2004年四月,日本國立大學成為了國立大學法人(NUCs)。此一改革不但因應了日本政府重建運動的浪潮,也反映了當前全球對於高等教育市場化的趨勢。然而,這樣的改革並不完整。在日本大學法人化的改革過程中,新的問題與議題不斷的浮現“國立大學法人化的內涵,原先並不被視為重要的細節,如今卻被視為相當重要的議題。因此,對於日本國立大學法人化改革的檢視,不但能夠幫助理解日本當前的改革,亦能夠闡明現今世界高等教育所要面對的根本問題。在本文當中,首先將探討現今日本國立大學法人化的歷史與政治發展。其次,說明國立大學法人化的基本架構。最後,檢視日本國立大學法人化的實施過程與可能問題。
As of April of 2004, Japanese national universities became National University Corporations (NUCs). While the reform was implemented in a wave of initiatives for restructuring government activities, it reflected to an extent the current global trend towards marketization of higher education. This reform, however, is by no means complete. As the implementation of reform progresses, new problems and issues have kept emerging. What had seemed to be a trivial detail turned out to be critical in determining the nature of the NUCs. Examination of this reform will not only help understand the current reforms in Japan, but also illuminate some of the fundamental issues that the higher education systems in the world are facing. In this paper, I shall outline the historical and political backdrops of the current reform, outline the basic construct of the NUC and examine the process of implementation and the issues revealed in the process.