Hitotsubashi University
School of International and Public Policy

External Evaluation Report

December 2012

Table of Contents
Introduction ....................................................................................................................1
Evaluation Method .........................................................................................................2
Overall Evaluation .........................................................................................................2
Evaluation by Criteria ....................................................................................................4－Criterion 1 Objectives ..........................................................................4－Criterion 2 Educational Content, Methods, Results .............................4－Criterion 3 Teaching Staff Organization...............................................6－Criterion 4 Admissions .........................................................................6－Criterion 5 Educational Research Environment & Student Life ..........7－Criterion 6 Administration ...................................................................7－Criterion 7 Disclosure ..........................................................................8Introduction
1. Background to This External Evaluation
Hitotsubashi University’s School of International and Public Policy (“the School” hereinafter) wasestablished as a professional graduate school in April 2005. Universities creating professional graduate
schools must be accredited every five years by law. The accreditation is conducted by an accreditation
organization recognized by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
Graduate schools focusing on public policy did not have a recognized accreditation organization until
2010; instead, they relied on self-evaluations or external evaluations verified by someone outside theuniversity. The first evaluation organization, public policy entity, for universities was recognized in
March 2010. Hitotsubashi University is to be evaluated by this organization during the fiscal year 2013.
The School has decided to undergo its 2013 certification evaluation based on the follow-up to theself-evaluations and external evaluations conducted in 2008.
It was this intent that led to conducting the current external evaluation.

2. Composition of the External Evaluation Report
This external evaluation examined seven areas defined in the University Accreditation Association’s“Standards for Professional Graduate Schools of Public Policy” (February 2010): 1) objectives; 2)
educational content, methods, and results; 3) teaching staff organization; 4) admissions; 5) educational
research environment and student life; 6) administration; and 7) disclosure.
The attached reference material “Hitotsubashi University Graduate School of International and Public
Policy Self-Inspection and Self-Evaluation Report” (September 2012) used these same seven areas.

3. External Evaluation Committee (in no particular order)
Committee Chair:

Yoshitsugu Kanemoto, Professor, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies

Committee Members:

Yoshihisa Ueda, Director, Inter-American Development Bank Asia Office
Takashi Nishio, Dean of Liberal Arts, International Christian University
Takuya Sasaki, Professor, Department of Politics, Rikkyo University

1Evaluation Methods
The external evaluation was conducted according to the following process.
First, external evaluation committee members received and carefully read the “Self-Inspection andSelf-Evaluation Report” and other materials from the School in October 2012.
Next, the committee members visited the School on October 31, 2012 and conducted an on-site survey.
At that time, they interviewed personnel at the School regarding items noted in the self-evaluation report.
In addition, they interviewed students on the same day, with no teaching staff present. Committee
members relayed a critique after deliberating on this information.
This report was created on the basis of summaries of the results of the above surveys made by eachcommittee member and compiled in the course of the above process.

Overall Evaluation
Hitotsubashi University’s School of International and Public Policy (hereinafter “the School”) has an
objective of the “development of human resources with practical thinking skills and expertise in the fieldof international and public policy.” As specific principles, it holds high professionalism, complex views,multifaceted natures, practicality, and building its hubs in and extending influence through the Asia–
Pacific region. To fulfill these objectives, it focuses on small classroom sizes and works to improve theteaching quality and impact by carefully considering innovative methods. The School is steadily moving
forward as a unique professional school based on the heritage of Hitotsubashi University, with an aim ofsolving the problems of a new era across disciplines. While various fields were evaluated, the School issucceeding in three basic fields: filling limited slots through rigorous admissions process in the backdrop
of a shrinking pool of candidates; appropriate curriculum design and teaching in line with its objectives;and application of professional knowledge in postgraduate careers.
In particular, the School has four programs for its maximum 55 students, and the students themselvesrate highly the thoughtful education accorded to them.
In addition, the School earnestly works on the fields noted in the previous external evaluation. TheSchool has bulked up common courses, created mandatory coursework groups, and established “PublicPolicy in Asia” as a common course across the four disciplines. The “Self-Inspection and Evaluation
Report” also frankly pointed out various issues faced by the School, issues which the School is
assiduously working toward improving. These unremitting efforts are highly commendable.
Of course, there is no end to efforts at improvement. In regards to interdisciplinary and practicalprofessional education, the School has many efforts underway, such as interdisciplinary efforts withincourses, joint research with professors and students, and curriculum innovations. Operating a sustainable2

school with limited manpower requires the revision of programs and the reduction of the teaching staff
workload. Further, funding efforts are anticipated to enable additional progress in interprogramexchanges and international exchanges such as exchange programs, as well as to improve the educational
environment. In particular, committee members had strong opinions on reducing the teaching staff
workload. High-quality education becomes possible through professional research by teaching staff. The
employment of excellent full-time staff is the reason for high evaluation received by the School. In thatregard, sufficient consideration must be given to reduce the teacher workload. Appropriate responses areexpected in such areas as further progress on common subjects between programs, cooperation with otherresearch departments, and utilization of teacher’s assistants.

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Evaluations by Criteria
Criterion 1 Objectives
Items of Note
The stated goal of the School, the “development of human resources with practical thinking skills

and expertise in the field of international and public policy,” is truly topical and critical for Japan. Its
purpose is clear. Further, it is rooted in Hitotsubashi University’s traditions and agrees with thesociety’s general image of the university. The principles of “expertise” and “practical thinking skills”
are accurately reflected in admission policies and materials.

Areas of Expected Improvement
The development of human resources referred to in the objective must be implemented broadly,across the private sector and not just in the public domain, which is the unambiguous territory of publicpolicy. Movement between public and private domains is thought to be increasingly fluid, so perhaps
this fact should be more clearly stated within Hitotsubashi University, as it produces the leaders of theindustry.
An issue is how specifically the objectives and principles of the School are put into practice in thecourse of day-to-day education. One way of looking at this issue is to illustrate typical examples of
how courses, classes, and the combination thereof exemplify the four pillars shown in the “BasicPrinciples” found on the third page of “School Information.”

Criterion 2 Educational Content, Methods, Results


Items of Note
The School arose out of two courses, “International Public Administration” and “Public Economy.”

These two courses are used in the four programs, “Public Law and Politics,” “Global Governance,”“Public Economy,” and “Asian Public Policy.” These four programs are considered part of the five coreareas: basic subjects, core subjects, applied subjects, case research, and workshops, and are used in
Hitotsubashi University’s strong areas of finance, economics, law, and international relations.
In addition to being a foundation of law, political science, and economics, the School’s philosophy ofproviding practical and interdisciplinary education is appropriate and leveraged by unique programs
such as visiting lectures by professionals, partnership with the Local Autonomy College, andconsulting projects. To plan for partnering with each program, the School introduced “commonsubjects” in 2011, in addition to “interdisciplinary subjects.” In an effort to further strengthen
partnerships with these four programs, the School launched “common mandatory subjects” this year.
While the impact of these subjects remains to be seen, a positive result is expected.
In the past few years, development of a new educational program has moved forward in cooperation
with external organizations. “Public Law and Politics” has been the primary focus in a 2010 agreement

4with the Local Autonomy College to cooperate on human resource development. The School began
accepting foreign students from various Asian countries under the auspices of JICA and JDS andstarted a program allowing students to receive a master’s degree with all courses taught in English.
“Public Economics” as a “Public Policy Seminar I” began in 2011 in collaboration with Daiwa
Research Institute. Also in 2011, the School entered into an academic exchange agreement withChina’s Public Economics and Management School, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics,
and a student exchange agreement with Italy’s Bocconi University, steadily making progress on foreign
academic exchanges. The “Asian Public Policy” program began to accept foreign students via ascholarship program from the Asia Development Bank in 2010.

Areas of Expected Improvement
One characteristic of the School is the small groups of students with various backgrounds anddiffering knowledge and experiences. This is a burden for the teaching staff, but on the other hand, thesmall classroom sizes are not an impediment to education quality; rather, they enable aninterdisciplinary educational program. A merit of this diversity is that students’ expertise and actual
experiences act as mutually complementary teaching devices. In addition to this interdisciplinary
aspect, it is hoped that there will be increased opportunities for interactions in “common subjects”
among students in different courses, such as application and case study research. Further, the School
may wish to consider courses covering environmental issues and natural sciences, as these are requiredfor public policy in today’s world.
From that perspective, the School can move the bulk of the “Asian Public Policy” to the Kunitachi
campus to stimulate daily interaction between Japanese and foreign students (particularly those sent byforeign governments). Many students in the “Asian Public Policy” program live in the Kodaira
dormitories for foreign students; considering their commute and the few interactions with their
Japanese counterparts, it would be good to ascertain revisions, such as conducting a few more courses
for them in Kunitachi. These foreign students are young elite, who will take up important jobs in theirgovernments after they return to home countries. In terms of developing future pro-Japan foreign
professionals, it is important to increase opportunities for these students to interact with Japanese
students and to provide ways for them to improve their understanding of Japan.
Revisions of these four programs have, for the most part, been appropriate, though a somewhat lax
impression was received of the Asia–Pacific Relations subject within the “Global Governance”
program. Considering the political and foreign relations issues faced by this region, “Peace Studies,”“East Asian International Relations,” and “International Political Economy of Asia–Pacific” areimportant, and “Gender and International Relations” is also of interest. However, no course deals
specifically with, for example, China, Southeast Asia, or ASEAN. With limited resources, it is
impossible to allocate subjects such that they comprehensively encompass all regions and issues.
However, an idea is to carefully refine the current curriculum to create a course covering China andSoutheast Asia. Many foreign students come from these regions and, as pointed out multiple times inthe “Self-Inspection and Evaluation Report” of September 2012, if the School intends to differentiate

5itself by emphasizing the Asia–Pacific region, then reviewing the existing courses in “GlobalGovernance” and creating a new course is at least worth consideration.
Students would like to see new partnerships with foreign universities, a system of short-termexchanges, EU courses (limited to summer term), opportunities to interact with foreign students, and anincrease in courses taught in English. In addition, the common course “Public Policy in Asia” was forthe most part given high marks, though there was criticism that it was too basic, with not sufficient
information on individual countries, and somewhat disappointing. These points should also beconsidered.

Criterion 3 Teaching Staff Organization
Items of Note
Ten fulltime faculties are required according to set levels, though the School, currently with twentystaff, is not facing a shortage. In addition, the small number of teaching staff (each program has anaverage of five faculty members) teaches a diverse array of courses and provides careful guidance tostudents. Small classroom instruction is a feature of the School, which should be proud of theenthusiasm of its excellent faculty.

Areas of Expected Improvement
The proportion of researchers to administration is reasonable at 16:4, with many teaching staff

bridging research and administrative responsibilities.
From the perspective of small classroom education, the teaching staff workload is not light. The
fulltime faculties teach both undergraduate and graduate courses; in light of the increased
administrative workload in recent years, there is concern about the rigorous load. The administrative
structure is not thought to be sufficient, and teaching staff must consider the use of teaching assistantsin their teaching to devote sufficient time for research.
The so-called double count preferential measure will be abolished at the end of 2013. A new
operating structure must be considered, preferably one that considers teaching staff workload issues.

Criteria 4 Admissions
Items of Note
Despite the fact that no special considerations are given to civil service exam credentials, also with astricter environment in public policy graduate schools, the School fills its limited seats to capacity
every year with quality students. In addition, very few students turn down admission. Students comefrom various educational and professional backgrounds, and 40% are international students. The
School is not only showing results with regard to broad public relations and recruitment efforts but6

also garnering respect both inside and out in its seventh year.

Areas of Expected Improvement
The School attracts various students via three routes: general admissions, special admissions ofworking adults, and foreign student special admissions. Increasing the number of foreign students iscritical to further strengthen student diversity. In addition, few Japanese students of the Schoolmatriculate as undergraduates from Hitotsubashi University, suggesting the need to develop an
integrated education between undergraduate and graduate schools. The implementation of a five-year
integrated program should be considered. Furthermore, practically all dispatched working students arefrom public office. Even in the private sector, a broad range of fields requiring a public policy
viewpoint, and not merely limited to corporate social responsibility, are expanding participation in theSchool; a shift in opinion can be seen within the corporate management. The School is using its
traditional strengths in private business to increase the satisfaction of corporate needs and showing its
merits; it is hoped that the School will also make efforts to increase the number of students from theprivate sector.

Criteria 5 Educational Research Environment & Student Life

Items of Note
Interviews with current students show that they think highly of the School and are mostly satisfied

with the current educational programs. Students uniformly emphasize the closeness between students
and faculty, small classrooms, and the good learning environment. This is also a major factor inattracting promising new students. In addition, the Kunitachi campus has a peaceful educational
environment and a comfortable living environment, with no issues of note.

Areas of Expected Improvement
Regarding facilities and equipment, new needs are constantly arising with advances in IT. Current

students are asking for the latest PCs and enhancement to the library (particularly Western books andforeign language materials). There are constant opportunities to incorporate the wishes of students
through dialog; it is hoped that these opportunities will be utilized and responded to as appropriate.

Criteria 6 Administration
Items of NoteNothing in particular.

7Areas of Expected Improvement
Increases in office administration accompanying daily operations are thought to be causing anincrease in workload among teachers and office staff. This tends to become excessive as thepracticality and interdisciplinary ideals of the “objective” are to be realized and must clearly be given
priority as an issue. In addition, the two Kunitachi and Chiyoda campuses create a huge workload for
office administration. As partnerships with external organizations and overseas universities expand inthe future, office work will also increase. It is hoped that certain measures will be put in place for theteaching as well as office staff. In addition, the teaching staff must be deployed in a flexible manner
across the entire university. It is expected that School leadership will prioritize and solve these issues
faced by the School.

Criteria 7 Disclosure

Items of Note
Organized inspections and evaluations have been implemented in the form of self-evaluation reports

and external evaluation reports. A responsibility for disclosure is being institutionalized.

Areas of Expected Improvement
In the future, the objectives of evaluations must be clear, with flexible and efficient evaluations being

conducted in line with the objectives. Programs and courses will need to be scrapped after a certain
period; therefore, it is expected that periodic evaluations and reviews of programs and courses will beput in place.

Other Important Findings
Nothing in particular.

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