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

Toin University of Yokohama

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

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

2

Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Resultsfor Toin University of Yokohama
Overview
Toin University of Yokohama (hereafter, the University) sets forth the mission andpurpose for its operations, including education, research, and international exchange
activities, in the University Charter based on Toin Gakuen Group’s five founding
philosophy statements. To realize its mission and purpose, the University formulated in2017 a medium- and long-term plan that places practical learning at the center of theUniversity’s education and strives to improve its education and research activities.
To promote practical education, the University offers, for example, three courses
in the Faculty of Law, including a police and fire fighter course, as well as programs totrain clinical laboratory technicians and clinical engineers in the Faculty of BiomedicalEngineering. Subjects are offered in accordance with the degree award policy and thecurriculum design and implementation policy, and are coded to promote sequentiallearning. Furthermore, the University strives to enhance student learning by offering
small class lessons designed to support more effective teaching and by strengthening
cooperation between faculties.
The Toin University of Yokohama Regional Collaboration and Lifelong
Learning Center implements social contribution activities that take advantage of theUniversity’s strengths. Such activities include lifelong learning courses, Science
Workshops for Children, and service learning exercises. The Center is highly commendedfor promoting local community contribution and collaboration activities and for providing
lifelong learning opportunities to the public.
There are a number of issues the University needs to address, however. In thearea of education, some faculties and graduate schools have inadequate curriculum design
and implementation policies; some faculties do not implement sufficient interventions toensure that course workloads align with the credit hour definition; and some graduate
schools do not have clear evaluation criteria for thesis examination and research projects
on specific topics, and/or research supervision plans clearly outlining supervision
methods and schedules. The University needs to take steps to ensure that learning
outcomes are measured and assessed in line with the degree award policy. It also needs
to improve enrollment management, as undergraduate programs tend to exceed thecapacity while the master’s and doctoral degree programs are under capacity. The
University does not have a clear hiring policy for graduate school faculty members nor

3

do the graduate schools have their own faculty development programs. These issues
should be addressed to improve the quality of graduate-level education. Although theundergraduate programs are at capacity as mentioned above, the University is notfinancially secure as a corporation. While not an extremely serious problem at present,
the University is expected to set numerical targets and work diligently toward achieving
them as the need to build a solid financial foundation is a pressing concern.
As part of the efforts to assure the quality of education, research, and otheractivities conducted within the institution, the University established an internal quality
assurance (IQA) system in 2017 led by the President’s Office and the University SelfStudy Committee. However, the University has not established an institution-wide IQA
policy or kept records of activities conducted by the bodies responsible for IQA promotion,
namely the President’s Office and the University Self-Study Committee. While individual
departments routinely review their practices, and improvements are initiated by such
university-wide organizations as the Planning and Deliberation Group, the University
Steering Meeting, and the Board of Councilors, the President’s Office and the Self-Study
Committee are not taking a leadership role in guiding the faculties and graduate schools
in making improvements based on self-study results. The University is therefore advisedto ensure that its IQA system is functioning effectively and consistently throughout theinstitution.
Going forward it is important for the University to address the issues identified
and work on quality assurance for further development of the institution.
Notable Strengths
Social Cooperation and Contribution
The Toin University of Yokohama Regional Coordination and Lifelong Learning
Center offers practical learning experience to students through the service learning
exercise program, carried out in cooperation with Yokohama municipality and othergovernment bodies. It also provides a range of open lectures (e.g., Science workshopfor children) and lifelong learning courses mainly targeting local elementary andmiddle school students and senior citizens. These learning opportunities madepossible through the University’s resources are helping bring people together to forma new community in the area. The Center’s activities are commendable for promoting
engagement and collaboration with the local community in accordance with its social
cooperation and contribution policy and for providing lifelong learning opportunities

4

to the public.
Suggestions for Improvement
Internal Quality AssuranceThe responsibility and authority allocated to the organizations charged withpromoting IQA, namely the President’s Office, the University Self-Study Committee,
and the Self-Study Committees of the faculties and graduate schools, are not clearlydefined. While the President’s Office and the University Self-Study Committee areworking on IQA, their failure to keep records of activities prevents JUAA fromdetermining whether they are effectively guiding the faculties and graduate schools
in making improvements based on self-study results. The University needs to adopt
a clear IQA policy and ensure the IQA system is functioning effectively in line with
its policy.

Educational Program and Outcome

The curriculum design and implementation policy of the Faculty of Law should
clearly state the basic principles of curriculum design and implementation. The
Graduate School of Law has established a blanket curriculum design andimplementation policy that applies to both the Master Degree in Law and the Doctor
Degree in Law. In addition, the Master Degree in Law has its own exclusive
curriculum design and implementation policy, but the Doctor Degree in Law doesnot. The Graduate School of Law is advised to establish a curriculum design andimplementation policy for the Doctor Degree in Law in the same manner as it does
for the Master Degree in Law.

To ensure that course workloads align with the credit hour definition, the Universitysets a cap on the number of credits for which a student can register in a year. Faculties,
however, make exceptions for some subjects (e.g., the teaching profession and project
research subjects) and allow their students to register beyond the credit cap. Also, theFaculty of Biomedical Engineering imposes no such limit for students who earned
20 or more credits, with a GPA of 2.5 or higher in the previous semester, even though
in some academic years over half the students in a single graduating class fulfill thisrequirement. In the current state, the credit cap policy is not working effectively.

5Furthermore, the Faculty of Law sets no credit cap for third-year transfer students.
Although the University advises students on the number of required before- and afterclass study hours in the syllabus and offers individual instructions to transfer students,
these steps are not sufficient to ensure that students complete the hours of study
required to earn credits. This issue should be improved in light of the purpose of thecredit system.
The Master Degree in Program Sport Science of the Graduate School of Sport
Sciences needs to provide clear evaluation criteria for thesis examination andresearch projects on specific topics, and the Master Degree in Law of the Graduate
School of Law needs to provide clear evaluation criteria for research projects onspecific topics.

In the Master Degree in Program Sport Science of the Graduate School of Sport
Sciences and the Master and Doctor Degrees in Law of the Graduate School of Law,learning outcomes are determined through thesis evaluation but not in accordancewith the degree award policy. These graduate schools need to adopt appropriate
practices in measuring and assessing student learning outcomes.

Student Enrollment
The ratios of student enrollment to the student enrollment cap are low at 0.40 in theMaster Degree in Law of the Graduate School of Law and the Master Degree inProgram Sport Science of the Graduate School of Sport Sciences, and 0.17 in theDoctor Degree in Law of the Graduate School of Law. Graduate school enrollment
should be managed more effectively.

Faculty and Faculty Organization
The graduate schools of Law and Engineering need to adopt a clearly defined hiring
criteria for graduate school faculty members.

The graduate schools need to implement their own FD program in an appropriatemanner.

6Recommendations
Educational Program and Outcome


The Master and Doctor degrees in Engineering of the Graduate School ofEngineering do not provide a research supervision plan that clearly outlines researchsupervision methods and schedules. The graduate school needs to ensure thisinformation is made available to students in advance.

Student Enrollment
The average ratios of freshman enrollment to the freshman enrollment cap over thepast five years are high at 1.24 in the Faculty of Culture and Sport Policy, 1.26 in theDepartment of Sport Education, 1.23 in the Department of Sport Technology, and1.25 in the Department of Culture and Sport Policy (the three departments belong tothe Faculty of Culture and Sport Policy). The ratios of student enrollment to thestudent enrollment cap are also high at 1.21 in the Faculty of Culture and Sport Policy,
1.23 in the Department of Sport Education, and 1.22 in the Department of Cultureand Sport Policy (the two departments belong to the Faculty of Culture and SportPolicy). The University must improve enrollment management and address theseratios.

University Management and Finance
The University has a weak financial foundation, with the ratio of financial assets to
the required reserve fund being significantly low and declining, and the ratio ofdeficit spending carried over to the following financial year (翌年度繰越支出超過額) to imputed income, or the rate of the carried over expenditures for next year to
the imputed income, remaining high. The University must formulate a medium- andlong-term financial plan with clear numerical targets as soon as possible and takesteps towards improving its financial health.