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

Tohoku Gakuin University

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: Private

Location: Miyagi, 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 Tohoku Gakuin UniversityOverview
Tohoku Gakuin University (hereafter, the University) was formerly founded as theSendai Theological Seminary in 1886, and after being renamed Tohoku Gakuin in1891, the school was chartered as a specialized training college and launched as auniversity under new School Education Act system in 1949. At present, the University,
which continues to evolve, is comprised of six faculties (Letters, Economics, Business
Administration, Law, Engineering, and Liberal Arts) and six graduate schools (Letters,Economics, Business Administration, Law, Engineering, and Human Informatics),
which are spread out over three campuses located in Miyagi Prefecture: the Tsuchitoi
and Izumi campuses in Sendai city and the Tagajo Campus in Tagajo city.
Since undergoing the Japan University Accreditation Association’s (JUAA)FY2010 University Accreditation in 2010, the University has stepped up its efforts topursue internal reforms and initiated numerous projects, resulting in notableimprovements. Moreover, in 2016, with a view to celebrating the 150th anniversary ofits foundation, the University formulated and announced the Tohoku Gakuin
University medium-term plan “TG Grand Vision 150” to work towards furtherimprovement.
The University promotes education with “Respect for Dignity of theIndividual and Perfection of Character” as its founding spirit based on evangelicalChristianity. The University adopts a variety of unique approaches to focusing onliberal arts education in pursuit of the perfection of character through the “TG Basic”
core curriculum established to promote a basic liberal arts education in all of its
faculties. In addition, the University measures its four-year educational outcomesthrough student opinion surveys conducted at the time of graduation and each facultyis expected to incorporate the results of these surveys into their educational reform
initiatives. Because it is located in an area affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake,the University publishes a general academic journal entitled “Disaster Studies” andmany faculty, staff and students participate in disaster volunteer activities nationwide.
These efforts are commendable as they demonstrate the Universities strong connection
to the local community. However, there are challenges to be addressed, including themanaging of student quotas for admissions and the capping of the number of credits

3students can register for in a single year in the Faculty of Letters.
The University’s internal quality assurance system checks and evaluates theUniversity on three levels: academic staff, undergraduate and graduate schools, and theUniversity as a whole. These evaluations are then verified by the Internal Quality
Assurance Committee. In addition to conducting a self-evaluation and assessment
every three years, the University is currently in the process of advancing the First-stageof its Medium-term Plan (2016-2020) and its Single-year Action Plan based on its “TGGrand Vision 150.” Self-evaluation plays a key role in the University’s internal quality
assurance. The University is expected to continue to effectively operate the internal
quality assurance system for its further development in the coming years.
Notable Strengths
Educational Content, Methods, and Outcomes

It is commendable that the University emphasizes liberal arts education as a way
to cultivate the richness of humanity and advances humanistic and intellectual
basics through it TG Basic core curriculum. To realize its diploma policy, TG
Basic courses introduce the basics of a liberal arts education to all faculties. The
humanistic dimension is provided via Christian theology based on the University’sfounding spirit in conjunction with various courses that inspire students tocontemplate living well including career design. The intellectual basics areprovided through courses designed to develop logical thinking, mathematicalthinking, writing skills, and information processing abilities. Furthermore, theUniversity-wide Educational Program Committee verifies the effectiveness ofthese programs with a view to further reform the liberal arts education theyprovide.

It is commendable that the Program in Asian Historical and Cultural Studies in theGraduate School of Letters, introduces an off-campus training system thatprovides the opportunity for students to conduct document investigations,archeological research, ethnological studies, and research presentations in Japan,
China and South Korea with the goal of enhancing students’ research skills. In
addition, graduate students participating in this off-campus training are appointed
as curatorial researchers at the Tohoku Gakuin University Museum to further

4develop their abilities by experiencing the profession firsthand. These include
creating displays, serving as guides, and conducting investigative research. These
unique educational programs, attended by all students enrolled in the master’s anddoctoral degree programs, produce graduates who can be employed in professional
positions, such as curators and cultural property conservation technicians.
Social Cooperation and Contribution
To fulfill its responsibility as a university located in an area affected by the Great
East Japan Earthquake, the University is taking appropriate steps to deal withdisaster recovery in the medium and long term as well as to address regional
challenges and social issues from a multifaceted perspective which goes beyond
individual academic disciplines. For example, under the leadership of theUniversity president, the President’s Office played a central role in collaboratingwith each faculty and graduate school to begin publication of the academic journal“Disaster Studies” in 2012. In addition, in cooperation with local newspapers, theUniversity holds a continuing symposium with the main theme of “Revival andCreation: Tohoku’s Regional Empowerment.” The journal “Disaster Studies”
disseminates a wide range of information that includes contributions from all overthe country and publishes articles related to the symposium. These initiatives arecommendable because they demonstrate the strong roots the University has to thelocal community.

It is also commendable that the University set up a disaster volunteer station
immediately after the Great East Japan Earthquake. With its students taking theinitiative and actively participating in nationwide volunteer activities, its goal is toserve as a core disaster volunteer cooperative network among universities. TheUniversity also holds an annual inter-university joint disaster volunteer
symposium with a multifaceted theme focused on student volunteers. These
initiatives are planned and managed in collaboration with students andacademic/administrative staff and students play a leadership role in holding
in-depth discussions which reach beyond the bounds of the university. These
initiatives offer the opportunity for students to acquire knowhow on volunteer
coordination and methods for organizing collaborative activities.
they significantly contribute to the cultivation of volunteer leaders.

In this way,5

Administration and FinanceIt is commendable that, in an attempt to improve the motivation and quality of its
administrative staff members, the University has established a basic training policy
and seven tiered qualification system for staff administrative position. It has alsoorganized various internal training programs which include the allocating of a
President’s research grants program to administrative work studies, and short-term
staff exchange program with other universities. Importantly, the administrative
work studies and staff developmental activities have helped to encourage
problem-solving across different administrative bureaus and to improve overall
problem-solving skills. Research activities are conducted on various themes
including “How to reducing student drop-out rate” and “The development andexpansion of support systems for students with disabilities.” These efforts have led
to the implementation of specific measures including the establishment of a
Dropout Prevention Committee and a Student General Health Support Center.

Suggestions for Improvement
Educational Content, Methods, and OutcomesAll departments in the Faculty of Letters limit the number of credits students canregister for in a single year to 44 for first through third year students and to 48 forfourth year students. Courses that are part of the teaching credential program,
however, are exempt from this upper limit. These courses are nonetheless includedin credits required for graduation which results in many students taking credits far
exceeding the upper limit. This situation should be remedied given the statedpurpose of the credit system.

Enrollment
In the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty ofEngineering, the average ratio of freshman enrollment to the cap on freshmanenrollment over the past five years and the ratio of student enrollment to thestudent enrollment cap are high at 1.22 and 1.23, respectively. On the other hand,6

the ratio of transfer students to the transfer student admission cap is low at 0.1.
These faculties should improve these ratios to properly manage their studentquotas.
The ratio of transfer students to the transfer student admission cap is low at 0.25
and 0.33, respectively, in the Departments of General Humanities and History, andthe Faculty of Letters. Similarly, it is 0.15 in the Faculty of Economics, 0.06 in theFaculty of Business Administration, 0.04 in the Faculty of Law, and 0.1, 0.2, and0.5, respectively, in the Departments of Human Science, Information Science, andRegional Design, Faculty of Liberal Arts. Even though the Departments ofMechanical Engineering and Intelligent Systems and Electrical Engineering andInformation Technology in the Faculty of Engineering have set a transfer student
admission cap, no students have transferred in. These ratios should be improved.

The ratio of student enrollment to the student enrollment cap is also low at 0.38 inthe Master’s Program in the Division of Letters, 0.06 in the Master’s Program inthe Division of Economics, 0.30 in the Master’s Program in the Division of Law,0.08 in the Doctoral Program in the Division of Engineering, and 0.25 and 0.11 in
the Master’s and Doctoral Programs in the Division of Human Informatics. No
students are enrolled in the Doctoral Program in the Divisions of Economics andLaw. These ratios should also be improved.

Education and Research Environment
The libraries on the Tsuchitoi, Izumi and Tagajo campuses do not employ any
librarian or other staff with expert knowledge in a full-time regular staff. Thissituation should be improved.