AJCU-EAO Annual Meeting
August 26-27, 2008
Grand Cikarang Ibis Hotel, Cikarang Industrial Estate, Indonesia

Morning Session:

• Fr. Joel Tabora, S.J., Chair of AJCU-EAO and President of Ateneo de Naga University led the opening prayer and gave a brief overview of the business meeting agenda.
• Fr. Benedictus Triatmoko, S.J., President of ATMI gave a presentation on GC35 and Higher Education (Attachment A).
  • He began by showing a short movie clip to express his personal understanding and impressions of GC 35. (The clip was about Paul Potts, one of the contestants of Britain’s Got Talent)
  • A PowerPoint on the GC 35 was presented and handouts were provided of his presentation were topics on the following:
  • Expectations
  • The Dynamics
  • Special Graces
  • The Decrees
  • The importance
  • Implementation in ATMI
  • Gateway to Heaven Organization Based on Trust
  • The following were some notes and comments of Fr. Triatmoko on the GC 35 topics:
    • On the Expectations
      • That there was a general feeling to “do things faster” among the GC35 members because of the previous experience they had in GC34 which took so long.
      • That there were feelings of “Spiritual Anemia” within the Society in general.
      • That apostolic religious were questioning their identity.
    • On the Dynamics
      • Instances of the creative tensions were the following:
        • Creative tensions in the election of the new Father General.  Questions like whether the new General should be old or young exposed to the Eastern or Western culture.
        • Creative tensions with the Holy Father
        • Creative tensions between the traditional way and the new globalized culture and technology
        • Creative tensions between the specific needs and concerns of each continent
      • On the Special Graces
        • That there was a sense of new energy, a fire burning from within, because of the new Superior General, Fr. Adolfo Nicolas, S.J.
        • That there was a new way of proceeding or of doing things, constituting the triptych: Identity, Mission and Community.
      • On the Decrees
        • That the Decrees provide an idea of where the society is headed for, focusing on the four F’s:  FIRE in our heart, FRONTIER is the mission, FIDELITY is the cause,  FRIENDSHIP is the way
      • On the Importance of GC 35
      • That the GC 35 answers the call to the mission of the Holy Father to strengthen the tradition par excellence.
      • That it reminds them that the intellectual apostolate is a challenge to the frontier of mankind’s biggest questions.
      • That it is a challenge to answer the call to the depth of themselves and their problematic world.
      • That it is a call for them to bravely take the challenge of communication technology and the new culture coming with it.
      • That it urges strong collaboration with lay people.
      • On Implementation of GC 35 in ATMI
        • That ATMI is an organization built on trust where   everything is about TRUST.
        • That there can be no IMPROVEMENT without change, no CHANGE without RISK, no COURAGE to take risk without TRUST.
      • On Gateway to Heaven
        • That they should find a way to combine the elements of GC35.
        • That the term “Gateway to Heaven” is a term used to refer to a point where the world on this side and the world on the other side touch each other.
        • That they should find the middle ground and bridge the gaps between and among institutions.
        • That the world, the “intelligible” is different from heaven, the “unintelligible” and that both sides form an undeniable unity
  • The following are some of the personal interpretations of GC35 which Fr. Triatmoko pointed out
    • 1st Interpretation: Heaven is fire within
      • TRUST
        • Trust in the Spirit
        • Trust in the Superior
        • Trust in our Lay Partners
      • 2nd Interpretation: The Spirit of Frontier is the spirit of innovation.
        • The wrong way of innovation cannot solve the problems of the world. The correct way of innovation is problem solving (going back to the focus on the people)
  • Fr. Jose Ramon Villarin, S.J., President of Xavier University gave a response to the GC35 Presentation of Fr. Triatmoko, S.J.
  • He said that he was pleased to see the short clip quoting one of the jurors of Britain’s Got Talent, Amanda, as saying, “I think we have a little lump of coal here that will turn into a diamond”.
  • He talked about the creative tensions from within and without the society.  He cited Fr. Bill Schumacher’s statement saying, “You just have to keep holding on to both ends of the rope” expressing the need to equip themselves in holding the opposing forces together, like in “contemplacio in actione” or “prayer in action”.
  • He said that he was struck by the mention of trust which he understood as Social Capital or the network of relationships based on trust. 
  • He however said that he did not quite get the “gateway to heaven” and said that perhaps it meant the interface between the divine and human and how trust connects the two.
  • He then shared his comments on the following:
    • On frontier and innovation
      • He mentioned the refocus on people and on the problems that are truly weighty rather than smaller things.
    • On the challenge of the future entrepreneurship
      • He referred to this as the “flavour of the month” because of the active involvement in it of their university and cited Xavier University’s entrepreneurship program e.g. Fr. Gordon’s enterprising efforts in Cagayan and the nine current enterprises they have in Xavier.
    • On his reaction to ATMI’s implementation of the GC 35
      • He said that the most important thing about trust is formation of people, lay partners and the Jesuits themselves.  He said that there was no substitute to opening themselves up to the competition.  He suggested opening up their institutions and not be too self complacent in their apostolic effectivity.  He also reminded the group that there were always things to be done following the spirit of the “magis”.
        
  • Fr. Bienvenido Nebres, S.J., President of Ateneo de Manila University and delegate to GC35 shared about GC35.  He talked about the probity and a deep love for the Society and in making good judgement based on solid understandings.
    
    
  • He gave some comments on the new frontiers – He said that this was discussed during the GC34, charactering globalization, creating an awareness of the environment, and looking at a world of tensions and paradoxes.
  • On the Jesuit context in terms of mission – He said that this was defined by faith and justice which was also tackled in GC 34 – faith, justice, dialogue.
  • On Relationship with God – He mentioned post-modernism, objectivism, secularism and fundamentalism. He noted that more and more communities were becoming multi-cultural and multi-religious.
  • On Relationship with one another – He said that those not connected were being marginalized.  He stressed the call to reach out to the marginalized by building bridges between rich and poor and creating a more humane business culture.
  • On some things happening in the Philippines – He shared about a talk given by Cardinal Martini which was published in the American Magazine, entitled:  “Teaching the Faith in the Post-Modern World”.  He said that this article was saying that “in some ways the world has a primacy for feelings over truth and values, has preference for impressions over intelligence, is searching for arbitrary logic and is searching for pleasure over morality; it is also a world where sensitivity and emotions come first.”  He said that fundamentally, this article was saying that people are searching for the experience of God rather than looking for a doctrine about God.
  • On Social entrepreneurship – He said that they should focus on creating jobs for the poor and of thinking about the market first before the product.
  • On Environment – He said that the challenge was on how to take care of the environment.  He shared about the universities going all out for the environment just as they are doing in ADMU e.g. recycling, not using disposable containers and having a system for composting bio-degradable wastes.
  • On the challenge in the mission – He said that it should be on a more personal level and try to live it and not just talk about it.
  • Fr. Mark Raper, S.J., President of the JCEAO, said it was important to understand the impact of GC35 on this conference, particularly references to the intellectual apostolate and Decree Six on collaboration with others.
  • He said that this meeting reminded him of a group called SELA which stands for Social and Economic Life in Asia.  He shared that this was a group of social ministries he met in 1975 when they had a meeting in Seoul, Korea.  He said that this meeting took place after the GC32 and shared that this time was a crisis time for the social ministry. 
  • He pointed out that GC35 does not speak about higher education but that it rather speaks about the intellectual apostolate and the need to have intellectual freedom.  He said that this was one of the major thrusts of Pope Benedict XVI’s challenge to the Society: There must be intellectual rigor in its approach to the problems of modern society.
  • He said that he was encouraged with the discussion on entrepreneurship and innovation.
    • He said that what was being asked for was a strategic collaboration and coordination across the provinces and Jesuit institutions and that this idea seemed to be something new for most people.
  • Concerning GC35’s recommendations on the Intellectual Apostolate, he said:
    • 1st :  That young Jesuits should be encouraged to consider this apostolate;
    • 2nd: To Foster every possible form of collaboration and promote working in networks among persons, teams, centres and to choose strategically those institutions that can assure excellence in research
    • 3rd:  To conserve and preserve intellectual patrimony
  • On the Decree on Collaboration, he pointed out that these were practical implications of the directions chosen by the previous congregation which had a decree called cooperation with the lay people.
  • He said while the congregation was working on this decree, the following questions came up:
    • How many Jesuit institutions have lay directors compared to Jesuit directors?
    • What are the tasks of the Jesuits in the institutions?
    •  How should they be prepared for this?
    • What formation for the lay people do they offer?
    • What connections do they have?
  • He also stressed the point that to be Jesuit means having a clear mission statement and that formation for the Jesuits requires the attitude and preparation in understanding ways of corporate governance.
    
    
  • Fr. Paul Wiryono, Priyotamtama, President of Sanata Dharma University shared his experiences about the GC35.
  • He said that his expectations at first, on the Decree on Collaboration were very strong. He said that he was amazed at first but later experienced a kind of consolation.
  • He shared that during the last two years in Sanata Dharma, he has observed an improvement in the spiritual life among lay partners when they introduced the Ignatian pedagogy.
  • He said that there was a growing sense of spiritual interest among lay partners since they started the “study days” involving lecturers and instructors from ATMI and Sanata Dharma 
  • He also said that this can be considered a unique contribution of Jesuit institutions in the country.
  • On global challenge, he shared that they have established collaboration with ADZU.  He also shared that Loyola University of Chicago approached Sanata Dharma regarding possible collaboration between their schools.  He also encouraged everybody on the possibility of collaboration and constructive dialogue.
  • President Byungdoo Sohn of Sogang University said that decision making was important for him because he is not Jesuit. He mentioned two aspects of decision making: 
  • 1) Trust – establishing social character and moral ethics. He said that ethical issues call for honesty.  He also shared that they are trying to educate their students in Sogang to be honest and to have moral attitude. 
  • 2) Collaboration with lay people - how to implement his experiences in running institutions. 
  • He also expressed some concerns on the kind of attitude of some Jesuits. 
  • He said that Jesuits not being aware of Globalization and the competitive environment can create some problems on the following areas:
  • How to overcome difficulties of globalization.
  • How to improve quality of education which greatly requires funding.  
  • How to survive in the changing society.
  • How to experience the modern societies and how to try to understand modern developments. 
  • Fr. Jean-Claude Hollerich, S.J., Trustee for Catholic Affairs and VP for Student affairs of Sophia University shared something about the Post modern society in the religious context.
  •  He said that Japan has a different situation citing results from a given survey:  60 % have no religion, 30% are Buddhist.  99% of their students have no religion.
  • He also shared that they have no laity to collaborate with in Japan. 
  • He also pointed out that they do not have many Catholics in Japan. 
  • He shared that their President, Pres. Ishizawa is not even a Christian, but completely understands the mission of their university. 
  • On Competition, he said that best students in the country are now going to other countries to study.  He said that they may not survive if they do not innovate, citing the words of Fr. Mark Raper, “Their strength is their Jesuit network.”
  • Fr. Nebres, S.J., gave a remark on Pres. Sohn’s comments on Jesuits. He said that it has something to do with formation and that competitiveness is most felt if you are in business. 
  • He pointed out that if Jesuits leaders do not understand the pressures, their formation unless changed, will be out of the mainstream in the world.  He stressed that this should be presented in strong way and that they should find a way to make the young generation understand. 
  • He then shared about the workshops on the Jesuit leadership they have been conducting at ADMU.  He said that they have been doing this but always “on the side”, mainly because formation does not see these things as having pressing importance.
  • Fr. Villarin, S.J. expressed his sentiments on the comments on Jesuit versus Lay. 
  • He said that there was also conflict not only between Jesuit and lay, but among the lay themselves, some of whom are resistant to change.  He pointed out that this was probably because of the human conservative stance or the human “Fear of a threat”. 
  • Fr. Antonio Moreno, S.J., President of Ateneo de Zamboanga University, introduced Dr. Rebecca Fernandez, their Academic Vice President.
  • He then gave a background on ADZU.  He shared that it was an interesting place to be in at the moment mainly because of the tension being experienced between Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the military. 
  • Dr. Rebecca Fernandez pointed out that they just did a review of their institutional directions. 
  • The Four directions were:
  •  1) Peace dialogue and development – They are working on a stronger program of development to be incorporated in High School
  •  2) Interfaith program - One of their Campus Ministers is a Muslim. 
  • 3) Mission and identity – Helping the laity understand what the Jesuit mission is all about and exposure to Jesuit works in the university. 
  • 4) Intellectual collaboration. 
  • Fr. Antonio Samson, S.J., President of Ateneo de Davao University shared that they were experiencing some labour union problems. 
  • He talked about the presence of a union in both their College and Grade school faculty and non-teaching staff. He also said that soon they will also have a union in the High school faculty.  He said that trust building is very important and should be a key value and concern of the university.
  • He also shared about the accreditation of PAASCU they had in the university. He said that the PAASCU was impressed with the big change in the morale of the faculty. 
  • On steps related to GC35, he shared that the new Provincial had a session with the faculty of basic education. 
  • He said that trust is something that one must spend time building.
  • Dr. Rebecca Torres, Academic Vice President of ADNU said the topic on Expectation, struck her.
  • She shared that during their General Faculty Assembly, Fr. Tabora, S.J. presented GC35 focusing on the Four Fs:  Fire, Frontiers, Fidelity and Friendship. 
  • She said that she looks at GC35 as one of the graces to the university.
  • With the autonomous status of the university, she said that GC35 can be used as a vehicle to look into new frontiers and new ways of approaching existing programs e.g. engaging the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) which is often more of a hindrance than help to Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs).
  • She then shared about the new developments in ADNU:
  • The new developments between ADNU and the FUJIAN province in China. A group of students, faculty and administrators went to China for a ten-day benchmarking tour. ADNU also started the Mandarin Chinese Program.
  • Fifty East Timorese students will be coming to ADNU by next semester.
  • Initial evaluation of the viability on the Loyola College of Culion in Palawan was submitted to the Provincial making it a new frontier for ADNU. 
  • ADNU was granted Center of Excellence in Teacher Education, Center of Development in Business Administration, Center of Development in Entrepreneurship and Center of Development in Information Technology.
  • She also shared that in the Philippines, the private HEI has a big role in education but is getting little help.
  • Fr. Villarin, S.J. said that using the Jesuit Network may indeed be useful, as Fr. Hollerich, S.J. had said.  He however mentioned that one obstacle was the language in the region. He suggested learning a common language like English – or even Chinese? – to overcome the bottleneck in collaboration. He also said that English might be developed as the common medium of teaching.
  • Fr. Nebres, S.J. said that ADMU is aggressive in its Internationalization. He said that language is a common interest.  However, despite their efforts with and prioritization of Jesuit schools, he said that there was little response from them.  He mentioned that they have been working with Catholic universities in other countries e.g. in France (Catholic University of Lille) and in Japan (Nanzan University) where they got “mushroom” responses in both.  He also said that internationally, the response from the Jesuit Universities in the United States was also weak.  He said that he was not sure why this was so, but it was certainly not for the lack of trying.  He said that perhaps it was because other universities e.g. Sogang University, and the State Universities in Spain are more open than the rest. He also said that it would depend very much on how strongly one’s university move towards internationalization.
  • Brother Joseph Dao from the Loyola University of Chicago (LUC) – Vietnam Office shared about his work in VIETNAM.  The following were some of his main points:
  • They still have nothing to do with education in Vietnam, even though there is great need in this area mainly because the Communist Government does not allow them to respond.
  • The Deputy Prime minister in Vietnam visited Chicago and said that they were happy to have a Catholic University in Vietnam.  Because of this, the LUC was well received by the Vietnamese government and that they were able to sign a Memorandum of Agreement.
  •  LUC may be able to do something that other religious educational institutions cannot do in Vietnam.
  • In response to GC35, they will set up of a Ministry of Higher Education in Vietnam. 
  • LUC came to Vietnam without building anything.  They are educators and not investors.
  • Brother Dao also said that would like to seek membership in the AJCU-EAO and be part of its Jesuit network. He also invited the members to collaborate with them in the new ministry in Higher Education.
  • Fr. Samson, S.J. asked Bro. Dao what type of programs LUC are planning to do in Vietnam.
  • Bro. Dao answered that they are going to design a special English program in preparing students for going to further studies in the US.  He also said that they will ask Jesuit universities in the US to get involved in Nursing, medical programs of Vietnam.
  • Fr. Nebres, S.J. asked about how AJCU EAO can provide relevant information about what is going on in China.   He said that there is a lot going on there. He said that China is part of the university apostolate in the assistancy as well as in the world. He then asked Fr. Raper how he thinks AJCU EAO could get knowledge of what is going on in the China Province.
  • Fr. Raper, S.J. answered that he was still trying to understand the strategic developments of the AJCU EAO and how it somehow included China.  He also said that The Beijing Center (TBC) should be a very good starting point because of its many cooperative relations within China and beyond. He also suggested establishing direct contact with the China Province.
  • Fr. Nebres, S.J. shared that the China-ASEAN Universities, networks an annual event relating to Chinese universities in the south like Hong Kong and Guangzhou.  He asked whether their universities should participate in a more systematic way in this and if they should participate together and establish connections.
  • Fr. Raper, S.J. suggested that the AJCU-EAO group make some form of recommendation to the China Province because even China does not know all of the connections being made. 
  • Fr. Triatmoko, S. J. said that ATMI went to Vietnam to study putting up a technical school there.  He asked Bro. Dao if it was better not to act as Jesuits in doing so, or whether the situation has somehow changed.
  • Bro. Dao answered that the Jesuits and the Vietnamese Government has a good relationship, but government is still afraid of the Jesuit connections. He shared about one Jesuit working quietly and reporting directly report to the Provincial. He also said that it would be difficult and delicate to start up something in Vietnam, but that they would be happy to serve as a contact point.
  • Fr. Triatmoko, S.J. said it was the same with Taiwan.  He shared that they were building a Polytechnic in Aceh, which is a centre of Fundamentalist Islamic movement in Indonesia. He said that they did this as a technical panel and not as Jesuits.  He then asked the group if this may be a new type of approach on doing things in the region.
  • Fr. Tabora, S.J. said that in his personal opinion, it is valid to go to a new frontier where the Jesuit identity is not yet clearly stated and try to set up presence there and share one’s values and knowledge in the hope that eventually that country will share these.  He said that this was actually the strategy that ADNU applied in their efforts in China. 
  • Fr. Villarin, S.J. shared he was reminded of Mateo Ricci’s view on personal presence and not institutional presence and of using technology. He also said that today aside from technology, English might be used to promote collaboration.  He described the English language as a “Trojan horse” saying that in Xavier, Korean businessmen are attracted to come and let their children study there and learn English.  He said that the Koreans consider studying there in order to learn the English language and not so much because of their being Catholic or Jesuit.
  • Fr. Moreno, S.J. cautioned the group against hidden agenda in entering diverse cultures, and that they should be respectful of cultural identity.  He shared that the State Islamic University in Indonesia went all the way to Zamboanga in their effort to tie up with ADZU.  He said that he found out that the State Islamic University which is now secular, was formerly religious and that for the last eight years they have started to open up.  He added that he had no qualms in tying up with this university as long as there should be no hidden agenda and as long as they think along the level of sharing values and resources.
  • Fr. Tabora, S.J. introduced the next point of agenda by reminding the group of when they had all agreed to work together and try to put up a school in China but in the following year reversed their decision.  He pointed out that the status quo was that the institutions try to establish cooperative relations with one another in order to build up trust and social capital and eventually come to common decisions and projects.  Concrete examples of these were the student mobility projects and service learning programs already started. 
  • Fr. Villarin, S.J. presented the  Student Mobility Program of Xavier University (Attachment B)
  • Mr. Kuswandono of Sanata Dharma presented the  Student Mobility of Sanata Dharma University (Attachment C)
  • President Sohn shared some changes and new developments in Sogang  University such as the following: (PowerPoint- Attachment D)
  • The departure of Father Park Hong as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees in June 2008. He had served in that position for five years. Now they have a new chairman. His name is Father Bonaventure Shi-chan Yu, and he had served as a member of the board for the last ten (10) years.
  • The opening of their new dormitory and underground campus. In the new dormitory called Gonzaga Hall, nine hundred (900) International and Korean students will be housed. It also has fifty (50) guest rooms for visiting scholars. This dormitory is connected to the underground campus, which has a parking lot for 650 cars and commercial facilities such as a bookstore and several restaurants. This was a 45 million dollar project, which was funded entirely by private investors. The investors will operate the facilities for 20 years to recover the investment, and then the university will take over.
  • The construction of their second business school building to be named Sogang-Kumho Asiana Hall. This is a 12 million dollar project, and Kumho Asiana group is donating the building.
  • The Board of Trustees’ approval of their second big project to build the 50th Anniversary Jubilee Hall and International Humanities Center. This is an 85 million dollar project. It will be funded by housing a Tesco Store underneath the two buildings. Tesco will pay for the entire project in return for the use of the bottom part of the building for 30 years. Because the building will be sitting on a slope, the Tesco Store is not visible from the campus and will be physically separated from the two university buildings. The new International Humanities Center will strengthen both internationalization and humanities education at Sogang.
  • The continuing effort to raise the quality of education and internationalization of the campus. In the last two years, they hired 30 new faculty members to raise the total number of full-time tenure-track faculty members to 354. The percentage of the courses taught in English has increased from 13.8% in 2006 to 20% in spring of 2008
  • The growing number of sister universities of Sogang University.  Before, they only have 57 sister universities in 20 countries. They now have 147 sister universities in 44 countries in every continent.
  • Getting the preliminary license for a law school from the government. They hosted the site inspection team for the final approval of the law school. Sogang Law School will accept the first students next spring.
  • The establishment of a Technology Holding Company. Sogang Institute of Advanced Technology (SIAT) is a new research centre where their own faculty members will work with industry to develop new technologies. Sogang Techno-Holdings Company is a technology holding company that will market the technologies and intellectual property rights that are developed at SIAT. They have also formed a venture capital named Albatross Investment Company with funds from the university and their alumni to finance new venture companies that will use the technologies developed at SIAT. The partnership between Stanford University and the Silicon Valley companies is their model. This is the first attempt in Korea to exploit the outcomes of the research activities of a university for sustainable income.
  • The building of the 50th anniversary Jubilee Hall.  In 2010, Sogang University will celebrate its 50th anniversary. In preparation for this celebration, several activities are planned. Building of the 50th anniversary Jubilee Hall is the most obvious one.
  • The series of International Conferences. Last year, they invited a Nobel laureate in Economics as a keynote speaker of the inaugural conference. This October, they will have a series of four conferences in humanities. In 2009 and 2010, they are planning a major international scholarly conference.
  • Continuing Sogang University’s proud tradition of producing plays and musicals. They are preparing a new kind of drama that combines movie, play, internet, and computer graphics.
  • The launching of a new series of scholarly books to commemorate the 50th anniversary.
  • The production of special wine to celebrate their anniversary. They have contracted the Sevenhill Cellars in Australia, which is run by Jesuits, to produce special wine to celebrate their anniversary.
  • The advocacy to have the hill of the campus to be designated as a sacred site by the church. Three saints who were executed during the persecution were buried there before they were moved to the permanent burial sites.
  • The election of President Sohn as the Chair of the Korean Council on University Education. This is an organization of all 198 4-year universities in Korea. Beginning this year, the government will be transferring all the regulatory power regarding the university entrance exams to this organization.
  • President Sohn also shared that all of their university projects require funding. He said that in 2006 and 2007, they raised more than 20 million dollars each year. This year, they have raised 6 million dollars, not counting the donation of the Kumho Asiana Hall. He also said that he is working very hard to raise even more money for more building projects such as a new library or a student centre.

Afternoon Session:   Business Meeting

• Ms. Charissa Noble, AJCU-EAO Secretary, presented a wrap-up of the morning session.
• Fr. Tabora, S.J., opened the Business Meeting by inviting reports from Fr. Buenconsejo and Fr. Nebres.
• Fr. Roberto Buenconsejo, S.J., Coordinator for Jesuits and Lay Collaborators in Campus Ministry, presented a report on the Campus Ministers (Attachment E)
• Fr. Nebres, S.J., gave a report on the International Directors in behalf of Dr. Antonette Palma – Angeles of ADMU and Dr. Michael Cheong from Sogang (Attachments F, G, H, I)
• Fr. Tabora, S.J. opened the floor to the following resolutions:
  • Resolutions No. 1 - That the Driyarkara School of Philosophy in Jakarta, Indonesia, be admitted Higher Educational Institute Member of the AJCU-EAO as nominated by the Ateneo de Naga and Sanata Dharma University.
    • Fr. Nebres, S.J. asked to be given more background on Driyarkara School of Philosophy.
    • Fr. Priyotamtama, S.J. gave a brief introduction and background of the school, now a consortium.
    • Fr. Tabora, S.J. asked Fr. Priyotamtama if he would be more comfortable in admitting Driyarkara as a Higher Educational Endeavour (HEE) rather than a Higher Educational Institution. 
    • Fr. Priyotamtama, S.J. agreed to this.
    • Fr. Moreno, S.J. asked to be clarified on what the criteria for “endeavour” was.
    • Fr. Tabora, S.J. answered that Higher Educational Endeavours (HEE) were not institutions owned by Jesuits but referred to Jesuits are active in higher education activities.  He added that while they were in the process of re-crafting the AJCU-EAO Constitution and By Laws, “associate members” were abolished in favour of HEEs.  He cited The Beijing Centre (TBC), saying that while it was not quite an Institution yet Jesuits are present and therefore needing support.
    • There being no more questions nor objections, the motion to admit the Driyarkara School of Philosophy as a Higher Educational Endeavour Member of the AJCU-EAO was approved.
  • Resolution No. 2 - That the Loyola College of Culion (LCC), Philippines, be admitted as Higher Educational Institute member of AJCU-EAO as nominated by Sanata Dharma and Ateneo de Zamboanga.
    • Fr. Moreno, S.J. gave a brief background on the LCC.  He said that the Spanish NGO who used to support LCC could no longer fund its operations.  He shared that the Australian Province has taken over the lacking operational expenses for SY 2009-10, but that LCC is trying to find ways of keeping the school alive beyond this.
    • Fr. Tabora, S.J. also shared that in the view of Fr. Daniel Hwang, S.J., the Regional Assistant for EAO, of all the schools in the Philippines, the school which is in the poorest community would be the Loyola College in Culion.  He also shared that the Bishop in the area asked for their help. At the moment, he said that there are two Jesuits working there.
    • There being no questions nor objections, the motion to admit the Loyola College of Culion as a Higher Educational Institute Member of the AJCU-EAO was approved.
  • Resolution No. 3 - That the Higher Education Group, Australia, be admitted as a Higher Educational Endeavour member of the AJCU-EAO as nominated by Ateneo de Manila, Ateneo de Davao and Xavier University.
    • Fr. Tabora, S.J. shared that they have been in contact with Fr. Frank Brennan, S.J., Jesuit Priest and Lawyer in the Australian Catholic University.  He said that Fr. Brennan has consented to their proposal to organize a group of Jesuits in Higher Education and join the AJCU-EAO as a higher educational endeavour member.
    • Fr. Nebres, S.J. asked who composes the Australian group.
    • Fr. Raper, S.J. answered that Fr. Frank Brennan, S.J. who is the Provincial Assistant to the Intellectual Apostolate, represents this field of work.   He also pointed out that they actually do not use the term Higher Education Group but said that he would support this proposal of the AJCU EAO in the sense that within the assistancy, the purpose of the AJCU EAO is to promote cooperation among people engaged in higher education in response to the call for intellectual apostolate. 
    • Fr. Nebres, S.J. said that this was also true in other countries where Jesuits are teaching in different parts of Asia such as Cambodia and China.  He suggested that they find ways to try to get these Jesuits.
    • Fr. Raper, S.J. said that he would fully support what Fr. Nebres said.  He asked whether they plan to set up a new association to catch the intellectual apostolate.
    • Fr. Tabora, S.J. answered that they were more towards a merger between the higher education apostolate and the intellectual apostolate.
    • Fr. Raper, S.J. once again referred to the subsidiary document of the congregation particularly the recommendation on “fostering every possible form of collaboration and promote working in networks among persons, teams, centres and choosing strategically those institutions”.  He said that he sees this as a mandate from the congregation and asked whether the AJCU EAO was ready to accept this mandate.
    • Fr. Tabora, S.J. answered that perhaps they could discuss this during the later part of the business meeting.
    •  Fr. Hollerich, S.J. also suggested incorporating members in Japan. 
    • Fr. Clay Pareira, S.J. shared about the two institutions from Myanmar, St. Aloysius Gonzaga English Language Institute and Campion Institute, who would like to seek membership in AJCU EAO. 
    • Fr. Tabora, S.J. said that they would be happy to welcome new members and if there was an application, they would be happy to process it as well.
    • There being no more questions nor objections, the motion to admit the Higher Education Group of Australia as a Higher Educational Endeavour Member of the AJCU-EAO was approved.
  • Resolution No. 4 - That the Jesuits and Lay Partners in Campus Ministry – EAO, be admitted as a Higher Education Endeavour member of the AJCU-EAO as nominated by ATMI and Ateneo de Naga.
    • There being no questions nor objections, the motion to admit the Jesuits and Lay Partner in Campus Ministry – EAO as a Higher Educational Endeavour Member of the AJCU-EAO was approved.
  • Resolution No. 5 - That the Loyola Center in Vietnam be admitted as a Higher Education Endeavour member of the AJCU-EAO as nominated by Ateneo de Naga and Sogang University.
    • There being no questions nor objections, the motion to admit the Loyola Center in Vietnam as a Higher Educational Endeavour Member of the AJCU-EAO was approved.
  • Resolution No. 6 - That the next meeting of the AJCU-EAO be in Sydney, Australia, either before or after the next ASEACCU meeting.
    • There being no questions nor objections, the motion to approve the next AJCU-EAO venue in Sydney, Australia was approved.
  • Resolution No. 7 - That Fr. Tabora, S.J. as Chair of the AJCU-EAO be authorized to request the Higher Education Group of Australia to host the next AJCU-EAO meeting.
    • There being no questions nor objections, the motion to authorize Fr. Tabora, S.J. to request the Higher Education Group of Australia to host the next AJCU-EAO meeting in Sydney, Australia was approved.
  • Resolution No. 8 - That the Financial Report of 2007-2008 be approved.(Attachment J)
    • There being no questions nor objections, the AJCU EAO Financial Report of 2007-2008 was approved.
  • Resolution No. 9 - That the Budget for 2008-2009 be approved. (Attachment K)
    • There being no questions nor objections, the AJCU EAO Budget for 2008-2009 was approved.
• Fr. Tabora, S.J. then opened the floor to other resolutions:

• Resolution No. 10 - That the AJCU-EAO accept the mandate on GC35 on Intellectual Apostolate: “To Foster every possible form of collaboration and promote working in networks among persons, teams, centres and to choose strategically those institutions that can assure excellence in research.”
  • There being no questions nor objections, it was resolved that the AJCU EAO accept the mandate on GC35 on Intellectual Apostolate: “To Foster every possible form of collaboration and promote working in networks among persons, teams, centres and to choose strategically those institutions that can assure excellence in research.”
• Resolution No. 11 - That the AJCU EAO focus on four areas of research: environment, migration, culture and religious dialogue.
  • Fr. Tabora, S.J. suggested that they explore how this can be done.
  • Fr. Nebres, S.J. said that they should first agree on the focus of the research and then look for partners for intellectual research in some particular areas.  He also shared that ADMU’s partners in China and Korea are interested in environment, migration and culture and suggested that these be made as focus on their research endeavours.
  • Fr. Raper, S.J. suggested that they add religious dialogue to their research.
  • Fr. Tabora, S.J. asked if everyone agrees on these four research areas:  environment, migration, culture and religious dialogue
    • There being no questions nor objections, it was resolved that their research areas will be on the ENVIRONMENT, MIGRATION, CULTURE AND RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE.
• Resolution No. 12 – That in the context of looking for Centres of Excellence among their member institutions, they create an ad hoc committee which will be responsible assessing the strengths of the institutions and identifying them as centres of excellence and report this to the board for final decision.  
  • Fr. Tabora, S.J. suggested that in this context, they should look for Centres of Excellence among their member institutions to focus on the research areas. 
  • Fr. Triatmoko, S.J. said that in order to reduce the cost, there is no need to set up new centres but rather utilize existing institutional expertise and from there build networks for cooperations.  He said that the question was how they would choose the institutions to do it and whether they should make proposals in doing so.
  • Fr. Tabora, S.J. said that it was clear that they need to put up Centres of Excellence.  He then asked for ideas on how to choose them.
  • Fr. Moreno, S.J. suggested that prior to choosing the institutions as centres of excellence, they should first provide a catalogue of the institutes they already have and then from there choose the centres of excellence.
  • Fr. Triatmoko, S.J. said that for them to be able to make the catalogue, they should assign someone to do it.  He suggested creating an ad hoc committee to do this.
  • Fr. Hollerich, S.J. agreed with Fr. Triatmoko, S.J. and said that the ad hoc committee may set up contacts with the different directors.
  • Fr. Raper, S.J. said that the institutions should have to bid in being designated as centres of excellence.
  • Fr. Tabora, S.J. asked if everyone agrees to creating an ad hoc committee and if the institutions should bid to become centers of excellence.
    • There being no questions and objections, it was resolved to create an ad hoc committee which will be responsible for assessing the strengths of the institutions and identifying them as centers of excellence and report this to the board for final decision.
• Resolution No. 13 -  That the members of the ad hoc committee for the centres of excellence will be FR. TRIATMOKO, S.J., FR. VILLARIN, S.J. and FR. HOLLERICH, S.J.
  • Fr. Triatmoko, S.J. pointed out that the institutions may focus on the same topic but they may have different strengths citing for example the environment but on a technical or legal point of view.
  • Fr. Nebres, S.J. said that the issue on migration and environment are both huge; one institution may not be able to focus on them on its own.  He shared that ADMU is now looking at the issue on family and migration as well as the issue on disaster management.  He also pointed out that he is more comfortable with the use of the term “problem solving” rather than “research” because he said that researchers are usually only peripherally interested in solving the problem, e.g. finding a way to improve environmental research management.  He said that simply focusing in research can be a problem. 
  • Fr. Hollerich, S.J. said that he would still prefer to use the word “research” because it would be easier to get government grants for research.
  • Fr. Triatmoko, S.J. said that he would have to agree with Fr. Nebres.  He said that personally, he even prefers the term “innovation”.
  • Fr. Raper, S.J. said that the term research was specifically used simply because it was the term used in the GC 35 document.  He also pointed out that AJCU-EAO would still have to set up its own criteria on this, and perhaps be able to use the terms “innovation” and “problem solving” as well.
  • Fr. Tabora, S.J. said that the kind of research that they should do is the research that would be responsive to human problems and not only abstract cogitation.
  • Fr. Raper, S.J. agreed with Fr. Tabora and said that they should promote leadership for cooperative action.
  • Fr. Tabora, S.J. opened the floor for nomination of the members of the ad hoc committee.
  • Fr. Priyotamtama, S.J. nominated Fr. Triatmoko, S.J.
  • Fr. Moreno, S.J. nominated Fr. Villarin, S.J.
  • Fr. Raper, S.J. nominated Fr. Hollerich, S.J.
    • There being no objections nor objections, it was resolved that the members of the ad hoc committee for the centers of excellence will be FR. TRIATMOKO, S.J., FR. VILLARIN, S.J. and FR. HOLLERICH, S.J.
• Resolution No. 14 – That each member institution make an indicative manifestation of the tentative areas of research.
  • Fr. Villarin, S.J. asked how the bidding process for the centres of excellence would be and what the motivations for the institutions bidding would be.
  • Fr. Tabora, S.J. pointed out that they are an organization accepting the mandate of GC35 and that they would want to implement it.  He said that they don’t just want to force it on an institution but they want that institution to come forward and say that they can contribute.
  • Fr. Villarin, S.J. asked where the GC 35 got the term Center of Excellence.
  • Fr. Raper, S.J. answered that Fr. Paul Locatelli, S.J. had a major hand in drafting the document.  He suggested referring this question to him.
  • Fr. Tabora, S.J. suggested that the ad hoc must come together and publish some kind of protocol on bidding.
  • Fr. Nebres, S.J. pointed out that there are many groups doing this around the world who may want to work with them. He said that if you do a good job, other groups would want to connect with them.
  • Fr. Triatmoko, S.J. suggested that they identify the areas of expertise of the member institutions as a starting point of identifying possible research areas.
  • Fr. Tabora, S.J. asked the board if they all agree with suggestion of Fr. Triatmoko, S.J. 
    • There being no objections nor objections, it was resolved to have an indicative manifestation of the tentative areas of research of the member institutions.
    • The following are the Tentative Research Areas for the respective member institutions.

    Higher Educational Institution	Research Focus
    ATMI	Environment and Business Ethics
    Sanata Dharma University	Religious Dialogue (with special focus on renewable resources)
    Sophia University	Cultural and Religious Dialogue (with special focus on Natural Sciences, Engineering and Law)
    Sogang University	Environmental Issues and Energy Issues (with special focus on Alternative Energy Resources)
    ADMU	Migration and Family Environmental Disaster Risk Management
    ADNU	Environmental Research and ConservationSocial Science Researches
    ADDU	Migration Graft and Corruption
    ADZU	Peace and Health Issues
    Xavier	Sociology, Agriculture and Marine Coastal Resource Management

• Resolution No. 15 - That the AJCU EAO encourage and seek to support greater collaboration with others in service of the Society’s universal mission, e.g. through formation for both Jesuits and partners, e.g. through formation for both Jesuits and partners.
  • Fr. Hollerich, S.J. moved for a resolution to on partnership.  He said that this would be a great help in formation program of their institutions, not only on lay people but on the faculty as well.
  • Fr. Villarin, S.J. suggested clarifying the definition of “partners”.
  • Fr. Nebres, S.J. pointed out that the term laity is not used.
  • Fr. Hollerich, S.J. said that for the global concerns they have, some kind of formation together could not be bad.
  • Fr. Raper, S.J. again stressed the point on supporting and encouraging formation.
    • There being no questions nor objections, it was resolved that the AJCU EAO will  encourage and seek to support greater collaboration with others in service of the Society’s universal mission, e.g. through formation for both Jesuits and partners, e.g. through formation for both Jesuits and partners, was approved.
      
• Resolution No. 16 - That the hosting of the Student Learning Program (SLP) be rotated among the AJCU EAO member institutions.
  • Fr. Tabora, S.J. suggested allowing the various institutions to offer service learning in their own name and AJCU EAO simultaneously.  He also pointed out that Xavier University was willing to continue their SLP.
  • Fr. Nebres, S.J. asked whether the SLP was specifically for AJCU or if they may be offered to other non-Jesuit institutions as well.
  • Fr. Tabora, S.J. said that he was only referring to AJCU EAO.
  • Fr. Triatmoko, S.J. suggested rotating the hosting of SLP instead of holding it simultaneously.
  • Fr. Raper, S.J. pointed out that the SLP was an activity which they may want to multiply rather than limit.
  • Fr. Tabora, S.J. said that service learning is good but that they would not want to be in a situation where three institutions would do it at the same time but with small number of students.
  • Dr. Fernandez shared that the SLP was created when the presidents and vice-presidents met last year.  She said that the idea behind was that Japanese and Korean students were not familiar with SLP.  She said that it was basically created based on the request of Japan and Korea.
  • Fr. Tabora, S.J. acknowledged what Dr. Fernandez mentioned but said that this was only valid last year.  He also pointed out that a problem occurred when the SLP organizers and the AJCU EAO were not able to decide on it together. 
  • Mr. Kuswandono, said that he personally thinks that they do not have right to prohibit institutions to carry out this program.  However, he pointed out that some complication may happen when they send students to SLP when they themselves are hosting the same kind of program.
  • Fr. Villarin, S.J. said that should they decide on a sequential cycle of hosting SLP, Xavier would not offer to the AJCU EAO network so as to avoid confusion.
  • Dr. Torres said that perhaps a better arrangement was to do it sequentially.  She said that this may bring together multi cultural backgrounds.  She also said that in the future, they may just diversity.
  • Fr. Nebres, S.J. said that the term Student Learning is used in the academic world in the programs of the academic course.
  • Fr. Villarin, S.J. shared that Xavier students receive credits for this.
  • Ms. Enerio also pointed out that the SLP was only a pilot program.  She said that there were certain flaws and that they would want to improve it in the future.  She suggested that they should be progressively integrating the SLP into the institutions.
  • Fr. Tabora, S.J. asked the board whether they all agree on rotating the hosting of the SLP among their respective institutions.
    • There being no more questions nor objections, it was resolved to rotate the hosting of the SLP among the AJCU EAO member institutions.  There will be one host each year and that next year’s host will be Sanata Dharma University.
  •   It was however understood that this does not preclude others from continuing with their SLP provided that it will not be under the name of AJCU-EAO. 
• There being no more things to discuss, the meeting was adjourned.