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

Tokyo Healthcare University

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: Private

Location: Tokyo, Japan

Accreditation Status
Year of the Review: 2018
Accreditation Status: accredited （Accreditation Period: April.01.2019 – March.31.2026）

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Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Resultsfor Tokyo Healthcare University
Overview
Tokyo Healthcare University (hereafter, the University) was established in 2005 with one
faculty, the Faculty of Healthcare. Based on its founding spirits of “providing precise
academic training in healthcare while engaging in research and clinical activities, always
staying rooted in science and technology,” and “developing professionals of goodcharacter who are open-minded and compassionate, with a deep reverence and respect forhuman life,” the University aims to nurture professionals with specialized skills, depth ofcharacter, broad-based knowledge, strong ethical principles, and the ability to identify,
analyze, and address comprehensively the social challenges faced by today’s society froma fresh perspective. In line with its mission and purposes, the University has actively
expanded its offering of programs over the years, and in 2018 it was home to four faculties
and two graduate schools spread out across six campuses. The University endeavors torespond to social demands, changing needs of the times, and changing student profiles as
it trains skilled medical professionals. Furthermore, the institution strives to improve theeducation of healthcare providers based on its medium-term goals and plans, with theTokyo Healthcare University Vision (hereafter, the Vision) statement laying out its
aspirations ten years ahead, and the Action Plan setting out the specific actions to achieve
the Vision.
The University is highly commended for creating an education and researchorganization that develops skilled professionals required by society, namely the master’scourse in Advanced Practical Nursing of the Postgraduate School of Nursing that trainsand sends off nurse practitioners (NP) to healthcare facilities around the country. The
University is also highly commended for ensuring that the curriculum of all faculties andgraduate schools are developed in accordance with the degree award policy and thecurriculum design and implementation policy, and for its unique team-based healthcare
education initiative, a collaborative program offered jointly by departments in the Facultyof Healthcare.
There are a number of issues the University needs to address, however. At theundergraduate level, there are departments that need to improve their enrollment
management. Issues at the graduate level include failure to (a) properly adopt the degree
award policy and the curriculum design and implementation policy, (b) put in place
effective processes to measure and assess the learning outcomes established in the degree

3award policy, (c) present the evaluation criteria for research projects to students inadvance, and (d) implement adequate faculty development (FD) activities. To addressthese issues, the University launched in 2018 the THCU Self-Study Committee (hereafter,the University Self-Study Committee), the Deans’ Meeting, and the Internal Quality
Assurance (IQA) Promotion Council, and is in the process of developing a new IQAsystem. Going forward the University needs to adopt and share the basic IQA principles
and processes with relevant organizations as well as define the roles and responsibilitiesof the Deans’ Meeting and IQA Promotion Council. It should also establish a universitywide IQA promotion system led by the Deans’ Meeting and implement effective
management of teaching and learning across the institution by facilitating faculty andgraduate school implementation of the PDCA cycle.
It is important for the University to address these issues and work on quality
assurance for further development of the institution.
Notable Strengths
Educational and Research StructureTo achieve its stated vision and objective to train relevant, educated professionals
with depth of character and the ability to identify, analyze, and addresscomprehensively the social challenges faced by today’s society from a fresh
perspective, the University offers the Master’s Course in Advanced Practical Nursing
in the Postgraduate School of Nursing that trains nurse practitioners (NP), and has
been designated by the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare as the training agency
for the Nurse’s Training Program Which Affects a Specific Act. Through its
partnership with the National Hospital Organization, the University sends off its
graduates to large hospitals around the country as NPs, and is commended for having
created an education and research organization designed to train skilled professionals
required by society.

Educational Program and Outcome
In accordance with the curriculum design and implementation policy and the aim ofproducing medical professionals capable of providing team-based care, the Facultyof Healthcare offers “collaborative healthcare education” subjects open to first-year
through fourth-year students. Collaborative healthcare education allows students to4

acquire specialized knowledge and skills outside their expertise, and provides
opportunities to engage in group discussions and group work in the two subjects ofCareer Education I and Cooperative Care Practice, which enroll a mixed group ofstudents from the divisions of Nursing, Medical Nutrition, and HealthcareInformatics. The program, which has earned high satisfaction from both alumni andstudents in evaluation surveys, is commended for training medical professionals
capable of team-based care practices by enabling students to learn different
perspectives and understand the difficulties of working with healthcare providers ofvarious specialties and by providing learning experiences not possible to gain throughclasses offered by a single department.
Suggestions for Improvement
Educational Program and Outcome
The Master’s Course of the Postgraduate School of Healthcare should adopt a degree
award policy for each degree offered, and the Doctor Course of the Postgraduate
School of Healthcare needs to adopt a degree award policy and a curriculum design
and implementation policy for each degree offered.

The divisions of Advanced Practical Nursing and Advanced Practical Midwifery(Midwife Certification Program) should present the evaluation criteria for research
projects to students in advance.

In the postgraduate schools of Healthcare and Nursing, learning outcomes aremeasured and assessed by thesis presentation, post-course final examinations, andother means, but the results are not being used to develop the criteria to measure thelearning outcomes indicated in the degree award policy. The University should
improve its practice and ensure that learning outcomes are measured and assessed
properly.

Faculty and Faculty Organization
The postgraduate schools should systematically implement their own FD programs.

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University Management and FinanceThe University’s total debt ratio is higher than the average total debt ratio of private
universities with multiple undergraduate schools including science and engineeringschools. Its net asset ratio is low, and the ratio of financial assets to required reservefund is also low. The University is therefore advised to review its financial plans andimplement improvements to establish a more solid financial foundation.

Recommendations
Internal Quality Assurance
While the Deans’ Meeting is defined as the organization responsible for IQA, theUniversity regulations stipulates that the IQA Promotion Council assumes that role,and the division of responsibility between these organizations is unclear. The Deans’
Meeting is tasked with implementing sweeping improvements across the university
based on self-study results, but the Council merely reports the results to the deans
and other officials. The University lacks a teaching and learning management
mechanism to support faculties and graduate schools in implementing the PDCA
cycle. Also, the University positions the Screw Committee (スクリュー委員会)
consisting of outside experts, which bears the important responsibility of enhancing
and developing education and research activities, as the president’s private advisory
body, and provides no regulations or clear scope of responsibilities. Furthermore,
self-study conducted by the graduate schools cannot be characterized as a systematic
undertaking, as it is unclear who is responsible for carrying out the reviews and what
the procedure involves. The University must improve its IQA system as there aremany deficiencies as described above.

Student Enrollment
The average ratio of freshman enrollment to the freshman enrollment cap over thepast five years and the ratio of student enrollment to the student enrollment cap are
low at 0.88 and 0.78, respectively, in the Division of Healthcare Informatics, Facultyof Healthcare. Faculty enrollment must be managed more effectively.