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

Kobe Gakuin University

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: Private

Location: Hyogo, Japan

Accreditation Status
Year of the Review: 2017
Accreditation Status: accredited （Accreditation Period: April.01.2018 – March.31.2025）

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Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Resultsfor Kobe Gakuin University
Overview
Kobe Gakuin University (hereafter, the University) has its origin in the Mori Sewing
School for Girls, a private school founded in 1912. In 1966, it was established as Kobe
Gakuin University comprising the Faculty of Nutrition. It was later reorganized andcurrently includes nine faculties (the Faculty of Law, the Faculty of Economics, theFaculty of Business Administration, the Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, theFaculty of Contemporary Social Studies, the Faculty of Global Communication, theFaculty of Rehabilitation, the Faculty of Nutrition and the Faculty of PharmaceuticalSciences) and seven graduate schools (the Graduate School of Law, the Graduate
School of Economics, the Graduate School of Humanities and Sciences, the Graduate
School of Rehabilitation, the Graduate School of Nutrition, the Graduate School of
Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Graduate School of Food and Medicinal Sciences). It
has two campuses: Port Island and Arise, and conducts educational and research
activities based on the founding philosophy of “love of truth and respect forindividuality.”
After its accreditation review by Japan University Accreditation Association(JUAA) in 2011, it has further developed the areas that were commended as its notablestrengths. It has also established “Self-study Sub-Committees” in each faculty andgraduate school to deliberate on the suggestions for improvement and is striving for
all-round improvement and reform through the “Self-study Committees” and Faculty
Development Center.
The University is unique in its effort to provide distinctive education toundergraduate as well as graduate students. For instance, the Graduate School of
Pharmaceutical Sciences collaborates with neighboring hospitals and research
institutions that study clinical pharmaceutical science so that the students can receive
research supervision on clinical aspects from researchers. This effort is highlycommendable.
However, the University lacks in efforts in its educational content, methods,and outcome. For example, the combination of coursework and research work is notadequate in some of the graduate schools and some graduate schools do not haveresearch supervision plans in the Master’s and Doctoral courses. The maximum

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number of credits required in the faculties is also not established properly and needs tobe addressed. It is expected that the University will grow further through its
educational and research activities as a community-based university by further
developing its verification systems, conducting objective verifications and connecting
them to improvements with the objective to resolve issues.
Notable Strengths
Educational Content, Methods, and Outcome
The Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences has secured opportunities forclinical research supervision from researchers of institutions, who are positioned
as collaborative faculty members, by forming joint research systems with clinicalsites active in clinical pharmaceutical research, such as the Kobe City Medical
Center General Hospital, the Institute of Biomedical Research and Innovation andthe RIKEN Center for Molecular Imaging Science. Through such distinctiveprograms, the University deepens collaborations with medical service facilities
and offers high-level four-year education by fusing excellent research andeducation at the University with practical experiences in the medical field. It iscommendable that these efforts result in research outcomes in the form ofconference presentations and original research papers among others.

Student SupportThe University encourages extracurricular activities as important supplementary
education to the regular curriculum. Apart from mutual support activities byVolunteer Work Support Office and Peer Support Room, where student staff help
other students, the University also started Challenge Project for Students, which
supports independent learning among students by aiding excellent ideas generated
by students for vitalization of the University and community. These activities arecommendable for being unique and in line with the University’s purpose of“nurturing independent, unique and good members of society.”4Social Cooperation and Contribution
The University makes active contribution to society. In the Meimai housing
complex where the population aging rate is high, the University holds basic
courses on physical strength measurement and dementia and organizes summer
festivals and other events for interaction with the elderly. Students also live in theshared houses for students in the Meimai housing complex and interact withresidents daily. Events are joined not only by residents of the housing complex but
also by families with children as well as youngsters in primary and junior highschools, thereby contributing to the students’ learning. Moreover, the University
invites Japanese and foreign artists from a wide range of performing art fields,such as classical music and traditional Japanese entertainment, for the Green
Festival, which is being organized since 1988, and holds performances in theUniversity halls. These activities have been held consistently and draw a large
number of visitors. Former faculty members of the University, who played acentral role in these activities, have also received cultural contribution awards
from Kobe City. It is commendable that the University scores high in socialcontribution.

Suggestions for Improvement
Educational Content, Methods, and Outcome

The curriculum design and implementation policies of the Graduate School ofRehabilitation are not separate for the Master’s Course and the Doctorate Course.
This should be addressed.

The curriculums for the Doctoral Course in the Graduate School of Law and theGraduate School of Humanities and Sciences lack in appropriate combination ofcourse work in research work. The University should provide an appropriate
educational program for these courses by reviewing them in light of theProgram-Based Graduate School System.

The syllabus for the subjects in the Doctoral Course of the Graduate School ofEconomics has not been prepared because there are no students in this course. This

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issue should be addressed.
In the Department of Social Rehabilitation, Faculty of Rehabilitation, themaximum number of credits for which the students can register in a year is high at
29 for both semesters in the first year and 29 for the spring semester in the secondyear. From the fall semester of the second year, students can choose from different
courses. In the Social Welfare Design Course, the number of credits is high at 29
for each semester from the fall semester of the second year to the fall semester ofthe fourth year. Furthermore, for transfer students, the number of credits is high at34 in both semesters of the second year and 32 in the third and fourth years in theDepartment of Law of the Faculty of Law, 28 in both semesters of the third andfourth years in the Department of Economics of the Faculty of Economics, 26 inboth semesters of the second year and 30 in the third and fourth years in theDepartment of Business Administration of the Faculty of Business Administration.
This issue should be addressed in light of the purpose of the credit system.

The Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences does not conduct FD activities
specific to its own educational perspective. This should be addressed.

The criteria for thesis or dissertation examination have not been clarified for theMaster’s and Doctoral programs of the Graduate School of Law, the Master’s
program of the Graduate School of Nutrition, the Doctoral Program of theGraduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Doctoral Program of theGraduate School of Food and Medicinal Sciences. This should be addressed, to bestated clearly in the Course Guidelines for each program.

Enrollment
The ratios of transfer students to transfer student quota are low at 0.50 in theDepartment of Law of the Faculty of Law and 0.17 in the Department ofHumanities of the Faculty of Humanities and Sciences. This issue should beaddressed.

The ratios of student enrollment to the student enrollment cap were low at 0.33 in
the Master’s programs of the Graduate School of Law, 0.23 in the Master’s6Programs of the Graduate School of Economics, 0.29 in the Master’s Programs ofthe Graduate School of Humanities and Sciences and 0.31 in the Master’sPrograms of the Graduate School of Nutrition. There are no students in theDoctoral programs of the Graduate School of Law, the Graduate School ofEconomics and the Graduate School of Food and Medicinal Sciences. This needs
to be addressed.

Education and Research EnvironmentFull-time staff with specialized knowledge should be appointed in the library inthe Port Island campus.

Area of Serious Concern
Educational Content, Methods, and Outcome
The Doctoral program of the Graduate School of Law, the Master’s program of theGraduate School of Nutrition and the Doctoral program of the Graduate School ofFood and Medicinal Sciences lack a research supervision plan. Therefore, theUniversity should make improvements to ensure that research supervision andguidance for graduation dissertations are provided based on a research supervisionplan.