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

Kyoto Women's University

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: Private

Location: Kyoto, 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 Kyoto Women’s University
Overview
Kyoto Women’s University (hereafter, the University) was established to provide higher
education for women based on the founding philosophy of “fostering human spirituality
set forth in the Buddhist principles espoused by Shinran Shonin,” and today theUniversity conducts educational and research activities in line with this philosophy. In
2009 the University, in preparation to mark the 100th anniversary of the foundation of
Kyoto Joshi Gakuen (Kyoto Women’s Educational Institution) in 2010, formulated its
visions for the future (grand visions) comprised of eight items, including “cultivation ofwomen who can play a responsible role in 21st century society,” “a university that links
Higashiyama, Kyoto, with the world,” and “a university that grows with society andcommunities,” with a view to pursuing further development. In 2016 the University
launched the “Project to Verbalize the University’s Mission,” formed by students andacademic/administrative staff members to define its mission in the straightforward phrase“Turning Uniqueness into Strength to Build a Future.” It is commendable that theUniversity is adopting creative approaches to share and disseminate its founding
philosophy on and outside the campus.
As part of its educational initiatives, the University established the Faculty ofLaw in 2011 to develop an educational and research organization intended to meet thesocial needs for women’s education. The University presently consists of five faculties(Faculty of Letters, Faculty of Human Development and Education, Faculty of Home
Economics, Faculty of Contemporary Society, and Faculty of Law) as well as graduateschools based on these faculties. It also promotes the enhancement of education in its
grand visions, with the curricula organized according to the specialized fields of thefaculties and graduate schools. To conduct social cooperation activities, the University
established the Research Center of Community Partnerships and introduced the“University-community Partnerships Course” to the regular curriculum. It is notable that
the University is actively promoting regional contribution through students’ involvementin the local community.
However, the University needs to address serious issues involving its internal
quality assurance efforts. The Japan University Accreditation Association’s (JUAA)FY2011 University Accreditation pointed out the University’s ineffective self-study andsuggested the development of a systematic internal quality assurance system. In response,

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the University established two committees under the University-wide Self-Study
Committee: the Self-Study Implementation Committee, responsible for organizing theself-study of the faculties and their programs, and the Internal Evaluation Committee, incharge of evaluating the results from a university-wide perspective. In October 2018 theUniversity Directors’ Committee was positioned as an organization responsible forpromoting internal quality assurance, and the related regulations were revised to develop
the University’s internal quality assurance system. But with self-study positioned by theUniversity as a foundation for internal quality assurance in the internal quality assurance
policy, the members of the Internal Evaluation Committee merely comment individuallyon the accuracy of descriptions as their assigned tasks after the results are entered into theonline self-study system by the committee and administrative staff members of eachfaculty. This system fails to function in the way the Internal Evaluation Committee
performs its evaluations from a university-wide perspective. The University should takea comprehensive approach to reconsider the importance of self-study and conduct more
effective internal quality assurance based on systematic self-study.
Other issues include the failure to formulate research guidance plans in all
graduate schools and problems with the establishment of diploma and curriculum policies
and quota management in some graduate school academic units. In addition, the methodsof monitoring and evaluating the learning outcomes stated in the diploma policy are notsufficiently established in the faculties and graduate schools.
In the coming years, the University is expected to implement appropriate selfstudy activities, effectively operate internal quality assurance to advance its improvement
efforts, and utilize the self-study results to formulate the next grand visions, with thecurrent visions marking their final year in fiscal 2019.
Notable Strengths
Mission and Purpose To disseminate the University’s educational mission and other objectives, students
and academic/administrative staff members collaborated to launch the “Project toVerbalize the University’s Mission,” in which the straightforward phrase “TurningUniqueness into Strength to Build a Future” was created to express the University’s
mission, and the project is being promoted through various publications and events,including ceremonies. In addition, students are taking the initiative in supporting
extracurricular activities by establishing the president-selected project, “Rashi-Tsuyo

4(Uniqueness and Strength) Challenge,” aimed at embodying the University’s mission
through their own projects. It is commendable that the University engages in activities
to further disseminate its mission.
Social Cooperation and Contribution
 To realize “a university that grows with society and communities,” one of theUniversity’s grand visions, the Research Center of Community Partnerships wasestablished in 2015 and the Partnership Promotion Division was set up as anadministrative unit in the following year to establish the “University-community
Partnerships Course” designed to integrate regional cooperation activities into thecurriculum. In the president-selected “Rashi-Tsuyo (Uniqueness and Strength)
Challenge” project, various social cooperation and contribution initiatives have beenadopted and implemented. It is commendable that the University actively supports
students’ efforts to work with communities, with university-wide social cooperationand contribution activities helping to cultivate women who can contribute to the local
community. Information on these cooperation activities is shared in the “Kyojo(Kyoto Women’s University) Network Council (Kyojo Roundtable),” whose
objective assessments are reflected in the next fiscal year’s project plans to makefurther improvements. This approach is also commendable.
Suggestions for Improvement
Educational Program and Outcome
 The degree award and curriculum design and implementation policies are notestablished for each degree conferred in Apparel and Space Design (Master’s Course)and Living Environment (Doctoral Course) of the Graduate School of HomeEconomics. This issue should be improved.
 To measure the learning outcomes stated in the degree award policy, the faculties
have introduced learning portfolios and integrated GPAs (grade point average) into aradar chart, but these measurements are not effective in monitoring and evaluating thelearning outcomes stated in the degree award policy. The graduate schools are in theprocess of examining the learning outcomes monitored and evaluated by the faculties.
This issue should be improved with the faculties and graduate schools employing

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multifaceted ways to systematically measure the learning outcomes stated in theirdegree award policies and reflecting the results in their educational improvement
efforts, including reviewing their curricula and educational methods.
Student Enrollment
 The ratios of student enrollment to the student enrollment cap are low at 0.47 in theMaster’s Course of the Graduate School of Letters, 0.36 in the Master’s Course of theGraduate School of Human Development and Education, 0.00 in the Doctoral Courseof the Graduate School of Human Development and Education, 0.21 in the Master’s
Course of the Graduate School of Contemporary Society, and 0.22 in the Doctoral
Course of the Graduate School of Contemporary Society. These ratios should beimproved with the graduate schools’ student quotas thoroughly managed.
Recommendation
Internal Quality Assurance Self-study is positioned as a foundation for internal quality assurance, but it is not
functioning adequately, with the Internal Evaluation Committee failing to play its rolein conducting evaluations from a university-wide perspective. Since the University
Directors’ Committee is positioned as a body responsible for internal quality
assurance to further improve the new internal quality assurance system, the University
must correct this issue by conducting appropriate self-study, effectively operating thenew system to make improvements based on the results, and supporting PDCA (PlanDo-Check-Act) cycles for the faculties and graduate schools.
Educational Program and Outcome
 None of the graduate schools define the research guidance methods and schedules as

research guidance plans. This situation must be corrected with these items definedand clarified to students beforehand.