The purpose of the presentation is to review the evolution and progress of the World Maritime University(WMU), culminating in an exposition of the future direction of WMU and the contribution of the global network of WMU graduates to the international maritime community.

　

　The first section of the presentation, entitled 'Mandate and Start-Up Phase: 1983-1995' reviews the basic purpose for which WMU was established, and highlights the principal challenges, institutional priorities and achievements of WMU during the period 1983-1995.

　

　The second section, entitled 'The Changing Face of WMU: 1996-2001' focuses on the comprehensive reform program of WMU over the last five years, with particular emphasis on the restructuring and diversification of the academic program of the University. The result has been the emergence of an expanded and more flexible service to the international maritime community whose structure and academic standards have been validated and recognized by authoritative agencies in the international university milieu. Thus WMU has clearly emerged as a recognized 'university' institution with a first-class professional program whose growing appeal is indicated by the steadily rising demand for its services from all regions and sectors of the global maritime community.

　

　Finally, the last section of the presentation, entitled 'The Future: WMU and the Global Network of WMU Fellows', discusses the priorities and plans of WMU for the coming years, as well as the growing impact of WMU graduates at both the national and international level of the global maritime community.

The World Maritime University -by now widely known by its acronym WMU- was created as an instrument of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to meet a specific need of IMO and its member states, namely, a critical shortage of specialist technical personnel in the international maritime sector, and particularly in developing countries, to implement and enforce IMO Conventions and related legal and regulatory instruments.

　

　The international mandate of WMU was spelled out in the University's Charter as follows:

　

　In fulfilling this mandate, the University was to pay particular attention to the needs of developing countries and, in general, to the promotion of the highest practicable, global standards in matters concerning maritime safety, marine environmental protection and efficiency of the maritime transportation system.

　

　The challenge of establishing an entirely new institution of higher education and professional training is daunting at the best of times. In the case of WMU this was even more so as there was no ready-made model which could be emulated -i.e., no other university with either a 'world' mandate or a post-graduate degree program focusing exclusively on specific aspects of maritime transportation. The founders of WMUleaders of IMO, international supporters of WMU, and the original staff and students of WMU- met this challenge and thereby created a truly unique model of international learning and cooperation in the service of the global maritime community.

　

　During those foundation years in the 1980s and early 1990s the main emphasis was on the teaching component of the academic program (i.e., WMU had no research and consultancy program and offered no short-term courses or seminars), and the central focus of the M.Sc. course program was maritime safety. The majority of the WMU students were ex-seafarers and there were few female students.

　

　Despite the evident success of WMU over the period 1983-1995-which produced 1,140 graduates from 128 countries, an indication that WMU was having an impact on the critical shortage of specialist maritime personnel which led to its creation- there were increasing concerns by the mid-1990's because of the following:

　

　

　These concerns led to a critical re-assessment and reform of WMU and its academic program which took place during the period 1996-2001

　In 1995 the Board of Governors of WMU and some of the major financial supporters of the University(Sweden and Norway) initiated an intensive review and assessment of WMU which culminated in 1996 with the adoption of a five-year Strategic Plan for the period 1997-2001. This Plan contained a clear statement of WMU's Mission and Goals which, among other things, includes an explicit commitment be the University to a process of continuous review and development of the academic program in response to current and future requirements, and a 'commitment to quality in all areas of its activity'. The University translated the broad direction of the Strategic Plan into a 'rolling' Corporate Action Plan (i.e., a plan of action which was updated and extended every six months), which then became the institutional focus and practical guide for the entire reform program of WMU over the period 1997-2001. The Corporate Action Plan listed a series of concrete initiatives in closely related strategic priority areas, ranging from student enrolment to the financing of WMU.

　The centerpiece of the WMU reform program, which touches on all aspects of university operations, has been academic reform and the enhancement of student enrolment. To date the achievements of academic reform, which has been instituted as a central element of the continuing strategic planning process, can be summarized under the following headings:

　

　The successful implementation of these reforms, and their endorsement by a high-powered review team from the Association of European Universities (CRE), has certainly enhanced the academic standing of WMU by verifying that its post-graduate degree program meets international university standards.

　

　Apart from raising the academic standards and international recognition of the WMU program, another basic objective of the University's reform program has been to change the public perception or image of WMU, namely, from an institution which caters primarily, or even exclusively, to the needs of governments and developing countries, to a genuine global institution serving all sectors involved in maritime transportation in both developing and developing countries: international maritime bodies such as IMO, governments, the shipping and related maritime industry, and maritime educational institutions. This change is reflected in the WMU motto used since 1997: 'WMU: Serving the International Maritime Community', and in concerted efforts by WMU to increase both its linkage with the shipping industry and to enroll a certain number of students from developed countries.

　

　Overall, what has emerged at the end of the University's 1997-2001 Strategic Plan is a greatly enhanced, expanded and more widely recognized professional and academic program which enables WMU to better meet the current and future needs of its multiple clients around the world, putting it on course to become a genuine and internationally widely recognized center of excellence for postgraduate-level maritime education, training, and research.

　

　It should be noted in this context that the active encouragement and generous financial support from the family of the Nippon Foundation the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, the Global Foundation for Research and Scholarship (GFRS) and its successor, the Tokyo Foundation, and now the Ship & Ocean Foundation(SOF) was a critical element in the entire reform program of WMU over the last five years. This support was invaluable not only in the University's reform process but also in raising student enrolment to more sustainable levels.

The 1999 evaluation of WMU by the Association of European Universities validated not only the academic status and reform program of the University, but also made some 40 major recommendations regarding the future development and expansion of WMU. Many of the recommendations dealing with strictly academic matters -on research and the academic course program- have already been or are being implemented by WMU. Others, such as those concerning the governing structures, the long-term financing and the expansion of WMU (e.g., the recommendation of doubling the full-time student population to 500 students) are currently being considered by two special task forces which have been established by the Secretary-General of IMO.

　

The strategic priorities of WMU over the next five years can be summarized under three headings:

　

　The ultimate objective of all this is to establish the acronym WMU as a widely recognized international brand name for professional and academic excellence in maritime education, training and research, as well as promoting the evolution of a recognized 'Global Network of WMU Fellows', a unique cadre of highly qualified and committed maritime professionals who will become a potent force pushing for the realization of safer environmentally sustainable and more efficient maritime transportation worldwide.

　

　The growing impact and influence of this network is already quite apparent in international forums such as IMO, where WMU graduates account for a significant and steadily growing number of delegates, and have also risen to key positions such as the chairmanship of key committees like IMO's Technical Cooperation Committee (TCC). Indeed, the close cooperation of WMU graduates is quite apparent in international forums such as the IMO Council and Assembly.

　

　To date WMU has produced some 1,600 graduates from 140 countries around the world, a number that is nowadays growing by 100- 110 graduates each year. Of these a growing number, including relatively recent graduates, have risen to senior positions in international organizations, government administrations, industry, and maritime educational institutions. Some of them have become government ministers, deputy ministers and ambassadors of their country; others are heads of regional maritime organization and IMO Regional Coordinators, heads of national port and harbor authorities, senior managers in different areas of national maritime administrations and shipping industry, while others have become principals and senior academics at maritime academies.

　

　Apart from the growing influence of individual graduates, the collective impact or relative weight of WMU in specific organizations has also increased significantly-for example, there are now at least 20 WMU graduates working in the Kenya Ports Authority and over 20 in the Philippine Coast Guard. At the World Maritime University itself WMU graduates have become members of the resident faculty, visiting professors, and members on the University's Board of Governors and Executive Council.

　

　WMU is a unique model of international learning and cooperation in the service of the global maritime community. Its graduates, which carry with them their professional expertise, commitment and WMU living experience to all corners of the world, form an ever-expanding Global Network of WMU Fellows whose membership will increasingly become a mark of professional distinction in the global maritime community.