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

Otemon Gakuin University

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: PrivateLocation: Osaka, Japan

Accreditation Status
Year of the Review: 2017
Accreditation Status: accredited （Accreditation Period: April.01.2018 – March.31.2025）

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Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Resultsfor Otemon Gakuin University
Overview
Otemon Gakuin University (hereafter, the University) has its origins in the elementary
school attached to Osaka Kaikosha (Incorporated Association), which was formed in1888. After adding a junior high and high school later, it was established as Otemon
Gakuin University in 1966 with the Faculty of Economics and Faculty of Letters tocommemorate its 80th anniversary. Then through additions and reorganizations ofdepartments and faculties, the University was reorganized into six faculties (Faculty ofEconomics, Faculty of Management, Faculty of Regional Development Studies,Faculty of Sociology, Faculty of Psychology and Faculty of International Liberal Arts)
and four graduate schools (Graduate School of Economics, Graduate School ofBusiness Administration, Graduate School of Psychology and Graduate School ofLetters) and conducts educational and research activities in Ibaraki City, Osaka
Prefecture, based on its educational principle of “fostering independence and selfreliance.”
After its previous accreditation review by Japan University Accreditation
Association (JUAA), the University began governance reforms in 2015 and has been
focusing on educational reform by managing the University through collaboration
between faculty members and staff and under the leadership of the President, with thefaculty council and the University’s Board of Councilors acting as the President’sadvisory body and administrative staff positioned as aides of the Dean.
In this accreditation review, JUAA has found that the University places
importance on understanding and expressing oneself, and for this it has been
implementing the “Assertive Program” since 2014 and introduced an assertive entrance
examination for students interested in the programs. This initiative stands out as asystem that clarifies the students’ objective for studying at the university and helps
enroll students with high self-expression skills in line with the University's educational
principles. It is also commendable that the University is striving as a unit to implement
educational reforms, including the introduction of the assertive entrance examination,
by developing a university management system based on faculty and staff cooperation
and actively training administrative staff. However, the University is yet to resolve theissue of the lack of research supervision based on a research supervision plan as

3pointed out in the previous review, and should work to make improvements. It is also
unable to meet its transfer student quota and enrollment quota in graduate schools. Thisissue should be addressed as well. It is important to activate an improvement
mechanism based on self-study to resolve various issues and work toward educational
quality assurance. Moreover, although the University reviewed related regulations andattempted to develop a system, the contents of the self-study are focused mainly on theprogress management of the University’s core policies and do not include a self-studyof educational activities in general. Therefore, the system is not sufficient forimprovement. It is expected that the University will strive to resolve various issues andimprove its educational activities by reviewing and updating the system and clarifying
processes leading to improvements based on the new system.

Notable StrengthsEnrollment
The University places importance on understanding and expressing oneself. For
this, it implemented the “Assertive Program” from 2014 for prospective students
and is striving to clarify the purpose of studying at a university through individualconsultations, Internet-based learning programs and reflection on the learningfrom the programs by creating assertive notes and training students to find issues
and think logically. It also conducts assertive entrance examination for students
who complete this program. Selection is based on group discussions, aptitude testof basic learning skills and individual interviews. This program is commendable
for supporting students transition from high schools to the University.

Administration and FinanceApart from appointing administrative staff as the Dean’s aide, the University also
appointed a faculty member as head of Academic Affairs Department, which
earlier comprised only administrative staff. Through such initiatives, it enables
faculty members and administrative staff to work together and build system ofjoint management of the university by faculty and staff. The University also
encourages participation in internal SD trainings and other external trainings. In
the internal follow-up training, staff act as lecturers and provide feedback on the4

training content. It is commendable that the University has built a foundation forjoint resolution of educational issues by faculty and staff by establishing a systemof collaboration between the two and this initiative is giving rise to uniqueactivities such as the planning and implementation of the Assertive Program andthe entrance examination linked to it.
Suggestions for Improvement
Educational Content, Methods, and Outcome
The degree award policies of the Master’s and Doctoral Courses in the Graduate
School of Business Administration do not indicate the learning outcomes expectedon completion of the courses. This should be rectified.

The curriculum design and implementation policies of the Master’s and Doctoral
Courses in the Graduate School of Business Administration do not indicate thebasic concepts related to educational program and instruction. This issue needs tobe addressed.

The curriculum for the Doctoral Course in the Graduate School of Economics andthe Graduate School of Business Administration lacks an appropriate combinationof course work in research work. The University should provide an appropriate
educational program for these courses by reviewing them in light of the ProgramBased Graduate School System.

No systematic training or research is conducted in the Graduate School ofEconomics, the Graduate School of Business Administration and the Graduate
School of Letters to improve education programs and instruction. This issue
should be addressed.

Enrollment
The ratios of transfer students to the transfer student quota were low at 0.20 for theDepartment of Economics of the Faculty of Economics, 0.21 in the Department ofManagement of the Faculty of Management and 0.42 for the Department of5Marketing of the Faculty of Management. There are no transfer students in theDepartment of Sociology of the Faculty of Sociology, the Department ofPsychology of the Faculty of Psychology, the Department of Asian Studies of theFaculty of International Liberal Arts and the Department of International Liberal
Arts in the same faculty. This should be addressed.
The ratios of student enrollment to the student enrollment cap were low at 0.07 in
Master’s program in the Graduate School of Economics, 0.33 in the Master’s
program in the Graduate School of Letters and 0.11 in the Doctoral program in
Economics in the Graduate School of Economics.

Internal Quality Assurance
Although the University reviewed regulations related to self-study and developed
a clear system, the new system is focused mainly on the status of activity plans
formulated on the basis of the mid-term management strategy summarized in theform of a activity report and does not include a self-study of educational activities
in general. The University should conduct appropriate self-study for its activities,build improvement processes based on the outcomes and strive for educational
quality assurance.

Area of Serious Concern
Educational Content, Methods, and Outcome

Research supervision plans have not been formulated for all the graduate schools.
This should be improved so that students can be provided proper guidance for theirresearch and degree thesis or dissertation, based on the research supervision plans.