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

Gifu Pharmaceutical University

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

Accreditation Status
Year of the Review: 2013
Accreditation Status: accredited （Accreditation Period:April.01.2014 – March.31.2021）

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Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Results
for Gifu Pharmaceutical University
Notable Strengths
Faculty and faculty organization
It is commendable that Gifu Pharmaceutical University (hereafter, the University)
has conducted an innovative reform of the employment system that has contributedto the improvement of quality of teaching. The University adopted the limited term
employment system for full-time faculty and research assistants in 1998. It has also
evaluated faculty and research assistants in terms of “educational activities,”“research activities,” “services in university operation,” and “contribution to society”
to determine the renewals of their employments. The University also publishes thesummary and results of the evaluation on its webpage.

It is commendable that the University offers following research funding with open
competition to stimulate the research activities. The University offers an “In-houseSpecial Research Fund,” targeted at young faculty members and publicly solicits
the research themes. The University also publicly recruits candidates to receive
research money through the “Supporting Fund for the Promotion of Researches forthe Development and Creation of Medicine” as a joint project with Gifu University.

Social cooperation and contribution

It is commendable that the University has been actively involved in the productionof intellectual properties. The University has a clear provision for the managementof intellectual properties and promotes an intellectual property policy that statesthat “the University is required to make contribution to society by applying theintellectual properties acquired as a result of research,” thus indicating a clear
vision for and ways of applications of intellectual properties. By actively seeking
collaboration with industries, other academic institutions, and governments, theUniversity has obtained many patents.

Suggestions for Improvement
Education and research organization
While “Education Center of Green Pharmaceutical Science” is the distinctive
organization to implement "Green Pharmacy Education" proposed by the University,
no full-time staff has been hired for this center. A full-time staff person should behired to achieve the mission and purpose of the University through making thecollaboration of administrative and teaching functions possible.

Educational content, methods, and outcomeIn the Department of Pharmaceutical Science in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical
Science, the credit limit students can register for has not been set. The department
should improve the situation in accordance with the purpose of having a creditsystem.

The Graduate Schools of Pharmaceutical Science has not clarified the criteria for
examining degree-seeking theses and dissertations. These criteria should be3

clarified by each program, and stated in the student handbook and made public.
In the doctoral program of Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Science, somestudents complete all the requirements except dissertation, and leave the university
before completing their dissertation requirement within the time limit set by theuniversity. Later, when these students submit their dissertations, even though they
do not have enrollment status, they are granted doctoral degrees in the same manneras those students continuously enrolled. This is not an appropriate use of the system.
The University needs to reconsider the ways to administrate the course-based
doctoral program, and in accordance with the purpose of having such a doctoral
program, the university should also create measures to enhance the degreecompletion within the required time frame.

Education and research organizationAt the Mitahora Campus Library, the certified librarian is a temporary staff member.
A full-time librarian with professional knowledge of library science should behired.

Area of Serious Concern
Enrollment
In the last five years, the average of the ratios of enrolled freshmen to the freshman
admission cap has been high at 1.20 in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Science, andthe ratio of enrolled freshmen to the freshman admission cap is high at 1.28, and theratio of enrolled students to the student enrollment cap is high at1.26 in theDepartment of Pharmaceutical Science. These numbers must be improved.