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

Kanagawa University

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: Private

Location: Kanagawa, Japan

Accreditation Status
Year of the Review: 2015
Accreditation Status: Accredited（Accreditation Period: April.01.2016 – March.31.2023）

2

Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Resultsfor Kanagawa University
Overview
Kanagawa University (hereafter, the University), whose predecessor was Yokohama
Academy (founded in 1928), was established in 1949 in Yokohama City, Kanagawa
Prefecture. After a series of installments and reorganizations of faculties and graduateschools, the University has become a university with seven faculties, eight graduate
schools, and one professional graduate school. Along with the Yokohama Campus, theUniversity operates the Shonan Hiratsuka Campus in Hiratsuka City, Kanagawa
Prefecture. The University has developed education and research activities based on its
founding spirits: “Simple and Sturdy,” which means having respect for tradition and theclassics, a regard for common sense, and an unwavering sense of justice;“Forward-thinking,” which indicates a readiness to take on difficult challenges and toseek progress and positive change; and “Balanced and Steady,” which refers to a pursuitof truth and essence through “exploration, harmonizing, and synthesizing,” and bybecoming deeply conscious of two former concepts of values, from the perspective of a
spirit of independence and commitment to coexistence, and creates new value in anautonomous and independent way.
After its accreditation review by Japan University Accreditation Association(JUAA) in 2009, the University has built a system to make improvements and reforms
through self-studies through the initiative of the Self-inspection & Evaluation
University-Wide Committee. The University has stipulated the “Three Basic Policies for
Undergraduate Education at Kanagawa University” and the “medium-term objectives,action plans, and evaluation indicators (the three-year plan for medium-term objectives,action plans).”
Notable features of the University are its efforts in education for the first-year
students, which aims a smooth transition in learning from the general subject group to
the specialized subject group in the first year, and its social contribution activities rooted
in the local community.
However, the University still has some issues to address. It is expected that theUniversity will improve education methods to make the credit system more substantial,
as well as enrollment management in the graduate schools.
Prior to this accreditation review, the School of Law had already undergone
professional graduate school accreditation review by JUAA in 2013. Thus, JUAA
reviewed the School this time by examining the improvements from 2013 onward fromthe standpoint of University Accreditation (institutional certified evaluation andaccreditation).
Notable Strengths
Educational Content, Methods, and Outcome

It is commendable that the University has made efforts to support basic education
with diverse and systematic specialized education in each faculty through theFirst-Year Seminar (FYS), which has not only functioned as a learning opportunity
to help students adjust to campus life, but also contributed to improvements incomprehensive competency with basic core academic skills (which is listed as oneof the university’s missions for education). In addition to implementing FYS as auniversity-wide experience for first-year students and basic education such as how
to write reports and make presentations, the University has promoted the founding
spirits and raised the social awareness of university students. At the same time, byplacing a subject on each theme, such as “Society and Human Being” and3“Thinking about Life and Death” in “Common Theme Subjects,” the University has
created synergistic effects of these subjects centered around FYS.
Enrollment
It is commendable that the fellowship examination has had positive effects on theUniversity. The University has implemented the “fellowship examination” for manyyears, which selects excellent students. By organizing all stipendiary students who
have passed the examination each year, the University has made efforts to form anetwork and improve students’ motivation to learn. For example, after admission,
stipendiary students organized learning support circles, made materials forindependent learning, and got involved in peer support in recent years. Thus, thestipendiary student entrance examination has been demonstrated to be a worthwhile
selection system.

Social Cooperation and Contribution
It is commendable that the University has made efforts to contribute to society
through its education research results, and at the same time has created
opportunities to practice “learning that is truly attuned to the real world.” Based on
its policies on social cooperation and social contribution, the University has
developed a variety of community contribution activities such as: holding lifelong
learning lectures for local residents; the Satochi Satoyama (Foothill) Revitalization
Project, which conducts environmental conservation in cooperation with Hiratsuka
City; and continuous support for the Kanagawa University (KU) Tohoku Volunteer
Ekiden as part of its support for the victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake. In
particular, the Jindai Youth Support Project (JYSP) has contributed to local
education by sending junior high school students studying at the “JIN-KANA CramSchool” to high school at a high rate. At the same time, these support experiences
have become practical learning opportunities for the students involved.

Suggestions for Improvement
Educational Content, Methods, and Outcome

In each master’s program, except in the Graduate School of Business Administration,
Course of Chemistry in the Graduate School of Science and the Graduate School ofEngineering, certain undergraduate classes are allowed to be taken as a part of therequired credits for degree-completion, but there are no separate assessment methods
to evaluate the master’s students in these classes. This practice should be improvedfrom the perspective of quality assurance of education.

The maximum number of credits a student can register for is high at 50 for
fourth-year students in the Faculty of Business Administration, at 52 in theDepartment of Mechanical Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering, and at 54 in
the Department of Electrical, Electronics and Information Engineering, theDepartment of Material and Life Chemistry, the Department of Architecture, and theCoordinated Engineering Program. In addition, student is allowed to register for
credits over the limit (with permission of the dean) if he/she has specific reasons(such as they have not satisfied the conditions required to advance to the next gradeor have not satisfied graduation requirements) in the following departments orgroups: third-year students in the Department of Architecture in the Faculty ofEngineering; fourth-year students in the Faculty of Law, the Faculty of HumanSciences, the Department of English and the Department of Spanish in the Faculty of4U16

Foreign Languages; second-year, second-semester students and completing-year
students in the Faculty of Economics; second-year and fourth-year students in theDepartment of Chinese and the Department of Cross-Cultural Studies; and students
of any year in the Faculty of Science. This situation should be improved inaccordance with the purpose of having a credit system.
In all doctoral programs except in the School of Law, some students complete all therequirements except the dissertation, and leave the university before completing theirdissertation requirement within the time limit set by the University. Later, whenthese students submit their dissertations, even though they do not have the enrollment
status, they are granted doctoral degrees in the same manner as those students who
have been continuously enrolled. This is an inappropriate use of the system thatshould be corrected. In accordance with the purpose of having doctoral program, theUniversity should create measure to enhance the degree completion within therequired time frame.

Enrollment
 In the graduate schools, the ratio of enrolled students to the student enrollment cap ishigh at 3.33 in the doctoral program in the Graduate School of History and Folklore
Studies, but low at 0.28 in the master’s program in the Graduate School of Law, at0.25 in the master’s program in the Graduate School of Economics, at 0.46 in themaster’s program in the Graduate School of Engineering, at 0.22 in the doctoral
program in the Graduate School of Law, at 0.25 in the doctoral program in theGraduate School of Economics, and at 0.09 in the doctoral program in the Graduate
School of Engineering. These numbers should be improved.