Re-review Results

Iryo Sosei University

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: Private

Location: Fukushima, Japan

Accreditation Status
Year of the Review: 2020
Accreditation Status: accredited （Accreditation Period: April.1.2019 – March.31.2026）

Iryo Sosei University

Re-review Resultsfor Iryo Sosei UniversityOverview
As the results of the University Accreditation by the Association in 2018 for Iryo Sosei
University (the name at the time of University Accreditation was Iwaki Meisei University)
revealed serious problems in both “student enrollment” and “teaching staff and faculty,”
corrective recommendations were issued, and the decision of whether or not it conformed
to the university standards for accreditation was suspended in consideration of theprobability of improvement. To this, one corrective recommendation and six improvement
issues were also added. The progress report concerning the corrective recommendations
other than the critical issues and the status of issues requiring improvement are scheduled
to be submitted in AY 2022. In this re-review, the status of improvement in “studentenrollment” and “teaching staff and faculty,” which factored in the previous suspension ofaccreditation decision, were assessed.
From 2019 to 2020, Iryo Sosei University added two faculties. The University
was in the midst of major changes through organizational restructuring such as suspensionof application for one faculty and name change of the University as it transitioned into a
medical University. However, the University has steadily worked on making
improvements and progress under the guidance of the chairman of the University-wide
Board of Education (President), who is responsible for checks and reviews and general
education of the whole University. As a result, although the two corrective
recommendations pointed out as serious problems at the time of University Accreditation
were not fully addressed, the improvements were comprehensively judged and determined
to be conforming to the University standards, including the period in which the decisionof accreditation was suspended in the previous University Accreditation.
First, regarding “student enrollment,” it was pointed out as a problem that for thelast five years, the average ratios of freshman enrollment to the freshman enrollment cap
was low for the entire undergraduate program, and the ratios of student enrollment to thestudent enrollment cap was also low for the entire undergraduate program as well as theDepartment of Pharmacy. In response to this fact, faculties are being reformed: applications
were suspended in AY 2019 for the Faculty of Liberal Arts with an especially low
fulfillment rate of admission, and the Faculty of Health Sciences was newly established in
2019, and the Faculty of Psychology was established in 2020, etc. As a result, the average
ratios of freshman enrollment to the freshman enrollment cap in the last five years for the1Iryo Sosei University

whole undergraduate program and the ratios of student enrollment to the student
enrollment cap has increased year by year from AY 2019 to AY 2020, but it remains at alow level. In addition, the Department of Pharmacy is striving to secure enrollment using
a variety of media and opportunities to enhance educational effects through original
initiatives. These initiatives include “Ignite Education,” in which active learning takes
place, and “Cram School,” in which remedial education is offered by external teachers,
and utilize methods such as TBL (Team Based Learning) and PBL (Problem BasedLearning). In spite of this, the enrollment numbers are on the decline. For this same faculty,
the ratio of student enrollment to the student enrollment cap was higher for AY 2019 incomparison at the time of university accreditation, but the ratio was lower for AY 2020. As
for the average ratio of freshman enrollment to the freshman enrollment cap for the past
five years (which was not the subject of the assessment at the time of university
accreditation), the ratio declined to a low level in AY 2020. Continued improvements toensure thorough quota management are required. In addition, the ratios of student
enrollment to the student enrollment caps in the new faculties are low in the Departmentof Occupational Therapy in the Faculty of Health Sciences and the Department of ClinicalPsychology in the Faculty of Psychology. It is necessary to analyze the future trends andrespond to them. The Faculty of Global Nursing (tentative name) is scheduled to beestablished in 2021. Although student enrollment for the entire undergraduate program isexpected to improve, the University as a whole must continue to tackle quota management
issues.
Regarding the “teaching staff and faculty,” it was pointed out that in the Master’s
Course and Doctor's Course of Japanese Literature of the Graduate School of Humanities,
there was a shortage of the number of assistant professors required by the Standards for
Establishment of Graduate Schools, to supervise research. It was also indicated that there
was a shortage in the number of research supervisors required by the same standards in theMaster Course of English and American Literature. However, with the subsequenttransition to a medical University, all departments and courses that were pointed out in theprevious accreditation stopped accepting applications in 2020, and recruitment of faculty
became unnecessary. In addition to formulating the next medium-term business plan, apersonnel plan is due to be created to secure and develop faculty members in a stablemanner. It is hoped that this will be steadily implemented and the appropriateness of thefaculty organization will be continuously ensured.
Iryo Sosei University has responded to the recommendations of the Association
as mentioned above while proceeding with the major University reforms. In order toestablish an internal quality assurance system that plays a role in supporting such reforms,
2

Iryo Sosei University

improvements, and progress, “Regulations for Checks and Reviews” were established, andit was decided that self-inspections and evaluations will be conducted annually. In fact, inAY 2019, each faculty selected items from the “University Standards” and conducted theirown checks and reviews, and the results were published on the website. This procedure
was re-implemented in 2020. However, allocation of responsibilities for integration andpromotion of internal quality assurance as a whole University is not sufficient yet. In recentyears, it seems the view that successive reforms in a short period of time are realized bypreceding management decisions is greater than the view that they are the results of internal
quality assurance. Internal quality assurance is not the subject of this assessment, but weexpect further enhancement of the internal quality assurance system and efforts to fully
demonstrate the mechanisms, to improve the quality of education, and to further achieve
the University's new mission and purpose.
Recommendation
Student Enrollment
In AY 2020, the average ratio of freshman enrollment to the freshman enrollment cap
over the past five years for the entire undergraduate program was 0.79. In theDepartment of Pharmacy, (which was not subject to the recommendation at the timeof university accreditation), it was as low as 0.79. The ratio of student enrollment tothe student enrollment cap for the entire undergraduate program is 0.81, in theDepartment of Pharmacy in the Faculty of Pharmacy, it is as low as 0.71.
Improvements to ensure thorough quota management for the faculty are needed.

3