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

Shimonoseki City University

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

Accreditation Status
Year of the Review: 2016
Accreditation Status: accredited （Accreditation Period: April.01.2017 – March.31.2024）

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Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Resultsfor Shimonoseki City University
Overview
Shimonoseki Commercial Junior College, the predecessor of Shimonoseki City University(hereafter, the University) was established by the city of Shimonoseki in 1956. In 1962, theUniversity was established as a college with a single faculty of Economics, the Department ofEconomics. The University established the Department of International Commerce in 1983 andthe Graduate School of Economics in 2000. In 2007, the University became a legallyincorporated educational institution. After establishing the Department of Public Managementin 2011 and reforming the Graduate School in 2015, the University currently has three
departments in the Faculty of Economics as well as the Graduate School of Economics. Basedon its three missions in “Education and research rooted in the community as an intellectualcenter in the local society,” the University has conducted its educational and research activities
by supporting the two purposes of “Contribute to developing the local society and internationalsociety.”
After its accreditation review by Japan University Accreditation Association (JUAA) in2010, the University has made efforts for improvements and reforms, including solving theissues pointed out in the previous accreditation. In particular, the University redesigned thecurriculum, which took effect for first-year students beginning in 2015, and reorganized theGraduate School in the same year.
However, an issue that was noted in the last accreditation, the “prevention fromholdover at the graduation grade (the rate for holdover is more than 20 percent),” is still in
need of attention. While the “rate for graduation within standard course term” has slightlyimproved when comparing graduating students in 2016 with those in 2015, it is difficult toconclude that the rate has tangibly improved. Although the University has appropriately
conducted the management of the ratio of enrolled freshmen to the freshman admission cap
in the faculty, the ratios have remained high. Therefore, JUAA hopes that the University
will improve the ratio through reviews and improvements, in addition to conventional
measures.
In this accreditation, it is confirmed that the University has made more efforts than
before for social cooperation and social contribution, such as setting a minimum length oftime that faculty members are to spend on social cooperation and social contribution
activities, and attempting to enhance the organization by establishing the Archive
Department in the Shimonoseki City University Institute for Collaborative CommunityDevelopment.
While the University has resolved some of the issues noted in its last accreditation,
JUAA expects that the University will improve on several issues, such as: describing
learning outcomes needed to fulfill requirements in the policy on degree award in theGraduate School; improving the syllabus; enhancing the instruction system; and developing
evaluation criteria for learning outcomes.
JUAA also hopes that the University will enhance its appropriate efforts for internal
quality assurance that it conducts independently while the University’s governance islargely dependent on the rules set by the Local Incorporated Administrative Agency Law.
Notable Strengths
Social Cooperation and Contribution
It is commendable that the University has actively engaged in a variety of social
cooperation and contribution activities. To promote social cooperation and socialcontribution university-wide, the University has set a minimum length of time faculty
members spend participating in social contribution activities. Moreover, in theShimonoseki City University Institute for Collaborative Community Development, the3

University has built three departments (including one for Local Investigation Research)and has published a journal, Kanmon Regional Research,” established an open lecture
series for citizens, and collected academic documents, mostly for its “Whale Library andMuseum” and “Puffer Library and Museum”.
Suggestions for Improvement
Educational Content, Methods, and OutcomeIn the Graduate School of Economics, learning outcomes such as knowledge andskills required for completion of the program are not indicated. This should beimproved.

In the Graduate School of Economics, although the published syllabus uses a unified
format, the quality of the content varies in each class. For example, some classes fail tooffer a concrete description of teaching plans. This should be improved.