The new ACUCA Executive Committee recently concluded their first meeting last March 27 via ZOOM. The Business of the Day opened with a report from the Secretariat led by Dr. Katsunobu Kihara, the new Secretary-General, which covered several key items regarding the Association’s operations and programs, including updates on the status of the membership of a few institutions including new member application. The Secretariat also discussed the numbers and figures concerning the recently concluded Micro Degree Program, its completion rate per course, and budget for the upcoming Summer Term as it is now fully shouldered by ACUCA. The Secretariat also brought up the ACUCA Student Camp, a biennial gathering of students of member institutions, expected to take place either in the months of August or September of 2025. The updated report closed with a discussion on the working budget for January up until June of this year.
The second part of the Secretariat’s Report discussed matters concerning some proposals for its programs. Following a presentation on proposed revisions to the guidelines of the ACUCA Student Mobility Scheme (SMS) and Faculty Mobility Scheme (FMS), two of the flagship programs, the ExCo moved to approve the revised guidelines. The ExCo also reviewed and approved SMS Fall Semester 2024 and FMS nominations. The ExCo also discussed its operations including the administration and maintenance of the ACUCA website.
The Secretariat Report was followed with a report by the Permanent Treasurer of ACUCA, Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), represented by the Reverend Hung Tse.
The first ExCo Meeting of the new set of officers was attended by the following: Dr. Tomoko Ueki, ACUCA President, and Secretary-General Dr. Katsunobu Kihara of Doshisha University in Japan; Dr. Diane Chen representing Taiwan’s Chung Yuan Christian University in Taiwan, sitting as the Vice-President of ACUCA; Reverend Hung Tse of Hong Kong Baptist University in Hong Kong. Also present were members of the Board: Dr. Sidhi Bayu Turker representing Indonesia; Taien Layraman filling in for Mr. Apicha Insuwan representing Thailand; Dr. Fr. Joseph CC representing India; and Dr. Hayne Shin representing Korea. Also in attendance were members of the Secretariat and observers: Dr. Shigeyuki Atarashi, Dr. Futamura, Mr. Inoue, Ms Yuko Shimomura, and Ms Ikuko Sugikawa, all from Doshisha University, and Ms Glynnis Casiño from Silliman University in the Philippines.
ACUCA holds regular and special ExCo Meetings in person and online to discuss matters that help ACUCA stay up-to-date with the ever-evolving needs of the Christian higher education community in Asia.