Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Results forProfessional Graduate Business School

Meiji University Professional Graduate School
Graduate School of Professional Accountancy
Professional Accountancy Program

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: Private

Location: Tokyo, Japan

Accreditation Status
Year of the Review: 2019
Accreditation Status: Accredited（Accreditation Period: April 1.2020 – March 31.2025）

Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Results
for the Professional Accountancy Program,
Graduate School of Professional Accountancy, Meiji University

The Professional Accountancy Program, Graduate School of Professional Accountancy,
Meiji University (hereinafter referred to as the “Program”), has as its purpose “tonurture the qualities and the highly specialized skills students need to become
accounting professionals such as certified public accountants, accountants in the public
service or private-sector companies, and tax specialists.” Its educational objectives are“to make students understand the importance of governance and the necessity ofcompliance through examining examples and cases relating to professional ethics inlectures,” “to enable students to understand the basic ideas behind laws and regulations
and accounting standards by not only interpreting such laws and regulations andaccounting standards but also developing an understanding of the concepts that underlie
the provisions thereof,” and “to enhance students’ English presentation skills andpractical skills for identifying and solving business problems in preparation for an era ofconsiderable environmental changes.” A distinctive feature of the Program is that it aims
to provide students with high ethical standards, technical knowledge that is necessary
for fulfilling their social mission as accounting, auditing, and tax specialists, and skills
that correspond to the globalization and digitization of modern society.
In line with the abovementioned purpose and educational objectives, theProgram has made the Meiji University-Yonsei University IFRS Workshop Program, ajoint program with the Yonsei University School of Business in South Korea, a regularsubject under the name of International Accounting Workshop with the aim ofencouraging student participation. This not only contributes to the acquisition ofknowledge but also greatly motivates students in their study of related subjects, andthereby represents a distinctive feature of the curriculum in line with the Program’s
unique purpose and educational objectives.
A distinctive feature of the Program is that it offers meaningful information andsupport related to students’ careers through cooperation with the Employment andCareer Support Office, a campus-wide organization, and the assignment of career
coordinators unique to the Program. This is a commendable effort.
Furthermore, the Program has a system whereby education assistants, whomust be an active certified public accountant or tax accountant, are hired and always
made available to respond to any questions from students outside of class. Student2

satisfaction regarding this endeavor is high, and it is considered as a notable feature of
the Program’s personal support structure that contributes to education and research.
However, there are several issues that require improvement, as described
below.
First, although the Long-term/Mid-term Plan for AY2019 that was submitted
this time does present a mid- to long-term plan, it only describes previous measures andthe current situation, and fails to set forth a vision and formulate a corresponding
strategy. The specific goals remain unclear as of the time of the survey.
Next, many of the full-time faculty members are in their late 50s, and there areno female full-time faculty members. It was pointed out in the previous certified
evaluation and accreditation that some full-time faculty members are being forced towork for periods of time that exceed their scope of responsibility. The situation has notbeen resolved, and the overseas research personnel system and special researcher
system remain underutilized. Furthermore, an adequate mechanism for evaluating theeducational and research activities of full-time faculty members is not in place.
In addition, the activities of the Program’s alumni association are mainly relianton the voluntary activities of graduate volunteers, and the Program’s support isinsufficient in this respect.
The interviews carried out in the survey showed that a background to suchenduring problems is the failure to meet the enrollment quota. This is understandable,
since the Program has recently had to use much of its resources to solve this problem,and limits have been imposed in terms of human resources and budget according to theuniversity’s policy.
However, thanks to the leadership of the dean of the Graduate School ofProfessional Accountancy and the concerted effort of members of the graduate school(Program), the situation has clearly improved, and it seems that the Program will beable to meet the enrollment quota. Going forward, the Program should shift some of its
focus from solving the issue of enrollment to establishing a system for evaluating
education and research outcomes and graduate trends. In addition, the Program should
immediately start formulating a strategy for the Program’s future, including the ensuringof research opportunities for faculty members.
We hope the Program strives to further improve and enhance the content andenvironment of education and research, with reference to the results of the present
certified evaluation and accreditation and the content of the opinions exchanged in thesurvey.

3