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

Kobe Kaisei College

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: Private

Location: Hyogo, Japan

Accreditation Status
Year of the Review: 2021
Accreditation Status: accredited （Accreditation Period: April.1.2022 – March 31, 2029）

Kobe Kaisei College

Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Resultsfor Kobe Kaisei CollegeOverview
In accordance with its founding spirit of “developing women who support others andserve society based on the Christian values of living in truth and love,” the College
has established the “KAISEI Personality” (KAISEI: Kindness, Autonomy,Intelligence, Service, Ethics, and Internationality), which represents the educational
philosophy and the personal qualities that the College seeks to cultivate. In addition,in order to realize this founding spirit, the College has set out a “Medium-term Plan
2020–2024” in order to address its educational and research activities.
Regarding internal quality assurance, although a system centered on the“College Reform Management Council” has been established, there are discrepancies
between the internal quality assurance policies and regulations that have been
established. Similarly, with respect to initiatives for improvement and enhancement
based on the check and review results, the College Reform Management Council is
not currently able to fulfill its role as indicated in the regulations. Therefore,improvements are required to make internal quality assurance function effectively,
following a review of the actual situation, policies, and regulations.
Regarding education, the degree award policy (diploma policy) of eachdepartment is appropriately linked to the six personal qualities set forth in theKAISEI Personality. Courses are systematically organized, including the order inwhich they should be taken, by dividing them broadly into “common subjects” and“specialized subjects” and then further categorizing them into subject groups. The
College is also unique in the fact that, as a small university with only one faculty, theFaculty of Contemporary Humanities, and two departments, the Department ofEnglish and Tourism and the Department of Psychology and Child Studies, it makes
great efforts to practice “ultra-small-group education” that takes advantage of thissituation. In particular, a system is in place to provide students with individualized
guidance appropriate to their needs through the effective use of a variety of tools suchas “review sheets” and “self-development check sheets” as well as periodic
interviews with their assigned faculty members. In addition, the learning outcomesindicated in the degree award policy are also monitored using a graduate
questionnaire.
Other outstanding initiatives include effective communication of the College’s1Kobe Kaisei College

founding spirit and educational philosophy through a variety of media, systematicand multifaceted implementation of faculty development (hereinafter “FD”)
activities, as well as careful guidance, centering on the “Study Support Office Stella”
for learning support, that keeps track of every student’s name and face. As such, theCollege can be acknowledged as effectively drawing on its unique characteristics ina number of areas.
On the other hand, some departments are under or significantly over capacity
in terms of quota management, and the College administration has not yet establishedrules and regulations for budget execution that involves large expenditures. These
areas should be improved.
Kobe Kaisei College demonstrated that it fully understands and practices thesocial role of a small university through not only providing education that values
each student, but also enthusiastically conducting activities in cooperation with thelocal community, with faculty, staff, and students actively involved in activities at theCollege as one. In the future, the JUAA hopes that through internal quality assurance
efforts, the issues identified in this evaluation will be resolved, and that the College
will be able to further take advantage of its small size to develop its role in society,one that cannot be played by larger universities.
Notable Strengths
Mission and Purpose In order to promote the KAISEI Personality, which summarizes the College’s
founding spirit, educational philosophy, and the personal qualities that theCollege seeks to cultivate, the brand concept of “Supporting People, Shining
Brightly “was established, with cards and leaflets produced bearing this slogan.
Students planning to join the College are taught about this in a variety of ways,
including an explanation from the President of the founding spirit, educational
philosophy, and KAISEI personality in pre-enrollment lectures. Through theseefforts, the traditions and values of the College since its establishment, including
the founding spirit and educational philosophy, are presented in a way that iseasy for students to internalize, which is commendable.
Educational Program and Learning Outcomes A system is in place to provide the necessary guidance on an individual basis,
with assigned faculty members meeting with students on a regular basis andusing a variety of tools, including a review sheet on which each student writes

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their goals and achievements for each semester, a self-development check sheet
for goal setting and reflection relating to the KAISEI Personality, the personalqualities that the College seeks to cultivate, and the “Kaisei Teaching andLearning Record” for each student to review their own grades and academic
progress for each semester. These efforts provide an opportunity for students toregularly monitor their acquisition of the KAISEI Personality and to develop
self-awareness. This careful and fine-tuned guidance tailored to each student
under the “ultra-small-group education” approach is highly commendable as an
educational activity that makes the most of the College’s characteristics in termsof size.
Faculty and Faculty Organization
 Under the policy for enhancing faculty members’ skills, the “FD/SD Committee”
plays a central role in conducting FD workshops and open classes , as well as
identifying issues and ideas for classes through various initiatives such as class
results and class improvement reports , in which all faculty members review theirown classes and consider measures for improvement, questionnaires for class
improvement conducted by students, class improvement surveys , and meetings
with part-time instructors . The FD/SD Committee shares issues and ideas withall faculty members based on the results of surveys and various reports, and uses
them to improve items on the syllabus, etc. These efforts are commendable
because they represent an organized and multifaceted effort to fulfill the statedpolicy of “actively implementing systematic efforts for class improvement (FD)aimed at enhancing the quality of teaching staff.”
Student Support
 A system is in place to provide fine-tuned support for students tailored to thenature of their inquiries. The Student Affairs Division, Academic Affairs
Division, assigned faculty members, etc. serve as contact points, directing
students who need assistance with their studies to the “Study Support OfficeStella” and for those who need other support, the Student Affairs Division
conducts interviews and introduces them to the “Student Counseling Office
Maris,” enabling students to carry out procedures with reasonableaccommodations, etc. The progress of such support efforts is shared at the“Support Committee,” which consists of faculty and staff from related
departments, thereby establishing a system that allows each department to3

Kobe Kaisei Collegeprovide systematic support in cooperation with the other departments. Althoughpreviously, individual faculty members have provided careful and substantial
support for students in an environment where every students’ face and name areknown, the reorganization of the support system in AY2021 is commendable
because it is expected to promote further progress toward achieving “a variety ofdetailed support for individual students based on the Christian spirit, taking
advantage of the characteristics of a small university.”
Suggestions for Improvement
Internal Quality Assurance Although the roles of the College Reform Management Council, the body
responsible for promoting internal quality assurance, and the Self-Study
Committee, the body responsible for university-wide check and review, areclearly stated in the Policy on Internal Quality Assurance and the Internal Quality
Assurance Regulations, there are discrepancies between the policy and theregulations. In addition, although the College Reform Management Council
conducts reviews based on the check and review results, it has yet to develop anaction plan for improvement and notify each department and committee, or to“commercialize and budget” the plan, as stipulated in the regulations.
Improvements are required to organize and appropriately clarify the roles of theCollege Reform Management Council and the Self-Study Committee specified
in the policy and regulations, and to work for improvements and enhancement
based on the check and review results, ensuring the effective functioning ofinternal quality assurance.
University Management and Finance There are no rules or manuals that clearly define procedures for the execution ofbudgets for renovation work and other projects involving large expenditures, orfor the implementation of research expenses, etc. Improvements are required
from the viewpoint of transparency in budget execution, allowing the check andreview of procedures and regulations to be conducted and appropriatearrangements to be made. In addition, to prevent such deficiencies in rules andregulations, improvements are required to establish a system to check and review
the overall university management, including administrative structures, andwork for improvement and enhancement.

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Recommendation
Student Enrollment
 The average ratios of freshman enrollment to the freshman enrollment cap overthe past five years are high at 1.35 for the Faculty of Contemporary Humanities’
Department of English and Tourism, and low at 0.81 for the faculty’s Departmentof Psychology and Child Studies. The ratio of student enrollment to the student
enrollment cap is high at 1.34 for the Faculty of Contemporary Humanities’
Department of English and Tourism, and low at 0.72 for the Department ofPsychology and Child Studies. This should be corrected to ensure proper
undergraduate student quota management.

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