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

Gunma Prefectural College of Health Sciences

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: PublicLocation: Gunma, Japan

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

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Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Results
for Gunma Prefectural College of Health Sciences
Overview
Gunma Prefectural College of Health Sciences (hereafter, the College) is committed toits basic founding principles of “cultivating health and medical care professionals withwell-rounded character traits and advanced knowledge and skills, who respect humandignity and consider health and medical care from various aspects, and who can makeappropriate decisions and act on them independently, while returning research outcomesto the local community to contribute to further improvements for prefectural residents’
health, medical care, and welfare environment.” The College sets forth the educational
objectives of “teaching and researching advanced knowledge and techniques related tohealth and medical care; fostering health and medical care professionals who are highly
educated with fully developed characters; and returning research outcomes to society tocontribute to improving health, medical care, and welfare services for prefecturalresidents.”
In the past, as a public college under the prefecture’s administration, the College
was unable to independently formulate concrete medium- and long-term goals and plans
and various policy measures to attain these principles and objectives. But after its
incorporation in fiscal 2018, the College drafted its own FY2018 annual plans as well as
the medium-term plans in the following fiscal years in light of its current situations andfuture visions.
The College has undertaken various initiatives to cultivate healthcare
professionals and provided elaborately planned education, teaching, and student support
with a focus on small-group learning. Its student support efforts are particularly
outstanding in that the combination of curriculum adviser and group supervisor systems
enhances the effectiveness of small-group education. In addition, the College establishedthe “Nursing Science Teacher Training Course” to train educators in the nursing field,
taking advantage of its original curriculum that includes practical training in addition tobasic learning. This effort is highly commendable as an effective social contributioninitiative.
There are several issues the College needs to address, however. The
measurement of learning outcomes is not conducted in the graduate schools, and theabsence of regulations concerning the president’s authority is problematic.
Moreover, as for internal quality assurance, to which the Japan University

3Accreditation Association (JUAA) attaches utmost importance as a process foruniversities themselves to verify a certain level of quality in their various campus
activities consisting primarily of education and research, the College Management
Committee plays a central role in defining the policies and procedures. But the College’s
unofficial “Summit” meeting formed by senior officials plays a larger role in internal
quality assurance, and the system is not effective in line with the policies and procedures.
In the coming years, the College is expected to operate its internal quality
assurance system more effectively to advance education and enhance learning outcomesfor further development.
Notable Strengths
Student Support
 Student problems with courses and subjects are often connected to their lives.
Curriculum advisers cooperate with group supervisors responsible for providing
living support to offer comprehensive services, including interviewing students
individually about courses and establishing a consultation system to support all
aspects of their lives. It is commendable that this support from multiple academic staff
members allows students to choose those staffers who are easy to consult with, while
the collaboration of course guidance and living support helps to monitor the students’situations and prevent such problems as college withdrawal.
Social Cooperation and Contribution
 To train instructors for nurse training institutes and professionals who play a teachingrole in training nurses in clinical settings, the College launched the “Nursing Science
Teacher Training Course” in 2012. The course targets nurses with more than fiveyears of work experience after obtaining their nursing license and offers the College’s
original curriculum to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for lesson planningand practical applications in nursing education. It provides most of the subjects taught
by full-time faculty members in the School of Nursing, and is conducted atuniversities and nursing schools in the prefecture, with students who have completedthe course eventually engaging in nursing education. In addition, starting in fiscal
2018, the Career Development Course (master’s course) of the Graduate School of
Nursing grants credits for completion of the course as credits for prior learning after

4enrollment. It is commendable that the College aims to expand its course programs
and contribute to society through the cultivation of human resources in nursingeducation.
Suggestions for Improvement
Internal Quality Assurance Despite the establishment of an internal quality assurance system led by the College
Management Committee, the unofficial “Summit” executive meeting plays a largerrole in promoting internal quality assurance. However, the authority, role, andposition of the unofficial meeting are not articulated in the College’s organization andinternal quality assurance system. Moreover, there are no records kept on initiatives
aimed at improving each organization in line with the policy of the College
Management Committee, serving as an organization promoting internal quality
assurance. Since college-wide improvements based on the self-study results are notcarried out in accordance with the policies and procedures, this issue should beimproved.
Educational Program and Outcome
 The student learning outcomes stated in the degree award policy are not sufficiently
monitored and evaluated in the Graduate School of Nursing and the Graduate Schoolof Radiological Technology, with the outcomes still under examination. This issue
should be improved.
University Management and Finance The authority and responsibilities of the president are not stipulated in the College’s
rules and regulations. This issue should be improved.