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

Kanto Gakuin University

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: PrivateLocation: Kanagawa, 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 Resultsfor Kanto Gakuin University
Notable Strengths
Student support

It is commendable that Kanto Gakuin University (hereafter, the University)
implements across-campus, systematic student support system. For example, withthe Faculty-Staff Mentoring System, a faculty or staff member consults withstudents individually on various issues they may encounter. The system operates asfollows: At the beginning of each school year, a student support counselor chooses
an appropriate faculty-staff member for a student, and the same mentor continues towork with the student for a maximum of one year. The University also has theStudent Mentoring System, in which a senior student consults with a junior student
on the matters of study and student life in general. A training workshop is offered tostudents who are registered as mentors. The students are provided with fine-grained
support through these mentoring programs. The services are offeredcomprehensively through Assistant Center for Student Life and Learning, andnumerous faculty and staff members as well as students take part in thesementoring programs.

Social cooperation and contribution
It is commendable that, for the purpose of “making contributions to the sustainable
development of the local community,” the University has offered open lectures andco-sponsored lectures with local businesses, and that it has been actively engaged
with the local community. It is also commendable that the University actively
promotes collaborative, industry-government-academic activities. For example,Research Advancement and Management Organization at the University plays amajor role in strengthening the industry-academic collaboration network. By
signing the “Agreement on Promotion of the Industry-Academic-Government
Collaboration” with the Yokohama City Center for Industrial Technology andDesign, and joining the "Council for the Promotion of Industry-Academic-Public
Collaboration in Kanagawa,” the University has earned opportunities for funded
research as well as submitted more applications for patents on the research results.

It is commendable that students’ volunteer activities and contributions are steadily
well received in Japan’s disaster areas. Various kinds of volunteer activities areavailable for students inside and outside of the University, and many participate inthem under the school motto of “Be a Man and Serve the World.” In particular, tosupport relief efforts in the disaster areas of the Great East Japan Earthquake, theUniversity launched the “Kanto Gakuin University East Japan Earthquake
Restoration Support Volunteer Project” soon after the disaster and has continuously
sent students on a regular basis. Every time the University recruits volunteers, morestudents than the application cap apply. The applicants are carefully screened
through interviews and sent to the areas in groups.

Suggestions for Improvement
Faculty and faculty organization
In the College of Human and Environmental Studies, the age structure of the3

faculty is skewed. The ratio of faculty aged sixty-one to seventy is very high, andthe number is higher than that of the last accreditation and evaluation. This shouldbe improved.
Educational content, methods, and outcome

The degree granting policies and the content, elements, and structure for organizing
and implementing the curriculum varies depending on the departments and graduateschools. The basic ideas on degree granting policies and the policies for designingand implementing curriculum also vary. There should be some consensus at theUniversity as a whole. The University needs to formulate an appropriate policy.
This should be improved.

The curriculum of the doctoral program of the Graduate School of Humanities does
not include appropriate coursework. Considering the purpose of the credit-based
degree granting system, the doctoral program should offer appropriate coursework.

The maximum number of credits students can register for per year has been set highat fifty-six for fourth year students in the College of Law. This should be improvedin accordance with the purpose of having a credit system.

The Graduate School of Economics, the Graduate School of Law, and the Graduate
School of Engineering do not clearly state their criteria for examining
degree-seeking theses and dissertations. These criteria should be clarified and madepublic in the student handbooks of each academic unit.

Enrollment
There is no consistency in admission policies across undergraduate and graduate
programs. Required content and levels of knowledge for the admissions are notclearly stated. Since the content of policies written on the web page, in the brochurefor the Admission Office Entrance Exam, and in the “Report on Self-Study andEvaluation” are not consistent, the wording should be coordinated, and clear andunified admission policies should be stipulated.

The ratio of transfer students to the transfer student admission cap is low in several
academic units; at 0.13 in the Department of English in the College of Humanities,
at 0.13 in the Department of Electrical, at 0.13 in the Electronic and Information
Engineering in the College of Engineering, and at 0.13 in the Department ofModern Communication in the College of Human and Environmental Studies.
There are no enrolled students in more than several academic units such as theDepartment of Comparative Culture and the Department of Applied Sociology in
the College of Humanities, the Department of Economics and the Department of
Business Administration in the College of Economics, the Department ofMechanical Engineering and the Department of Network and Multi-MediaEngineering and the Department of Architecture and the Department of Civil andEnvironmental Engineering and the Department of Applied Material and Life
Science in the College of Engineering, and the Department of Human
Environmental Design in the College of Human and Environmental Studies. Thissituation should be improved.

The ratio of enrolled students to the student enrollment cap is low at 0.17 in thedoctoral programs in the Graduate School of Law, at 0.28 in the Graduate School ofEngineering, and at 0.46 the Graduate School of Practical Legal Studies. This

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situation should be improved.
Internal quality assurance
The content of self-studies is not sufficiently examined in the University’s current“Report on Self-Study and Evaluation,” and, therefore, the self-studies have not led
to effective improvements and reforms of the University. The University should set
up an appropriate system to make good use of the results of self-studies andevaluations for the entire University. Also, the errors and faults that existed in thereport and the data and that were pointed out in the last accreditation and evaluation
process have not been corrected. At this time of accreditation and evaluation
processes, there are still unclear words and errors as well as mistakes in theUniversity’s basic numerical and statistical data. As the information is open topublic, the University should produce more accurate and detailed reports and data.

Area of Serious Concern
Enrollment
In the Department of Applied Material and Life Science in the College ofEngineering, the average of the ratios of enrolled freshmen to the freshmen
admission cap in the last five years has been high at 1.33 and the ratio of enrolled
students to the student enrollment cap is high at 1.36. This situation must be
corrected.