Date: Tue, 19 May 1998 18:18:49 -0700
From: Seiichi Miyamachi <miyamach@sgu.ac.jp>
Organization: Sapporo Gakuin University
Subject: discriminating university?

Dear Mr. Dave Adlwinckle,

I am a teacher of English at Sapporo Gakuin University. I was shocked when one of my colleagues from U. S. informed me that our university was listed on the blacklist of discriminating Japanese universities. Could you please tell me the reasons why our institution has been discriminating our precious colleagues from abroad? I myself was educated in the U.S. and I am strongly against any discriminatory system still left in Japan. Since we seem to be close geographically, I hope I shall have the honor to meet you in person. Thank you for your quick reply in advance.

Sincerely yours,

Seiichi Miyamachi
Sapporo Gakuin University

Date: Wed, 20 May 1998 10:44:34 +0900 (JST)
To: Seiichi Miyamachi <miyamach@sgu.ac.jp>
From: Dave Aldwinckle
Subject: Re: discriminating university?

Good morning Dr Miyamachi:

At 6:18 PM 98.5.19 -0700, Seiichi Miyamachi wrote:
>Dear Mr. Dave Adlwinckle,
>I am a teacher of English at Sapporo Gakuin University. I was shocked when one of my colleagues from U. S. informed me that our university was listed on the blacklist of discriminating Japanese universities. Could you please tell me the reasons why our institution has been discriminating our precious colleagues from abroad?

Perhaps you can tell me, sir. According to Charles McLarty, fellow professor here at Johodai who used to work at SGU, your institution chooses to hire foreign English teaching staff on a series of one-year contracts, renewable a maximum of two consecutive times. Then they are out--their employment term is capped at three years. This is an insecure employment condition the Japanese staff, with or without tenure, do not have to worry about (not to mention a three-year term is shorter than most universities public or private--most of them verbally keep their contract renewals open-ended). Moreover, as the foreigners' position is of gaikokujin kyoushi, there is no right of tenure review--something that is not standard in any Western country but is at SGU.

I understand you have two tenured non-Japanese on your staff, but they were tenured some time ago. I've heard Mr [H] apparently recently got promoted (tenured or not? Please advise.), which if tenured is a positive step. But the fact of the matter is that SGU hires people on capped contract if--and only if--they are foreign. This is, by definition, discrimination by nationality.

>I myself was educated in the U.S. and I am strongly against any discriminatory system still left in Japan.

I see that you have been the beneficiary of an overseas education, which is very good for both the US and Japan. I wish Japan could do the same, and SGU could help. I hope you will be able to lead the push towards abolishing the system of gaikokujin kyoushi (including gaikokujin kyouin, if that is considered as a substitute system) at SGU, treating non-citizens with the same respect and entitling them to the same job security--without contracts--as regular full-time Japanese faculty.

When I see that your university treats its foreigners the same as other institutions on our Greenlist (such as Sapporo International University, where all 8 non-citizens on staff have tenure), I will gladly remove SGU from the list.

>Since we seem to be close geographically, I hope I shall have the honor to meet you in person. Thank you for your quick reply in advance.

>Sincerely yours,
>Seiichi Miyamachi
>Sapporo Gakuin University

And thank you very much for your inquiry, Dr Miyamachi. I hope to hear from you if there are any corrections or errors in fact.

Sincerely yours,
Dave Aldwinckle

Date: Fri, 22 May 1998 08:02:05 -0700
From: Seiichi Miyamachi <miyamach@sgu.ac.jp>
Organization: Sapporo Gakuin University
Subject: Re: discriminating university?

Dear Mr. Dave Aldwinkle,

Thank you very much for your quick reply with a lot of information. I came to this university right after Mr. McLarty left, so I did not know exactly what had happened at that time. Anyway I spoke with a Japanese administrator who created the capped employment system for native instructors 15 years ago. At that time he discussed tha matter with the Ministry of Education and learned about the system they had when they invited native speakers from England. Then he came up with his version for SGU and since then he has revised a few times in terms of payments. However, he has kept the maximum three year contract. According to him, native instructors go back home after all, and they don't want to commit themselve to a long-term employment. I will talk to our four colleagues on the contract and listen to what they really want. If they feel themselves discriminated because of their non-Japanese nationality, and if they really want to stay with us for a longer term, I will certainly do something about it. It may take time, but there should be soemthing to be done. This is where I stand at SGU, and I will talk to Mr. MacLarty and find out exactly what happened to him at that time. I would like to thank you for reminding me of the real situation, which Japanese staff should be aware of as much as our precious colleagues from abroad. I will keep you posted over the development at SGU. I hope you will provide some help when I face some difficulties inside the administration of SGU!

Sincerely yours,

Seiichi Miyamachi
Sapporo Gakuin University

Date: Fri, 22 May 1998
To: Seiichi Miyamachi <miyamach@sgu.ac.jp)
From: Dave Aldwinckle
Subject: Re: discriminating university?

Thank you for your positive reply, Dr Miyamachi:

At 8:02 AM 98.5.22 -0700, Seiichi Miyamachi wrote:
>Dear Mr. Dave Aldwinkle,

>Thank you very much for your quick reply with a lot of information. I came to this university right after Mr. McLarty left, so I did not know exactly what had happened at that time. Anyway I spoke with a Japanese administrator who created the capped employment system for native instructors 15 years ago. At that time he discussed tha matter with the Ministry of Education and learned about the system they had when they invited native speakers from England. Then he came up with his version for SGU and since then he has revised a few times in terms of payments. However, he has kept the maximum three year contract. According to him, native instructors go back home after all, and they don't want to commit themselve to a long-term employment.

That is not a decision that the school should make on behalf of the employees. And, as many people do not necessary "go back home" (instead they make Hokkaido their home), it's presumptive.

>I will talk to our four colleagues on the contract and listen to what they really want. If they feel themselves discriminated because of their non-Japanese nationality, and if they really want to stay with us for a longer term, I will certainly do something about it. It may take time, but there should be soemthing to be done.

I hope so. Bear in mind, please, that the teachers surveyed might give overly-positive answers, which do not necessarily reflect the reality of the situation. Indeed, as the teachers might not want to bad-mouth the university (for fear of not getting their contracts renewed again), they might just say that the status quo will do. It will not do, I'm afraid.

>This is where I stand at SGU, and I will talk to Mr. MacLarty and find out exactly what happened to him at that time. I would like to thank you for reminding me of the real situation, which Japanese staff should be aware of as much as our precious colleagues from abroad. I will keep you posted over the development at SGU. I hope you will provide some help when I face some difficulties inside the administration of SGU!

I appreciate your support very much, Dr Miyamachi, and I hope that conditions, with your help, will improve for the non-Japanese staff at SGU. Do keep me posted, please.

Best wishes, Dave Aldwinckle

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