University Accreditation Results(Results for Certified Evaluation and Accreditation for university)

Koyasan University

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: Private

Location: Wakayama, Japan

Accreditation Status
Year of the Review: 2018
Accreditation Status: accredited （Accreditation Period: April.01.2019 – March.31.2026）

2

Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Resultsfor Koyasan University
Overview
Koyasan University (hereafter, the University) was established based on the educational
principles of “Shugei (Exoteric and Esoteric Buddhism and Confucianism) Shuchi(Bodhicitta, or “enlightened mind”).” The University sets forth the mission of “providing
a well-rounded education to teach and research specialized academic fields ranging from
Buddhism and Esoteric Buddhism to the humanities and social studies in a comprehensive
and organic way, while also striving to cultivate student character, contribute to academic
and cultural tradition and development, develop human resources that can contribute tosociety,” and conduct educational and research activities based on the spirits of Buddhism
and Esoteric Buddhism. The University consists of the Department of Esoteric Buddhism
and Department of Humanistic Anthropology in the Faculty of Letters, the graduateschool program of Esoteric Buddhism and graduate school program of Buddhism in theGraduate School of Letters as well as distance learning courses. In 2016 it formulated the“Koyasan University Revitalization Vision” as medium- and long-term plans, and eachfiscal year draws up the “President Plan” to outline the initiatives on education, research,student support, and lifelong learning required to undertake their activities.
The University’s distinctive initiatives include the “Koyasan Archive,” with theUniversity taking advantage of Koyasan’s (Mount Koya) historical site to digitizeacademically valuable materials in its library. The successful release of the archive datais commendable as the University’s unique approach to utilize its location, long history
and culture. The University’s comprehensive student support offered by faculty members
and graduate students is another distinctive feature.
However, student enrollment and finance are among the serious issues theUniversity needs to address. As for enrollment, the University falls progressively short ofits student quota, resulting in the failure to establish a solid financial base as a university.
To boost its enrollment, the University is attracting adults by offering courses incollaboration with municipalities, but student enrollment needs to be more appropriatelymanaged. To deal with its financial situation, the University is required to formulate
medium- and long-term financial plans that include specific numerical targets reflecting
its current conditions as well as devise effective improvement measures to stabilize its
financial base.
There are other issues the University needs to address. For example, the Graduate

3

School of Letters has not sufficiently formulated the admission policy for each school andlacks research guidance plans for all programs except the distance learning courses.
Various problems are found in the graduate school’s educational system, with the degree
award and curriculum design and implementation policies not established for each degree,
and the screening criteria for theses and dissertations not explicitly stated, and problems
are also seen in the University’s systematic faculty development (FD) activities. Thesechallenges should be addressed.
The University formulated the policy for its internal quality assurance system in2017 and defined its internal organizational structure and procedures to develop aninternal quality assurance system led by the Executive Council, but its activities arelimited to self-study stated in the agenda of the President Plan. In the coming years, theUniversity is expected to effectively operate its internal quality assurance system after
conducting self-study for various activities in order to work toward addressing its
challenges. It is expected as well to assure the quality of its educational and research
activities and other initiatives and to make full use of its unique characteristics for furtherdevelopment.
Notable Strengths
Education and Research Environment
 The University takes advantage of its characteristics to digitize and release valuable
historical materials on Buddhism, Esoteric Buddhism, and Mt. Koya, including oldmanuscripts and printed books, achieving a successful outcome in launching the“Koyasan Archive” on the internet in 2017. It is commendable that this archive
disseminates worldwide not only historical materials but also the University’s
Esoteric Buddhism research outcomes, with studies on Buddhism and Esoteric
Buddhism expected to expand further.
Suggestions for Improvement
Internal Quality Assurance The University has developed an internal quality assurance system in which theExecutive Council is positioned as an organization promoting internal quality
assurance, the University Evaluation Committee inspects and assesses the attainment

4status of the annual President Plan through self-study of the faculty and graduate
school, and the Executive Council reflects the examination results in the next fiscal
year’s President Plan. However, the President Plan is limited to such items aseducation, research, student support, and international exchanges, and does not cover
all the University’s activities. Consequently, with the University’s internal qualityassurance system applied to the limited range of items stated in the President Plan,the University Evaluation Committee’s inspection and assessment are not sufficient,and neither is the Executive Council’s support for the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act)
cycles in the faculty and graduate school. These issues should be improved with therange of self-study reviewed and each of the University’s activities inspected andassessed to ensure effective operation of the internal quality assurance system.
Educational Program and Outcome
 The degree award and curriculum design and implementation policies are notestablished for each degree conferred in the Master’s and Doctoral Programs of theGraduate School of Letters. This issue should be improved.
 The two departments of the Faculty of Letters cap the number of credits students canregister for in one year as a measure to ensure credit validity, but they accept creditsthat exceed the maximum for “Plan Subjects” and “Free Elective Subjects (includingteaching certification subjects).” With no other measures adopted to ensure credit
validity, this issue should be improved.
 The screening criteria for theses and dissertations are not defined in the Master’s andDoctoral Programs of the Graduate School of Letters. This issue should be improved.
 To monitor and evaluate the student learning outcomes stated in the degree award
policy, the faculty employs graduation thesis examination results and a rubric forgrading class performance, while the graduate school outlines its direction formonitoring and evaluating student learning outcomes through seminar presentations
and thesis and dissertation evaluations. However, specific benchmarks for theevaluations have not been developed. This situation should be improved.

5Student Enrollment
 The ratios of student enrollment to the student enrollment cap are low at 0.4 in theMaster’s Program of the Graduate School of Letters and 0.17 in the Doctoral Programof the Graduate School of Letters. These ratios should be improved with the graduate
school’s student quotas thoroughly managed.
Faculty and Faculty Organization
 As for faculty development activities, the faculty and graduate school hold the FD/SD
Training Session and administer class evaluation questionnaires by students, butparticipation in the training session and utilization of the questionnaire results are leftto each academic staff member. Since these approaches are not sufficient as
systematic FD activities, this issue should be improved with the purpose of thetraining session reconsidered and the questionnaire results systematically utilized.
University Management and Finance The Academic Affairs Committee holds the FD/SD Training Session for
academic/administrative staff members, but it focuses primarily on lesson
improvement and does not conduct staff development (SD) activities aimed atimproving the quality of academic staff members necessary for university
administration. This issue should be improved.
Recommendations
Educational Program and Outcome The Master’s Program of the Graduate School of Letters (excluding the distancelearning courses) states its enrollment periods and registration procedures in theresearch guidance plans, but it does not define the research guidance methods andschedules. This issue must be addressed with these items defined and clarified tostudents beforehand.

6Student Enrollment
 The Master’s and Doctoral Programs of the Graduate School of Letters state identicaladmission policies despite their different degree courses. This issue must be corrected.
 The average of ratios of freshman enrollment to the freshman enrollment cap over thepast five years is low at 0.52 in the Faculty of Letters and 0.63 in the Department ofEsoteric Buddhism, Faculty of Letters. The ratio of student enrollment to the student
enrollment cap is also low at 0.64 in the Faculty of Letters and 0.66 in the Departmentof Esoteric Buddhism, Faculty of Letters. These ratios must be corrected with thefaculty’s student quotas thoroughly managed.
University Management and Finance The University’s balance sheet ratio for operating activities (imputed balance sheet)remains remarkably low, with the ratio of financial assets to the required reserve funds
showing a definite downward trend. These situations indicate that the University is
far from establishing the financial base necessary to realize its educational andresearch objectives and goals. In the years ahead, the University must correct thisissue by formulating medium- and long-term financial plans stating concretemeasures to achieve numerical targets and consistently implement them to establish
a solid financial base.