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

Kwansei Gakuin University

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: Private

Location: Hyogo, 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 Kwansei Gakuin University
Notable Strengths
Mission and purposeIt is commendable that Kwansei Gakuin University (hereafter, the University)
disseminates its mission and purposes widely to society. The University passes its
messages to the entire University community, including students and faculty/staff
members through courses such as the Study of Kwansei Gakuin and the Chapel
Hour. The dissemination is also accomplished to the outside of the University
through the alumni association. By setting up the “Mission Development andPromotion Committee,” the University also promotes activities that share its
mission based on the “Master Plan for the Infiltration of the Mission.” In order toachieve the vision of the University, which is to be a community without “fences”
for learning and research, the University has set up the “Inclusive Community
Promotion Committee,” and implemented inclusive educational activities, verifying
the effects of those activities through the “Survey on Inclusiveness.”

Faculty and faculty organization
It is commendable that the University encourages the faculty to embody its mission
statement, and fosters the faculty's deeper understanding of diversity. As a higheducation institution intending to improve the quality of its teaching, the Institutefor Human Rights Research and Education established by the University regularly
holds lectures on human rights issues for the purpose of fostering diverse views on
human rights. In addition, each department and graduate school holds its own
human rights workshops from various perspectives such as religion, life, poverty,and networked society.

Educational content, methods, and outcome

It is commendable that the University has made successful efforts for developing
international research skills. In particular, the Graduate School of Sociology has set
up an academic writing class and a class on presenting in English as electives for all
levels and courses in order to ensure and sustain the increase the number ofresearch papers and research presentations published outside of Japan by its
graduate students. It has also offered the opportunity to publish research papers
through its new journal, “KG Sociological Review,” which is published incooperation with the Kwansei Gakuin University Institute for Advanced SocialResearch.

It is commendable that the University, along with its Center for Research into andPromotion of Higher Education, has made university-wide efforts for building asystem to support teaching and learning. The teaching and learning support system
has been implemented through the introduction of student assistants, including LAs,TAs, and SAs. In particular, the system of LAs serves two purposes—to assist theoperation of classes and to provide peer support of students outside the classroom.
All undergraduate schools use LAs, who are trained through workshops before thestart of their services to provide fine-grained support with students. The
participation of LAs in classes is effective for the improvement of students’
understanding of the content of the classes. The survey on teaching evaluations and3

the LA survey have demonstrated that the system has enhanced the active learningof the students, as the students motivate each other to study more.
Student supportIt is commendable that the University has offered a number of substantial
scholarships, predicated on its mission, which has significantly contributed to theeconomic support and the maintenance of learning opportunities for students. In
particular, there are thirteen kinds of original scholarships, including the Lambuth
Scholarship and the Alumni Scholarship. These scholarships are substantiated, with
the number of recipients and the amount of the allowances increasing every year.

Education and research environment
It is commendable that the University has made efforts for developing substantial
research funding and support systems, which have revitalized its education andresearch activities. Since the school year of 2009, the University has introduced thesystem of “funds for revitalization of education and research” and created a budget
according to the education and research policy needs of each (academic) unit. It has
supported the efforts for upgrading voluntary and highly motivated education andresearch. In addition, the University collects information on external research funds
and studies know-how in order to acquire funds in a systematic manner. It helps tosecure competitive research funds such as the Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research.
In addition, the University provides the “Funds to Facilitate the Applications for theGrants-in-Aid for Scientific Research” to help non-recipients prepare their next
applications, ensuring that some will gain additional funding support. TheUniversity has a substantial research support system, and has obtained significant
results in terms of the adoption rate of new external research funds in recent years.

Social cooperation and contribution

It is commendable that the Institute for the Research of Disaster Area
Reconstruction at the University has made contributions to the society bydisseminating its research findings in a timely manner. This institute wasestablished as a ten-year memorial to the Kobe Earthquake. It examines
governmental reconstruction support systems and conducts research not only inneighboring areas, but also across the nation. It started with local issues and has
steadily built up its activities through surveys, research volunteer opportunities, andlecture series, and expanded its focus beyond geographic boundaries.

Administration and financeIt is commendable that the University’s various efforts for achieving its mission
have contributed to the improvement of the quality of administrative staff. For
example, in order to improve the quality of staff members, the University clarified
seven competencies expected of staff, defined the job qualification criteria, and set
up a Staff Training System consisting of twelve categories. Through the Staff
Training System, the staff can receive various kinds of training, including
qualification-based, position-based, overseas, domestic, on-campus, practicalbusiness, motivational, external group, and on-the-job training. The University
offers funds to administrative units as well as individuals. In order to facilitate theunderstanding of the mission and purpose of the University, a seminar on the Studyof Kwansei Gakuin is also offered. By offering courses in the seminar that range
from basic to advanced, the University enriches its systematic and substantial

4in-service training systems.
Internal quality assuranceIt is commendable that the University’s campus-wide organizations anddepartments work together in the efforts to achieve the University’s mission, andthat the University’s Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle is functioning successfully.
In particular, the Kwansei Gakuin Evaluation Promotion Committee develops andencourages the evaluations and self-studies of the entire University. It is in chargeof the University Self-assessment Committee, which is responsible for overseeing
the self-studies and evaluations of the University as a whole. It is also responsible
for the Evaluation Expert Committee, which implements evaluations by thirdparties, including external experts. Moreover, each faculty, graduate school, andacademic unit has its own Self-assessment Committee, which is always active. The
self-study processes are organized, so that the results of evaluations, problems, andthe development plans are reported through the regular work of each Self-study
Committee to the executive office of the University. Furthermore, the University
has developed the Kwansei Gakuin Integrated Self-assessment Web System, which
is used to conduct self-study and evaluation activities and to assemble evaluation
reports. This web System is equipped with various display formats to allow people
to see not only the written self-evaluations of each unit, but also the comments fromthe third party evaluators, the explanations of the indicators regarding eachevaluation item, and comparative views of the corresponding mid-term objectives
and the basic objectives of the entire University. Therefore, a functional andeffective self-study system has been constructed.

Suggestions for Improvement
Educational content, methods, and outcome

The doctoral programs in the Graduate School of Science and Technology, theGraduate School of Education, and the Graduate School of Language,
Communication, and Culture do not have curricula that include appropriatecoursework. Considering the purpose of the credit-based degree granting system,
the doctoral program should offer appropriate educational content.

The following academic units hold classes that combine undergraduate andgraduate education, without differentiating the grading methods according to thelevels of the students: the School of Theology and the Graduate School of Theology,
the School of Humanities and the Graduate School of Humanities, the School ofSociology and the Graduate School of Sociology, the School of Economics and theGraduate School of Economics, the School of Science and Technology and theGraduate School of Science and Technology, and the School of Policy Studies andthe Graduate School of Policy Studies. From the perspective of quality assurance ofcredit-based degree programs, this situation needs to be improved.

The maximum number of yearly credits which students can register for has been set
high in the following academic units: at fifty-six in the third and fourth years in theSchool of International Studies; at sixty for the transfer students in the School ofTheology, the School of Sociology, and the School of Economics; at fifty-six in theSchool of Law and Politics; and at seventy-two in the School of Human Welfare
Studies, the School of Education, and the School of International Studies. There isno limit in the School of Policy Studies. This situation should be improved inaccordance with the purpose of having credit systems.

5Enrollment
The ratio of enrolled students to the student enrollment cap is low at 0.40 in theMaster's Programs in the Graduate School of Economics and at 0.32 in theGraduate School of Policy Studies. This situation should be improved.

The ratio of transfer students to the transfer student admission cap is low at 0.63 in
the Department of International Studies in the School of Policy Studies. Thissituation should be improved.