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

Kanto Gakuin University

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: Private

Location: Kanagawa, Japan

Accreditation Status
Year of the Review: 2020
Accreditation Status: accredited （Accreditation Period: April.1.2021 – March.31.2028）

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Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Resultsfor Kanto Gakuin University
Overview
Based on the school motto “Be a man and serve the world” which is Christian in spirit,
Kanto Gakuin University’s (hereinafter referred to as the “University”), mission is “tocreate a next-generation society together with others through thoughts and actions
directed toward the wellbeing of people, society, and even the human race, founded oneducation for self-establishment and coexistence in diversity.” and “to foster people withskills who can embody the school motto ‘Be a man and serve the world’ while cultivating
and nurturing knowledge and skills to live independently in society in addition to seeking
the truth as an education and research institute.” The purpose of the University is “tocultivate character based on Christian teaching through teaching and assisting in researchbased on the academic theory and application in a manner under the Fundamental Law ofEducation and to contribute to society by fostering skilled persons with the education,knowledge, and skills to create the next generation of society with others” was formulated
as a medium- to long-term plan. In 2014, the University formulated a vision for the future“Future Vision” to actualize “the ideal state” in 10 year’s time. It is commendable that
the University is striving to enhance education, research, and social contribution.
Regarding internal quality assurance, the University is engaged in reform basedon the previous accreditation results. Under the leadership of the president, the University
has established an organization centered on the “University Internal Assessment andEvaluation Committee” that is relevant for the internal quality assurance of the entire
University and is promoting the realization of the PDCA cycle. It is highly commendable
that in promoting the internal quality assurance system, the University is making steadyprogress in its reform by creating a “GP list” and a “task list” that lists outstanding
initiatives and issues for all faculties and graduate schools, sharing information, andmaking improvements and enhancements. It is expected that efforts will continue to bemade to efficiently operate the internal quality assurance system.
Concerning education, each faculty and graduate school is appropriately
designing their curriculum according to the degree award policy (diploma policy) andcurriculum design and implementation policy (curriculum policy). A curriculum map in
a flowchart format that clearly shows the position of each subject in the curriculum isdevised to allow students to take courses systematically and sequentially. In addition, a“diploma chart” was developed, visualizing the mastery of the learning goals specified in1

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the degree award policy. This attempt to assess the learning outcomes comprehensively
is an excellent initiative. Regarding the assessment of academic achievement, theUniversity is making efforts to ensure fairness, objectivity, and rigor. These efforts include
the creation of a “general-purpose rubric” and the development of rubrics for dissertationin graduate schools with the “Center for Research and Development of Higher Education”
playing the central role.
Regarding social cooperation and social contribution, the University is engaged
in various social cooperation and social contribution activities closely connected toregional communities. These activities include planning and managing regional exchange
centers utilizing vacant houses, the “Okinawa Revitalization Majun Project” which aims
to solve regional issues in collaboration with Okinawa University, and the “K-biz Marche”(College of Business Administration), which sells local agricultural and marine products
in collaboration with supporting companies. Such activities contribute to the developmentof students who are interested in society and are excellent initiatives. All faculties arecooperating in the activities of the Disaster Management Institute with the president as
the director. The University has a strong track record in patent licensing by providing
local companies with University-owned technology. These initiatives are highly
commendable as distinctive and advanced initiatives in social and industry-academia
collaborations.
However, there are several issues that should be addressed. First, there areinsufficient measures to substantiate credits in multiple faculties. In addition, becausesome graduate schools have low ratios of student enrollment to the student enrollment
cap, improvements are required to ensure thorough quota management.
By effectively utilizing the internal quality assurance system for solving
problems and further developing unique initiatives such as social cooperation activities,
it is hoped the University will respond flexibly to future changes in the educational
environment and achieve its vision.
Notable Strengths
Internal Quality Assurance As a mechanism to promote improvements and enhancements of the education andresearch structure, and based on the results of checks and reviews, the “GP list”
listing the excellent initiatives, and the “task list” listing the issues, were created forthe entire University, each faculty, and the graduate schools. By sharing and2

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managing the lists throughout the University, there is support for reliable
implementation of initiatives to improve and enhance the business plans of eacheducation and research structure. In fact, the University has achieved definite results,
such as an increase in international students, development of the “diploma chart,”
continuous increase in the number of applicants, new students with better grades, andestablishment of the internal quality assurance system. This mechanism is useful for
improving the effectiveness of visualizing the checks and reviews results andproviding feedback to the business plan, and it is commendable.
Educational Program and Learning Outcomes

As an index for direct assessment of learning outcomes shown in the degree awarding
policy, the diploma chart which visualizes the mastery of the learning goals specified
in the degree award policy was developed through the collaboration of teachers andprovided to each faculty. The information obtained is actually used as evidence ininvestigating the curriculum improvements of some faculties. Besides improvementsto the curriculum, contributions to the understanding of the students’ mastery of thelearning goals specified in the degree award policy is expected. As such, this initiative
is commendable.

Social Cooperation and Contribution
 The University is working on community-based social contributions with thedevelopment of the economy, industry, culture, and such in the region as the goal. In
the “K-biz” project, students collaborate with companies in various fields, including
railways, food, and media, to develop products, etc., and are realizing their
independent learning and contributing to regional revitalization throughcommercialization and events. As for the Okinawa Revitalization Majun Project
started in collaboration with Okinawa University to implement activities to solve
regional issues, problem-solving classes that students of both universities can takeremotely were established in collaboration with local governments and companies inboth regions. Such social cooperation activities that transcend regions wereimplemented in conjunction with the curriculum. The initiative is commendable as
an initiative that is both curricular and extracurricular for achieving the required itemof “knowledge and understanding of the region” outlined in the degree award policy
and the curriculum design and implementation policy.
3Kanto Gakuin University As for the “Disaster Management Institute” that advocates a model that integrates aHumanities and Science model for Disaster Prevention, Disaster Mitigation, andReconstruction Studies, the URA has established effective research themes. Faculty
members from both Humanities and Science participate in research that includes not
only engineering aspects but also humanities and social approaches like
psychological and economic aspects and contribute to disaster prevention
administration and reconstruction support. Research results are disseminated tosociety via various lecture activities and symposia, etc., raising social awareness andknowledge concerning disaster prevention from both soft and hard aspects. Inaddition, the University is engaged in the practical application of intellectual property
owned by the University. In a system that can be widely utilized by small andmedium-sized enterprises, and from the perspective of revitalizing the entire industry
with the University managing the patents, the technology owned by the University isbeing promoted under technology license agreements. As a result, the number ofpatent implementations, etc., have achieved high results. It is commendable that theUniversity is promoting academic research by making the most of its distinctive
features and is effectively passing on the results to society.
Suggestions for Improvement
Educational Program and Learning Outcomes Although the maximum number of credits that can be registered is defined for eachfaculty, some subjects in the College of Education and the College of Nursing, as
well as the compulsory subject “Introduction to KGU Career Design,” are excluded
as subjects. Due to this exclusion, the number of students in the first year of thesefaculties who are enrolled in more than the maximum number credits is increasing
considerably. Although a system is implemented with syllabi that describe the hours
required for preparation and review and guidance is given for taking courses, themeasures to substantiate the credits are insufficient. Improvement is required in lightof the purpose of the credit system.
Student Enrollment
 The ratio of student enrollment to the student enrollment cap is 0.27 in the Master’s4

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Course in the Graduate School of Humanities, 0.20 in the Master’s Course and as
low as 0.07 in the Doctoral Course in the Graduate School of Economics, with noenrolled students in the Doctoral Course in the Graduate School of Law. Therefore,
significant improvement should be made in graduate school quota management.

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