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

Ryutsu Keizai University

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: PrivateLocation: Ibaraki, Japan

Accreditation Status
Year of the Review: 2021
Accreditation Status: accredited （Accreditation Period: April.1.2022 – March 31, 2029）

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Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Resultsfor Ryutsu Keizai University

Overview
In line with the mission of “advancing academic research in distribution throughschool education in the current era known as the distribution revolution age andthereby fostering outstanding individuals capable of contributing to the betterment ofsocial welfare and the enrichment of culture,” Ryutsu Keizai University has as its
purpose “to impart broad-based knowledge, to strive to cultivate personality, andconduct academic research and education on a range of social sciences and thereby
fostering outstanding individuals capable of contributing to the development ofindustry and the enrichment of culture.” In order to achieve its mission and purpose,in 2020 the University formulated a medium-term business plan for 2020 to 2024 andis currently working on educational and research activities.
Regarding internal quality assurance, regular checks and reviews have notbeen properly conducted since the previous University Accreditation. Even though
individual faculties and graduate schools conduct checks and reviews, organizations
and procedures are not adequately in place to collect the results on a university-widelevel and use them for university-wide checks and reviews This has led to a situation
where there are inconsistencies between faculties even though degree award policies(diploma policies) and curriculum design and implementation policies (curriculumpolicies) have been established for undergraduate and graduate division curricula,and where some graduate schools essentially have the same admission policy for
different degrees. Thus educational management for ensuring internal quality
assurance is not functioning properly. In addition, even though the University has aninternal quality assurance system centered on the Self-Checking and Assessment
Committee that is responsible for internal quality assurance, most checks and reviews
related to educational management are carried out by the University Council that is
made up of the same members. Therefore, there are issues with the function andprocedures of the internal quality assurance system, which should be improved.
However, the new executive team headed by the president appointed this year seems
to be eager to solve these internal quality assurance issues, establishing the newposition of vice-president, for example. The JUAA hopes improvements are madegoing forward.
As for education, each faculty and graduate school has designed its curriculum
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in accordance with the degree award policy and curriculum design andimplementation policy. A subject numbering system and course-taking model havebeen created to offer subjects in a way that allows study in a desirable order, thereby
helping students learn in a systematic manner. Furthermore, the University offers
extensive student guidance and support, including Introductory Education in the firstyear, a support program for helping students develop their learning skills after the
first year, and pre-enrollment learning support and essay writing seminars held by
the Education and Learning Support Center, etc.
The University offers a range of financial support programs that enable
students to continue studying at the University even under COVID-19 pandemic
conditions, including the Special Scholarship Student Program for providing
financial support to outstanding students, as well as the RKU Learning Environment
Development Scholarship and the Emergency Scholarship Student Selection inResponse to the COVID-19 Pandemic that were established in 2020. These arecommendable endeavors. In addition, in the area of social cooperation and socialcontribution, the University engages in activities under the cooperation agreementwith Ryugasaki City and Matsudo City, as well as the Logistics IndustryGovernment-University Collaboration Consortium centered around the Distribution
Sciences Laboratory and the Logistics Innovation Project: Research Hub Creationand Human Resources Development for Realizing Advanced Logistics that aim toachieve the University’s mission. It is highly commendable that the University iscontributing to the distribution and logistics industry and producing continuous
achievements through these initiatives.
However, there are not a few issues that should be improved. First, in terms of
the identification of education and learning outcomes, some faculties and graduate
schools do not have an appropriate curriculum design and implementation policy, andlearning outcomes are not appropriately identified in graduate programs. This shouldbe improved. As for student enrollment, the student enrollment quota fill rate in many
graduate schools and the transfer student quota fill rate in some faculties do notsatisfy the standards. This should be improved to ensure proper student quota
management. The graduate schools have the same admission policy for differentdegrees, which also requires improvement. Furthermore, the individual graduate
school programs do not clearly present the method and schedule for researchsupervision to students. This should be corrected. In addition, although the situation
is expected to be improved by April 2022, up until 2021 some faculties, departments,
and graduate schools had less full-time professors and research supervision assistant
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professors than the number required by law. These issues have been caused by thefact that the University has not conducted regular, organizational checks and reviews
since 2013 up to the current University Accreditation and thus failed to ensure thecontinuous and effective functioning of its internal quality assurance system.
Therefore, the JUAA urges the University to reconstruct its internal quality assurance
system and correct these issues immediately.
As explained above, although the University engages in commendable
initiatives in the areas of education and student support, there exist serious issues that
require correction and improvement. Under its new structure headed by the newpresident, the University has announced its intention to solve these issues by
restructuring its internal quality assurance system and enabling the system to function
effectively. Therefore, the JUAA hopes the University overcomes the issues anddevelops its many distinctive initiatives even further to bring about further progressin the future.
Notable Strengths
Student Support
 The University offers financial support under the Special Scholarship StudentProgram. Specifically, the University provides a scholarship to aspiring students
who have achieved outstanding grades on the condition that they receive
portfolio guidance and participate in RKU Future Skills Challenge activities,
aiming to nurture leaders who are outstanding both academically and in character.
With the help of dedicated advisors, scholarship students conduct research on a
topic of their choice to acquire skills that will be useful in the future, such asproblem-solving skills and information processing skills. This is a commendable
program that has led to the development of model students.
Social Cooperation and Contribution
 The University has participated in the Logistics Industry-GovernmentUniversity Collaboration Consortium for over 10 years, contributing to thedevelopment of advanced human resources by holding seminars, etc. for
exploring ways to improve onsite operations in companies. In 2018, theUniversity launched the Logistics Innovation Project that aims to create a hubfor conducting research on social systems and local logistics as well as
developing advanced logistics human resources, under which it has engaged inactivities related to logistics and distribution businesses and educational3

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programs. For instance, as part of the project, the Logistics Innovation Promotion
Center studies and formulates recommendations on disaster response measures
based on public-private and intercompany cooperation from a logistics
perspective. Through these activities, the University provides opportunities forexchanging information with the relevant industry groups, explores the future ofindustry-academia cooperation, and contributes to the industry, which iscommendable in light of the University’s mission and purpose.
Suggestions for Improvement
Internal Quality Assurance Even though the Self-Study Committee is the organization responsible for
conducting analyses on the basis of the results of checks and reviews andconsidering measures for improvement, its members are identical to those of theUniversity Council, which is the supreme body in charge of educational affairs,
and essentially almost all of the measures for improvement are considered by theUniversity Council. Therefore, the roles and authorities of each of the twoorganizations are unclear. In addition, the University failed to conduct any
university-wide self-study during the period between the previous University
Accreditation and 2020, and feedback for improvement is not adequately
provided to individual divisions even today. Therefore, under the supervision offaculties and graduate schools by the internal quality assurance promotion
organization, the University should make improvements to ensure thefunctioning of internal quality assurance.
Educational Program and Learning Outcomes The Faculty of Distribution and Logistics Systems’ Department of Distributionand Logistics Systems and the Graduate School of Law Master's Course do not
clearly present the basic ideas on curriculum implementation. This should beimproved.
Although learning outcomes are identified in each faculty, the relationship oflearning outcomes with the assessment of academic achievement and the GPA
system is unclear. This should be improved. In addition, although the University
intends to identify learning outcomes in its graduate schools on the basis of theassessment of academic achievement in the respective subjects, the correlation
between the indicators and criteria for assessment of academic achievement and4

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the degree award policy is unclear. This should be improved.
Student Enrollment
 The Graduate School of Economics and the Graduate School of Distribution andLogistics Systems have almost identical admission policies for their master’s anddoctor’s courses, respectively. This should be improved. The admission policyof the master’s and doctor’s courses in the Graduate School of Sociology only
describes the goal for human resources development, which should be improved.
The fill rate of the ratio of the number of transfer students to the transfer student
quota is low at 0.15 in the Faculty of Sociology’s Department of Tourism and0.00 in the two departments of the Faculty of Law. This should be improved toensure proper undergraduate student quota management.

The ratios of student enrollment to the student enrollment cap are low at 0.35 for
the Graduate School of Economics Master's Course, 0.00 for Graduate School ofEconomics Doctor's Course, 0.20 for the Graduate School of Sociology Master'sCourse, 0.00 for the Graduate School of Sociology Doctor's Course, 0.08 for theGraduate School of Distribution and Logistics Systems Master's Course, 0.13 for
the Graduate School of Distribution and Logistics Systems Doctor's Course, and0.10 for the Graduate School of Law Master's Course. This should be improved
to ensure proper graduate student quota management.

Faculty and Faculty Organization
 Regarding faculty personnel affairs-related procedures, the University
determines whether to promote or hire faculty members internally solely on thebasis of an examination by the relevant faculty council or graduate schoolcommittee. However, regarding faculty organization, consideration should bemade to the organizational development of university education and graduate
school education that is required by law, and improvements should be made toensure the president’s authority. Furthermore, the University should conduct
regular checks and reviews regarding faculty appropriateness from a universitywide perspective in the Self-Study Committee, among other bodies, to make
improvements.
Recommendation
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Educational Program and Learning Outcomes The Graduate School of Law Master's Course presents the method of researchsupervision to students as part of a research supervision plan, but does not clearly
indicate the schedule for research supervision. Furthermore, all the othergraduate school programs do not clearly present the method and schedule forresearch supervision to students. This should be improved.

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