International Joint Accreditation
By JUAA and TWAEAThe Accreditation Report
For Chia Nan University of Pharmacy & Science

Date of On-site Visit: 25 April, 2019
Date of Report: 22 July, 2019Japan University Accreditation Association

Taiwan Assessment and Evaluation(JUAA)

Association(TWAEA)

iJAS Accreditation Report for CNU

2019

1 Accreditation Status: Accredited
Validity Period: 1 October, 2019 to 30 September, 2025
On the evidence considered by the Review Team, Chia Nan University of Pharmacy &Science meets International Joint Accreditation Standards (iJAS) which is set by the Japan
University Accreditation Association (JUAA) and the Taiwan Assessment and Evaluation
Association (TWAEA).
This report is to certify that the accreditation is conferred based on the related regulationsof “International Joint Accreditation Standards.” For Chia Nan University of Pharmacy &Science, the achievement of the six standards is shown in Table 1 and Figure 1.

Standard 1: Mission, Goals & Strategy

4Standard 4: Faculty

4Standard 2: Internal Quality Assurance

4Standard 5: Social Connection

5Standard 3: Teaching & Learning

4Standard 6: Governance

4

Table 1: The achievement results of each standard

1-1
6-3
6-2

1-2

5

1-3

4

6-1

1-4

3

5-2

1-5

2

5-1

1-6

1

4-4

2-1

0
4-3

2-2

4-2

2-3
4-1

2-4
3-7

3-1
3-6

3-2
3-5

3-3
3-4

Figure 1: The achievement results of each indicator

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iJAS Accreditation Report for CNU

Performance Level
5

Excellent4

Very good

3

Good
Requiring2

improvement

2019

Reference Standard
Results are excellent and distinctive in every aspect. The HEI fully
achieves its visions and goals, and its performance is outstanding.
Results are excellent and distinctive, and there is appropriate evidence.
The implementation of the basic requirements of the university iseffective and has sufficient evidence to prove it.
The implementation situation has not reached the basic requirements for
operating a university, or the implementation results have not met thestandards, or the supporting information is insufficient.
There is a significant gap between the implementation situation and the1

Insufficient

basic requirements for operating a university, or there is no specificplanning or action, or there is a major lack of implementation.

2 Executive Summary
Chia Nan University of Pharmacy & Science (hereinafter called the University) wasestablished as a junior college in 1966, which developed to a four-year college in 1996. It
later changed its name from college to university as it added several programs. Now the
University is one of the leading universities in South Taiwan. As its history describes, theUniversity is proactive in terms of its strategy for development, which is the main reason for
the university’s development in such a short period of time. The University has a specificphilosophy and orientation towards development. This may be another reason for such highachievements. Overall, the University has well-defined long- and mid-term goals. However,some goals need more specific strategies. One such area is internationalization. The
University has prepared a few tactics for its internationalization. They include courses andactivities to improve students’ foreign language ability, English-taught courses andinternational collaboration and exchange. The problem is, however, there are not enoughstudents from abroad on campus. Since the University has not set up its long- and mid-term
tactics, the number of inbound students has not increased as desired. Considering thedemographic change that the birth rates of younger generations have been declining, theUniversity should start figuring out feasible strategies and tactics for internationalization assoon as possible. The University has a highly efficient publicity function, and operates offices
publicizing the University through several channels and platforms. Though their efforts inpublicity can be highly evaluated, there is still room for improvement. For instance, somestudents do not fully understand the philosophy and orientation of the university. In
addition, some faculty members do not have a clear idea about the rules and regulations

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that are necessary for university operation and management.
The University has the necessary internal quality assurance organizations and systems
according to its internal quality assurance policy. The University has conducted internal andexternal audits regularly. Some showed excellent results. One of the factors for realizing theefficient implementation of the organization for quality assurance is the fact that the
University has adopted Standard Operation Procedures. The efficiency of the internal
quality assurance organization is regularly reviewed under the PDCA cycle. Those
procedures are also evaluated regularly. What is worth mentioning is that the University is
conducting research on how to improve its management capability. The structure andorganization for quality assurance is satisfactory. On the other hand, there are still many
issues that require improvement. The University should find out why there are many issues
that remain unsolved.
The University properly discloses the curriculum design, implementation and admission
policy. The curriculum design of each program is carefully planned and implemented.
Especially, it is a good practice that some courses are provided by team teaching withindustrial professionals and experts, which amounted to about 700 in academic year 2017.
Each program is properly supported by staff and professionals. The faculty members execute
relevant evaluation criteria for students’ assessment. Generally, they adopt a variety ofassessment criteria for encouraging the students to study constantly. For curriculum
management, the University operates appropriate student support and maintains thesystem. However, there is still much room for improvement in terms of measurement andevaluations of learning outcomes.
The faculty and staff members have been properly employed and promoted. The University
has been trying to promote faculty development (FD) by way of industry- academia
collaboration. Every year almost 350 faculty members are involved in it and the number has
been increasing steadily. The University has achieved good learning outcomes in terms ofresearch and education through those collaborations with industry and the community. The
University’s collaborations with industry have been active and have become one of theuniversity’s features and strengths. Outcomes from such collaborations have beenenormous. On the flip side, the University has not provided their faculty members with offthe-job training, like holding FD seminars or sending them to external seminars, andsubsidizing such activities.
The University has been keeping good relationships and connections with the community.
These relationships and connections are second to none. First of all, it should be mentionedthat the University has four social connection guidelines. The University gained a large

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2019amount of funds for its social connection activities. The efforts for attaining those funds
should be very much appreciated. The number of faculty and students involved in social
connection have reached from 1,500 in academic year 2015 to 1,700 in 2017. Social
connection activities range from public welfare activities and professional testing activities
to creation and innovation services and other social contributions. Social connection is oneof the Universities’ features and strong points. It is advisable that the University enhance its
social connections more robustly.
The present President proposed six school management strategies. The Review Team
recognized that the University is making steady progress in accordance with the six policies.
However, these six policies are not for the administration but for the entire University. It is
not clear to the Review Team how the six management strategies are connected with themotto, philosophy, orientation and so forth. The Review Team suggests that the policies
should be broken down into more precise and detailed policies designed for administrative
work. The University has set up a relevant administration organization with several
committees. All the activities of these committees are supposed to work for the
improvement of the education and research. The University regularly holds an outsideadvisory board meeting for absorbing objective ideas and opinions. However, the University
has no specific internal notification procedures yet. The University has been providing thestaff members with training programs for improving their skills and knowledge.
The Review Team concludes that the University has satisfied most of the iJAS standards,
with room for improvement in the field of internationalization. The University has made avery high achievement in the field of social connection. The University has been constantly
striving to maintain and improve the overall quality of teaching, learning and research, andhas cultivated good community service programs both for faculty members and students.
Programs such as health- and social work-related programs by their nature provide students
with opportunities for social awareness and social contributions. On the other hand, giventhat Taiwan is facing a drastic population decrease in the younger generation, the University
should accelerate its internationalization.

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3 Strengths, Specialties and Recommendations
3.1 Strengths and Specialties(Standard 1) Mission, Goals and Strategy


The University started in 1966 as a Junior College of Pharmacy. Since then, the University
has grown to be a comprehensive university of science and technology. The University was
renamed as the University of Pharmacy & Science in 2014. Based on its unique position as
the first pharmaceutical college in Taiwan and its history of more than 50 years, theUniversity’s commitment to “LOHAS innovation service” with two conceptual axes
“pharmacology” and “health” is highly valued. This LOHAS innovation has played a very
important role for the University’s development. Under the LOHAS principle, the mission
and goals of the University are clearly defined and eight goals (targets) are well organized
so that the mission can be attained firmly.



The orientation of the University, which is described on page 6 of the Self-Assessment
Report (SAR), is very clear. It is a very good idea that the orientation of the University, i.e.,from reactive to proactive, and medicine for life to LOHAS for health preservation, is very
easy to understand. In addition, its development strategies from 2018 to 2022 were listed
as four visions including an axis comprised of eight goals and 30 strategies, covering both
the width and depth of its strategies. They are appropriately related to the mission of the
University.



The University aggressively defines a strategy on internationalization, which is accompaniedwith various types of international cooperation and agreements, and sending students
abroad. As far as private universities are concerned, it is rare that 51 courses have beentaught in English for the past three years, and 70 teachers and 910 students haveparticipated in these courses.

(Standard 2) Internal Quality Assurance

The University specifies university-wide policies and procedures appropriately by setting up“Measures for Self-Evaluation at Chia Nan University of Pharmacy & Science”. The University
also continues to improve the Handbook of Internal Control System and take othermeasures for improvement.



The internal quality assurance system has been supported by such effective methods asadministrative support, the PDCA cycle, collecting the opinions of internal and external
stakeholders, and the institutional research structure.



The University appropriately publishes the outcomes of internal quality assurance activities
through announcement of the information.

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

2019

The University appropriately implements gender education on campus. It is essential for thepharmaceutical university to implement gender equality education through several
channels.

(Standard 3) Teaching & Learning

The University strongly enhances diversified evaluation methods for the assessment ofstudents’ performance in courses.

Overall satisfaction with teaching and learning by students is quite high, which is indicatedby the high scores of teaching assessment.



Faculty members continuously strive to improve the quality of teaching by group teachingand discussion, Project-Based Learning (PBL), developing teaching materials and so on.



The University has made much investment in many facilities including the library and otherlearning spaces, which enhance active learning, PBL and other interactive academic
activities.

(Standard 4) FacultyThere are 467 full-time teachers at the University (academic year 2018), of which 92.72%
are assistant professors or above and 66.17% possess doctoral degrees. The ratio ofstudents to teachers in the whole university is 24.98, and the ratio of students to teachers
in day school is 22.08. Teacher evaluation is regularly performed and it helps the University
maintain the level of teaching quality.



Besides well-established rules governing teachers' appointments, promotion, training, etc.,
the University encourages industry-academia cooperation, tries to upgrade the rank of parttime teachers, and expands the incentives and diversifies the channels of teachers’
promotions.



The University fosters an environment for joint research and peer growth groups, resulting
in the increase of interdisciplinary cooperation and integrated courses. Strong connection
with industry helps faculties to develop their skills of practical teaching for the students.



The University has committed to industry-academia cooperation. In the past three years,
both the number and dollar value of such cooperative programs have achieved as expected.
In academic year 2017, the number of projects was 967 and the amount was
NT$173,195,676.

(Standard 5) Social Connection

Putting emphasis on social cooperation and contribution is really the strength and specialtyof the University. To achieve these goals, the University has guidelines for various measures

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of social connection.


The University has various kinds of evidence of performance for social connection, such as
the number of participations in special courses. Good practices, which are written in the
SAR, are very informative and strongly support the strengths and specialties of social
connection.

Given the University’s commitment to “LOHAS innovation service”, its contribution forcontinuing education with much emphasis put on programs for senior citizens is regarded
as invaluable, especially given the country’s ageing demography.



The University makes good use of the expertise of various departments in the University tointegrate itself into community services, promote educational and industrial consultations,and upgrade its activities in cooperation, service and contribution.



It has taken approximately three years to execute the government's various research
projects and industry-academia cooperation. The results are fruitful. In 2017, it reached
NT$250,000,000, of which nearly NT$200,000,000 was from industry-academy cooperative
projects.

To establish first and second-level centers, the University has integrated college resources,
undergraduate departments and graduate schools, and developed its fields with
distinguished features. These have led to fruitful results.

In the past three academic years, 586 non-credit classes have been given in the center ofcontinuing education with revenues of NT$120,000,000, which is worthy of recognition.

The Senior Development Center promotes the plans of the Senior Citizens University andeven offers special classes and advanced classes to meet the needs of senior citizens.

(Standard 6) GovernanceThe University has formed its six university management strategies in order to realize its
vision, “the cradle of LOHAS and sustainable development”, which is visualized as ten
specific development goals and objectives. The University has been implementing 30 tactics
for making the objectives materialize. All these strategies, goals, objectives, visions andtactics are well described and implemented. One of the University’s strengths is its ability
to achieve these goals.

One of the University’s strategies is “to seek strategic alliances and link regional industrial
resources with key technologies”. The University has already formed strategic alliances bysigning with a few organizations and industrial associations, such as the Hot Spring Tourism
Association Taiwan. In addition, the University has implemented many alliance activities
with corporations. It is worth mentioning that the University actively involves students insuch alliances. This indicates the University’s commitment to importance of education.



The University proactively utilizes human resources from the corporate and practical world7

iJAS Accreditation Report for CNU

2019for education. It has employed 1,765 professionals and experts based upon cooperation
memorandums. That was achieved within three years from 2015 through 2017. This
proactive approach should be highly appreciated.


The University has implemented its plans and investment for developing new products andservices in collaboration with corporations, such as biotech cosmeceutical products, highvalue diversified usage of hot spring water, life care management of elder citizens and cloud
innovation service research and development.

The management structure of the University to proceed with its strategies and tactics is also
well organized. There are seven committees under the decision-making bodies such as theBoard Meeting, the University Assembly and the Council of University Administration.



The University puts emphasis on educating and training the 159 staff members who workfor the University, taking advantage of the summer and winter breaks and enhancing theservice spirit, attitude and manners of the staff, and the efficiency of administrative work.
Its training and education of its administrative staff is highly appreciated qualitatively andquantitatively.

3.2 Recommendations(Standard 1) Mission, Goals and Strategy


The University should extend efforts to make the faculty members, students and staff
members realize the University's mission, goal and strategies. Although there is a system for
publicizing important meeting minutes on the Internet, and the University’s various decrees
and regulations were enacted, it seems that these measures have not been as effective as
desired/intended. The Review Team suggests that the University adopts supplementarymeasures or strengthens their surveys and enhances faculty members and students’
understanding of these rules and regulations.



While it is good for the University to have clear tactics and measures to achieve the goals
and objectives, one of the negative things about such detailed tactics and objectives may
be that in general institutions tend to be rigid in relation to their implementation. The
Review Team suggests the University keeps in mind the significance of flexibility.



As an extension of the idea that the University should emphasize management for medium
and long-term development, and elaborate on these concepts, as to whether there is any
plan to respond to changes in the future scale of colleges and graduate schools, theUniversity recommends that discussion or supplementary explanations be made as needed.

Internationalization should be attained not only by international activities of outgoingstudents and faculty members but also by incoming foreign students and scholars.
According to the data provided by the University, the number of international students on

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campus is small compared to the number of students studying abroad in exchange programs.
In order to enhance the degree of internationalization, it is helpful to increase the numberof courses taught in English. To achieve that objective, it may be a good idea to introduce
incentives to the teachers who take up that task.

(Standard 2) Internal Quality Assurance

The University has established an audit team in the secretarial office responsible for
auditing and internal control matters, and the president has appointed appropriate
personnel in the University to fill these positions. It is important that the independence of
this audit system should continue to be kept. Accordingly, the composition of the team andthe number and term of personnel should be specified more clearly.



The University conducts an annual evaluation of the university’s affairs. However, there arestill more issues that remain under ongoing improvement. The University should pay
attention to these, try to find out what the problems are, and improve them as quickly as
possible.



The University conducts an annual evaluation, facilitating the review of its issues. However,in order to make the PDCA cycle more effective, P, i.e., self-positioning of the university,
must be carefully set up by deeper analysis of the situation with which the University is
faced. And it is desirable that self-positioning should be chosen from several alternative
options.

(Standard 3) Teaching & Learning

There were noticeable aspirations for more practical courses in some colleges. It may be agood idea to review the curriculum of colleges and maintain appropriate balance between
theory and application.

Some students seem to be eager to have their skills after graduation developed at earlier
stages of their university lives. Since the University has already introduced career-oriented
online resources, it will be beneficial to both the students and the University to make more
use of such resources.

With respect to internationalization, it is desirable that more efforts be made to bring infaculty members and students from abroad, thereby making local students realize theimportance of global awareness.

(Standard 4) FacultyAmong faculty members, there may be some invisible categories of roles, e.g., researchoriented, teaching oriented, and practical oriented. Then it would be effective if the9iJAS Accreditation Report for CNU

2019

University encourages faculties to develop their own specific advantages (research, teaching,or practical training) by providing appropriate opportunities and resources.


Among those teachers who have been promoted in the past three years, four were
promoted through multi-channel evaluation alternatives. It is important to keep working on
providing resources as well as proper access to the faculty members for their multi-channel
promotion needs.



The incentives for outstanding teachers and the teacher’s disposal methods are also
important. Accordingly, it is essential that the University pays extra attention to keep
improving systematically in order to maintain the quality of teaching.



Significant resources to recruit international faculty members to support the goal of the
University's internationalization are recommended.

(Standard 5) Social Connection

For the good performance of social connection, the University needs adequate resources.
Thus, for a higher degree of success, it is essential that the university assess the activities
for social connections on a regular basis, and reconsider resource allocation if necessary.

With respect to the number of non-credit classes given in continuing education, and thenumber of students completing their courses in the University, in 2015, more classes were
given and the income was also higher. In 2016, the number of students decreased by nearly
one-third, while the number of classes decreased by approximately two-thirds. In 2017, it
rebounded slightly. It is appropriate to review the reasons for this trend and try to promote
it extensively to benefit the community of people who are interested in learning.

(Standard 6) GovernanceThe organizational structure of the University is hierarchical with the Board Meeting at its
top. Below the Board Meeting, the University Assembly and the Council of School of
Administration are arranged horizontally. The structure shows that the Board Meeting has
priority over the Assembly and the Council. In principle, the functions of each of theorganizations should be different from each other. They should monitor one anothermutually. In other words, these three organizations should have triangular check-andbalance functions. The Review Team suggests that the University should clarify the roles andfunctions of these three organizations.



According to the SAR, there are six different management strategies proposed by the
President. There may be several ways of planning strategy, but it is absolutely necessary forthe drafted plans to go through other decision-making bodies.



There is no endorsement that the next President will respect and continue the same set of

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iJAS Accreditation Report for CNU

2019strategies. Accordingly, the Review Team advises that the President should include advice
and opinions from the stakeholders in his drafted strategies.


The University provides its staff members with several kinds of training. While it is good thatthe staff members can improve their knowledge and skills, the training that they receive is
not thorough enough to become professionals. Since the staff members are expected tocontribute to the research development of faculty members and the educational
development of students, the Review Team advises the University to define the qualities
required for such professionals and provide training necessary for them.

The University has an external advisory board, which is held three times a year, but it has
no specific whistle-blowing system yet.

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Appendix A: The Performance Indicators

Standard 1: Mission, Goals & Strategy
1

The goals of the university and each school and department are clear and specific,
and the goals of each school and department can meet the goals of the university.

2 The university can set the strategy based on its mission and goals, and implement it.
3

The university can set the development goals and a mid- and long- term plan basedon the analysis of their goals and internal condition and external environment.

4

The university goals are clear, and the development plans are specific and effective,
and can be implemented.

5

The university can set a strategy on internationalization that meets its own
conditions and implement it.

6

The university informs the university rules and institution information to academic
and administrative staff and students, and publicizes to society.

Standard 2: Internal Quality Assurance
1 The university sets the policy and procedures for internal quality assurance.
2 The university establishes internal quality assurance system and operates it.
3

The university reviews and improves the effectiveness of internal quality assurance
system.

The university informs academic and administrative staff and students about
4 information related to internal quality assurance and appropriately publishes it tosociety.
Standard 3: Teaching & Learning
1

The information disclosure about “teaching and learning” such as degree awards
policy, curriculum design and implementation policy, and admission policy.

2 Rationality of curriculum planning for each degree program.
3

Rationality of the policy of faculty organization and the actual staffing in each schools
and departments.

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4

2019

The academic staff provides the appropriate teaching methods and assessment
methods for classes.

5 Assessment and evaluation of learning outcomes.
6 The support systems for student learning outcomes and its implementations.
Resources (software and hardware) such as campuses, buildings, space, and7 equipment can meet the needs for academic staff’s teaching and research activities
and student learning.
Standard 4: Faculty1

Faculty Development (FD) programs to promote for enhancement of academic
staff’s professional knowledge and teaching effectiveness.

2

Appropriateness of regulations such as appointment, promotion, and evaluation for
academic staff, etc.

3 Academic staff’s research and the results of industry-academia collaboration.
4

Return of faculty's research and educational achievement of industry-academia
collaboration to education.

Standard 5: Social Connection
1 Community cooperation, social service, and their implementation.
2 University contribution to society.
Standard 6: Governance1 Sustainable development strategy and its implementation.
2

Administration, academic organizations and various committees can be set up andoperated in accordance with the needs of university operation and development.

3

The promotions of various growth activities of administrative staff that help improveadministrative efficiency.

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Appendix B: Review Team
Name

Title and Organization

Kenji Yokoyama*

Vice-President, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University

Saeko Urushibara

Professor, The University of Kitakyushu

Shinichi Yamamoto

Professor Emeritus, University of Tsukuba, Hiroshima
University and J. F. Oberlin University

Tian-Ren Lee

President, Huafan University

Fred P.C. Huang

Honorary Chairman, Taiwan Association of Machinery
Industry*Chair14