggestions from the Executive Committee on improving the website.
n The upcoming management conference in Taiwan may not get any funding from the United Board, due to a budgetary freeze. The general Secretary brought a letter from the United Board to illustrate the point.
n The secretariat has been trying to increase the involvement of participating institutions in the SMS. A recently produced brochure was shown to members, as well as an explanation of recent visits to participating Japanese Universities. Institutions visited were: Kwansei Gakuin University, J.F. Oberlin University and Meiji Gakuin University.
4.2 President Synn suggests that the management conference should be held regardless of United Board funding.
4.3 The General Secretary mentioned that we only have 5 applicants for the SMS, and that the surplus cash should be transferred to the next round.
4.4 Dr. Chen wanted to know about the deadline for the SMS. After the deadlines of May 31 and October 31 were given, Dr. Chen wanted to know the historical distribution within the program, as well as the dates for the fiscal year.
4.5 Dr. McCagg wondered whether students could apply for spring or fall semesters at any time.
4.6 Dr. Chen said that as long as a student applies this year, and is approved, even if the study is next spring or fall, as far as the budget is concerned it is obliged in the previous year. It is not necessary to talk about a surplus; we should merely wait until May 31 to consider transferring any surplus that there may be.
4.7 Dr. Tsoi mentioned that the SMS is a forward commitment.
4.8 Dr. Chen highlighted the fact that the 2008 fiscal year crosses over the calendar year and does not match with the period of the SMS. It was emphasized that we should wait until May 31 in order to talk about the surplus.
4.9 The General Secretary pointed out that the May 31 deadline is for the 2009 budget, whereas the five applicants for approval are from the 2008 budget.
5. BUDGET PROPOSAL
5.1 The budget proposed by the General Secretary is more or less the same as the previous budget.
5.2 President Synn emphasized the disheartening nature of the response from the United Board to the request for funds.
5.3 Dr. Malayang explained the fact that United Board is currently re-focusing its activities, and ACUCA needs to stress the importance of Service Learning as a key component of ACUCA’s work.
5.4 President Synn suggested sending a communiqué from the executive committee to the offices of the United Board stressing this point.
Resolution 3: A letter needs to be sent from the executive committee informing the United Board of the importance of the Service Learning Conference.
5.5 Dr. Malayang asked whether multiple campus universities need to pay more than one membership fee.
5.6 President Synn answered that we go by the name of each institution.
5.7 The General Secretary added that ACUCA has never had to consider such a suggestion before because the membership was not quite as high as it currently is.
5.8 Dr. Chen asked about the possibility of raising the annual membership fees.
5.9 Dr. Malayang made a suggestion that ACUCA could collaborate with other organizations and other than in the area of funding. UNICEF was mentioned as an organization whose activities in eradicating tuberculosis and other charitable works are consistent with ACUCA’s mission.
5.10 The General Secretary welcomed the suggestion, but highlighted the fact that ACUCA needs to remain strategically focused.
5.11 On reviewing the budget Dr. McCagg noticed that ACUCA consistently under spends, he wondered if more money could be released.
5.12 The Treasurer noted that the budget has always been very conservative, and that every year we are adding to the surplus funds.
5.13 Dr. Chen brought up three points that he felt were needed to be considered in order to make ACUCA a successful organization:
1. What is the value of ACUCA to its members?
2. What are the initiatives that ACUCA is making?
3. What are the tangible benefits of membership?
Dr. Chen added that it is good to have a surplus, but it should really be no more than 20%. Also, institutions that do not pay should not avail of the value, activities and benefits.
5.14 Dr. Malayang suggested looking at the average annual receipts over the past few years as a basis for determining future expenses.
5.15 President Synn suggested increasing the program budget proportionately by 20% of each item.
5.16 Dr. Chen suggested leaving no more than 20% as a budget surplus.
5.17 Dr Pradit mentioned the possibility of hosting a Chaplain’s Conference for chaplains in office no more than five years.
5.18 Dr. Chen made a suggestion to put the budget on hold until ACUCA discovers its focus.
5.19 Dr. McCagg asked how the $6000 dollars for the Executive Committee meeting would be spent.
5.20 The General Secretary pointed out that meals and accommodation were provided for all of the delegates.
5.21 The General Secretary brought up the issue of the 5 students awaiting approval of travel subsidy.
5.22 Dr. Malayang noted that it is difficult for students from Indonesia and the Philippines to study in other countries due to the high cost of living abroad.
5.23 Dr. Chen said in answer that if the purpose of the SMS is only to support travel expenses it should be up to the host institution to help with living expenses.
5.24 The General Secretary brought up the idea of increasing the subsidy allotted to each student, and possibly altering the duration of the study abroad period. It was mentioned that short term courses could be offered.
5.25 Dr. Chen again highlighted what he feels is the inefficient nature of the application process. The fact that the SMS deadline and the fiscal year are not in harmony is seen as a problem. Dr. Chen again highlighted his desire to accept applications for the coming fall semester up until the end of May.
5.26 The General Secretary answered that there is a practical difficulty in processing student’s applications under Dr. Chen’s proposal. Students need to make all of their arrangements with plenty of lead time. Different universities have different deadline dates, and the system that exists is the most optimal.
5.27 Dr. Chen mentioned that right now is the time that most Taiwanese students are applying to study abroad. He feels that the process can be simplified further. Dr. Chen would like to send some of his pre-approved students to the Secretariat for travel support. It is Dr. Chen’s wish that students and institutions take care of the administrative side of things; money is released by the Secretariat when the exchange takes place.
5.28 Dr. McCagg saw two issues conflated:
1. The timing of the application and host institutions rules and regulations.
2. The ability to tell students that there will be funds available for the SMS.
5.29 The General Secretary again explained the application process for the SMS.
5.30 Dr. Chen again mentioned his idea that the individual institutions take care of the application process for students. The role of the ACUCA Secretariat is to ensure a regional balance. Dr. Malayang joined him in saying that the Secretariat would merely receive applications for travel support. Dr. Chen re-iterated his belief that ACUCA should be streamlined and the Secretariat should just help institutions to network. The General Assembly may be an opportunity to have a workshop on these matters.
5.31 The Vice President Dr. Norihiko Suzuki noted 2 issues:
1. Securing the budget
2. Making sure that individual universities are active in working for student exchange.
5.32 The General Secretary said that although the plan proposed by both Dr. Chen and Malayang sounds reasonable, she is worried about the practicality of it. Not all member institutions deal with the SMS, some lack experience. It was also mentioned that it may be difficult to control the number of students.
5.33 Dr. Malayang gave the model of the Ford Foundation to explain how the SMS could work. He envisions the Secretariat helping in the promotion of the SMS, and helping institutions to communicate with one another, but would act almost exclusively as a funding organization.
5.34 The President proposed that ACUCA leaves the exchange process to the individual institutions, with the Secretariat having the position of releasing the travel subsidy.
5.35 Dr. Chen added that both sides should be ACUCA institutions, and once the budget has been determined a balance needs to be set.
Resolution 4: Individual institutions are to provide for the administration of the ACUCA Student Mobility Scheme. The Secretariat is to act only in so far as approving and releasing travel subsidies.
5.36 The President made a suggestion for the modified program to be named the Paulus Program. A request was also made to approve the budget in principle, with a proviso that the funding for programs be increased by 20%.