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

Tamagawa University

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: Private

Location: Tokyo, 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 Resultsfor Tamagawa University
Overview
Tamagawa University (hereafter, the University) was established with the educational
mission of “Zenjin Education,” and sets forth “Tamagawa Motto” as the university-wide
objective to cultivate graduates who can contribute to Japanese society and the world. In
2011 the University formulated “Tamagawa Vision 2020” as medium- and long-termplans to promote the quality assurance of its education, research and management base.
It is particularly notable that the University steadily advances its efforts by sharing andreviewing the progress made in line with the “Action Plan” based on the vision.
To shift its educational focus from teacher-centered to learner-centeredapproaches based on its medium- and long-term plans, the University introduced the“University Standard Course” (hereafter, the “US Course”) offering common liberal arts
subjects in the colleges and departments as well as advanced courses for each department.
It is highly commendable that through these courses, the University has actively promoted
active learning, introduced a homeroom teacher system, and adjusted the maximum
number of credits students can register for in a semester to encourage students to increase
their study outside of class hours. The University also undertakes a variety of distinctive
approaches by, for example, utilizing experience-based study programs to support regular
extracurricular activities and participate in social contribution activities; providing fullcareer support from people with job experience, including graduates and faculty members,
to facilitate students’ self-directed learning; and working to improve faculty members’
knowledge and skills to sustain these activities. It is commendable that the University
systematically conducts faculty development (FD) activities, including faculty members’
involvement in university administration and social contribution activities, and staff
development (SD) aimed at helping administrative staff members to acquire advanced
knowledge on school management.
There are several issues the University needs to address, however. First, despite
various reform efforts to assure the quality of the University’s education and research as
mentioned earlier, the authority and responsibilities of the meeting bodies involved in theinternal quality assurance system are not defined. Moreover, with no records compiledby the organizations promoting internal quality assurance, including the Education andResearch Activity Investigation Committee, specific instructions and systems for
improvements as well as the improvement processes themselves are not clarified. Next,

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as for educational approaches, the screening criteria for theses and research outcomes on
specific themes are not established in some master’s programs of the graduate schools,
and the learning outcomes are not sufficiently monitored and evaluated in all graduateschools. These issues pertaining to the graduate schools need to be addressed, along withproblems found in student quota management.
The University has implemented various improvements and new measures toensure the quality assurance of its educational and research activities, and undertaken awide range of distinctive initiatives utilizing its characteristics and resources. In thecoming years, the University is expected to visualize the procedures for assuring thequality of education and research to further improve its educational and research activities.
Notable Strengths
Mission and Purpose The University formulated the “Action Plan” and “Campus Master Plan 2011-2020”
based on the medium- and long-term plans “Tamagawa Vision 2020,” and has
steadily implemented and reviewed the two plans each year. These plans are shared
among faculty members throughout the university, with organization members
working together to conduct educational and research activities. It is commendable
that these efforts are helping to improve syllabus formats and ensure steady progressin attaining the University’s mission and purpose.
Educational Program and Outcome
The university has adjusted the maximum number of credits students can register forin a semester, enabling students to increase study outside of class hours in the context
of a reduced maximum credit point load, allowing an increase in quality of study time.
The university provides two student-centered measures to contribute to quality oflearning: a homeroom teacher system for supervisors to conduct regular consultations
with students initiated at the university's establishment, and, more recently, a supportsystem in which supervisors and academic staff members provide academic advice
for students not meeting a certain grade point average (GPA) in the presence of theirguarantors (guardians).

 In addition, the Learning Commons is fully utilized as a facility to encourage active

4learning. Students use portfolios to record lesson feedback on all subjects taken,
learning content outside of their lessons, and study hours in order to perform a selfevaluation by each semester’s end. It is commendable that the University adopts
various systematic approaches to help students increase study hours outside of theirlessons, with positive outcomes expected in the coming years.
Faculty and Faculty Organization
 The University FD Committee and the Graduate School FD Committee are actively
involved in faculty development (FD) activities, with an awareness of the three micro-,
middle-, and macro-level approaches, particularly focusing on improving researchabilities beyond lesson improvements, responding to the University’s administrative
affairs, and advancing the faculty members’ careers, including social contribution. In
addition, mentors in charge of supervising the teaching portfolio design are assigned
to all college departments, and faculty developers are appointed to each college tomanage the mentors’ activities while playing a main role in the colleges’ FD (middlelevel) to connect university-wide FD (macro-level) and individual faulty members’
FD (micro-level); they also serve as important mediators between administrative andacademic staff members through the FD Committee. It is commendable that thisadvanced, well-established FD system is highly expected to make even more effective
improvements in the University’s FD activities.
Student Support
 To provide career and teacher training support under Tamagawa Academy’s policy,
the University cooperates with the alumni association to hold alumni exchange
programs and interview training sessions with alumni. The Teaching Profession
Support Room is also used to offer teaching guidance with the help of former school
directors and principals. This generous support is commendable for its substantial
contribution to student career development.
 With extracurricular activities viewed as an opportunity to cultivate the abilities andmindsets necessary to meet various social needs, the University actively supports
regular extracurricular activities under Tamagawa Academy’s policy. The Tamagawa
Adventure Program (TAP) is designed for students to learn firsthand about
cooperation, problem-solving, trust building, goal achievement, compassion, and5communication through adventure methods (experience-based educational methods).
TAP is used to hold training sessions for the next leaders of the extracurricular sports
and cultural activity organizations as well as for new members of the sports clubs. It
is commendable that this support is helping students with different values interact
with each other to improve their communication and other skills.
Education and Research Environment
 University Hall 2014, established in 2015 with the Library and Multimedia Resource
Center integrated into its core, transformed a conventional library functioning solely
as a book receptacle into a facility incorporating research rooms, lecture rooms,
graduate quarters, and clerical offices. With the Learning Commons positioned as a
key element, the facility functions as a space to actively support students’ study bypromoting active learning and studying outside of class hours, leading to an increasein the number of student users. It is commendable that this initiative is further
expected to significantly contribute to a better environment for active educational andresearch activities.
Social Cooperation and Contribution
 It is commendable that the University works with the local community to undertake
numerous initiatives as social cooperation and contribution activities in line with its
social cooperation and contribution policy. Above all, the TAP Center has madeaccessible to outside educational institutions the TAP experience-based learning
methods introduced to the University’s educational programs. These TAP methods
are helping to conduct training sessions for strengthening school teamwork requestedby education boards and to develop educational training programs for businesses andsports teams. These various regional cooperation efforts are commendable.
University Management and Finance As for staff training, all newly hired administrative staff members are enrolled in thegraduate school (Education Major (Master’s Course) of the Graduate School ofEducation from FY2012 and Management Major (Master’s Course) of the Graduate
School of Management from FY2017) to acquire systematic knowledge that cannot
be taught in the administrative orientation and training. It is commendable that the6University aims to cultivate administrative staff capable of handling high-level workinvolving school management.
Suggestions for Improvement
Internal Quality Assurance Despite steady improvement through the effective operation of the University’s
internal quality assurance system, the authority and responsibilities of the concernedorganizations are not explicitly stipulated in the regulations on the university-wide
policies and procedures for internal quality assurance. With no meeting records
compiled by each organization, the improvement processes are unclear, ranging from
specific improvement instructions and procedures provided by the Education andResearch Activity Investigation Committee in the internal quality assurance systemto improvement methods based on instructions adopted by the University Section
Committee, the Administrative Section Committee, each college and graduate school
section committee, and the University Common Section Committee. The mechanism
for regularly inspecting and assessing the appropriateness of the internal quality
assurance system is also not recognized as fully established. This situation should beimproved.
Educational Program and Outcome
 The thesis screening criteria are not defined in the Master’s Courses of the Graduate
School of Engineering and the Graduate School of Brain Sciences; neither are thescreening criteria defined for the theses and research outcomes on specific themes in
the Master’s Course of the Graduate School of Management. These issues should beimproved.
Student Enrollment
 All graduate schools (master’s, doctoral, and professional degree courses) monitor thelearning outcomes through thesis and dissertation evaluations and student
questionnaires, but it is difficult to describe them as having effectively established themethods for monitoring the learning outcomes stated in their degree award policies
and the benchmarks for evaluating the outcomes. This issue should be improved.7

 The ratios of student enrollment to the student enrollment cap are low at 0.42 in theMaster’s Course of the Graduate School of Humanities, 0.16 in the Master’s Courseof the Graduate School of Engineering, 0.36 in the Master’s Course of the Graduate
School of Management, 0.25 in the Doctoral Course of the Graduate School ofAgriculture, and 0.11 in the Doctoral Course of the Graduate School of Engineering.
These ratios should be improved with the graduate schools’ student quotas thoroughlymanaged.
Recommendations
Student Enrollment
 The average of ratios of freshman enrollment to the freshman enrollment cap over thepast five years is high at 1.35 in the Department of Software Science, College ofEngineering, 1.45 in the Department of Management Science, College of Engineering,
1.29 in the Department of International Management, College of Business
Administration, and 1.26 in the Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management,College of Tourism and Hospitality. The ratios of student enrollment to the student
enrollment cap are also high at 1.24 in the Department of Software Science, Collegeof Engineering, 1.39 in the Department of Software Science, College of Engineering,and 1.26 in the Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, College ofTourism and Hospitality. These ratios must be lowered with the colleges’ student
quotas thoroughly managed.