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

Azabu University

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: Private

Location: Kanagawa, 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 Azabu University
Overview
Azabu University (hereafter, the University) began as Tokyo Veterinary Training
School in 1890 and was established as Azabu Veterinary College in 1950. It wasrenamed Azabu University in April 1980 and is currently organized into two faculties(School of Veterinary Medicine and School of Life and Environmental Science) andtwo graduate schools (Graduate School of Veterinary Science and Graduate School ofEnvironmental Health) with the campus located in Sagamihara City, Kanagawa
Prefecture.
After its accreditation review by Japan University Accreditation Association(JUAA) in 2010, the University formulated its “Third Mid-term Targets and Plan”(2015-2020) in 2015 with the objective to act on its founding spirit “explore
academically and practice conscientiously” and has been making improvements suchas clarifying the role of the faculty council and board of councilors in administration.
As part of its social cooperation and social contribution activities, theUniversity opened The Life Museum of Azabu University where it displays
information about the university’s history as well as zoology, environmental studies
and other fields in an easy-to-understand manner. It is also holding and expanding the“small animal clinical seminar” meant for veterinarians by leveraging the Azabu
University Veterinary Teaching Hospital. This effort is commendable for strengthening
relations between the community and persons related to veterinary services.
However, no systematic efforts are seen in its Graduate School ofEnvironmental Health to improve education programs and instruction and no researchsupervision plan has been formulated in both Master’s and Doctoral programs of thegraduate schools. The University also needs to manage its student enrollment quota.
Moreover, it is expected to work on quality assurance and quality enhancement in its
education by implementing appropriate self-study, which is lacking regularity atpresent, and ensure effective functioning of the internal quality assurance system bycollaboration between the new “Academic Council” and “Self-study Division.”

3Notable Strengths
Social Cooperation and Contribution
The Azabu University Veterinary Teaching Hospital holds public “Small animal
clinical seminar” as part of post-graduate education for its alumni as well as
veterinarians in the neighborhood. It offers lectures as well as practical training invarious themes such as “Diagnosis and treatment of lymphoid tumors in dogs andcats” and “Practical training in abdominal ultrasonography.” Its seminar attracts
large participation due to various measures to cater to the participants’ needs,including holding seminars late in the evening so that people can join after work. Itis commendable that the University is giving back its educational and researchoutcomes to society and contributing to the spread of academic learning among
holders of veterinary license.

The Life Museum of Azabu University was opened in 2015 as part of theuniversity’s 125th anniversary celebrations with the objective to interact with thecommunity and contribute to society by spreading information about theuniversity’s history and results of educational and research activities. The museum
organizes academic materials, such as zoological specimens, and articles andbooks, that the University has accumulated and displays information about theuniversity’s history as well as zoology, environmental studies and other fields in amanner that even common people can understand easily. Its effort to involve
students in the management of the museum is particularly evident in thehands-on-corner where visitors can touch specimens and other exhibits and gain
information from explanations provided by student groups. It is also commendable
that the University has continued to incorporate opinions received though visitor
surveys and leverages its specialization for social contribution.

Suggestions for ImprovementEducational Content, Methods, and Outcome

No systematic training or research is conducted in the Graduate School ofEnvironmental Health to improve education programs and instruction. This issue

4should be addressed.
Enrollment
In the last five years, the average of ratios of freshman enrollment to the freshmanenrollment cap were high at 1.21 in the Department of Animal Science andBiotechnology of the School of Veterinary Medicine, 1.21 in the School of Lifeand Environmental Science, 1.22 in the Department of Medical Technology of theSchool of Life and Environmental Science and 1.22 in the Department of Food andLife Science of the School of Life and Environmental Science. In addition, theratios of student enrollment to the student enrollment cap were high at 1.21 in theSchool of Veterinary Medicine, with 1.24 in the Department of VeterinaryMedicine, while the Department of Medical Technology of the School of Life andEnvironmental Science stood at a high 1.22. These should be improved.

The ratio of student enrollment to the student enrollment cap in the Doctoral
Course of Environmental Health was low at 0.17 and should be improved.

Internal Quality Assurance
Although the University is required to implement yearly self-study under its“self-study regulation,” its implementation has been restricted to the time of theaccreditation review and periodic self-study is not held in accordance with theregulation. The University should implement periodic self-study as required andcreate as well as activate mechanisms to address various issues.

Area of Serious Concern
Educational Content, Methods, and Outcome

The Doctoral as well as Master’s courses of the Graduate School of Veterinary
Science and the Graduate School of Environmental Health lack a researchsupervision plan. Therefore, the University should make improvements to ensurethat research supervision and guidance for graduation dissertations are provided
based on a research supervision plan.