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

Utsunomiya Kyowa University

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: Private

Location: Tochigi, 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 Utsunomiya Kyowa University
Overview
Utsunomiya Kyowa University (hereafter, the University) promotes “all-round education(character education)” as its founding spirit. More specifically, the University pursues“character education to maximize the potential of individual students according to theirdistinct inborn personality, talents, and characteristics,” with the aim of “consistentlyimproving their knowledge and abilities in light of current trends and social needs,
providing a place of intellectual exchange in the local community, and cultivating humanresources who can contribute to the development of the economy, education, and culture
and the creation of a better society.” To this end, the University established two faculties
to provide practical education: the Faculty of City Life Studies, aimed at acquiring a wide
range of knowledge to address the multifaceted aspects of cities based on economics, andthe Faculty of Child Studies, designed to study children’s lives and childrearing support
with a focus on early childhood care and education. In 2017, it formulated the“Utsunomiya Kyowa University Medium-term Goals and Plans” up to fiscal 2022, andwith educational quality assurance as a top priority, the University has undertaken
initiatives primarily to support students and improve its educational environment.
To implement educational quality assurance stated in the medium-term goals andplans, the University has recognized the need to improve its curriculum and educationalcontent. Accordingly, it seeks to ensure a systematic and consistent curriculum bycreating curriculum trees (course chart) and maps, thereby introducing off-campus
training and active learning to its educational programs. The medium-term goals andplans specify social cooperation and contribution as the University’s mission, andemphasize cooperation with local communities to encourage students’ self-directedlearning. The University also drew up the Utsunomiya Kyowa University Regional
Collaboration and Contribution Policy in 2017 to initiate social contribution activities
using each faculty’s specialties through seminar activities and practicums. It is highly
commendable that these initiatives have led to problem solving and revitalization of localcommunities.
However, the University failed to secure its enrollment quotas in the two
faculties by fiscal 2017, negatively impacting the university division’s financial situation.
It needs to appropriately manage its quotas and formulate medium- and long-term
financial plans to establish a solid financial base as a university. With the school

3corporation’s financial base remaining sufficiently stable, the University has reduced
student quotas and actively promoted public relations activities based on the self-study
outcomes. These initiatives have shown improvements in recent years, with the Facultyof City Life Studies reaching its enrollment quota in fiscal 2018. The University isexpected to make continuous improvement efforts by, for example, effectively utilizing
the University-wide Admission Office scheduled to be established in January 2019.
As mentioned earlier, the University specifies educational quality assurance as
its first priority, but there are several problems the University needs to address in thedevelopment and functions of its internal quality assurance system that promotes theinitiative. In fiscal 2017, the University newly formed the Internal Quality Assurance
Meeting as the body in charge of promoting internal quality assurance, but its activities
focus primarily on verifying the appropriateness of self-study implementation. Theinternal quality assurance system needs to be reviewed, and improvements based on theself-study outcomes will be discussed to provide each division with appropriate support.
As for the University’s management that supports its various activities, there are
discrepancies between rules involving a wide range of areas and actual situations. The
administrative organization or each rule and regulation should be reviewed immediately.
In the coming years, the president is urged to demonstrate leadership in
implementing effective governance throughout the University and pursue efficientmanagement by examining the functions of organizational management. In addition, tomeet the needs of the local community and provide education through the students’ eyes,
the University is strongly expected to establish an effective internal quality assurance
system that ensures self-study implementation and encourage improvements based on theresults, thereby attaining better education and student learning outcomes.
Notable Strengths
Social Cooperation and Contribution
 The University is actively involved in social cooperation and contribution activities
as well as industry-government-university collaborative projects. In the Faculty ofCity Life Studies, seminar groups play a central role in participating in researchpresentations, including “Community Planning Suggestions” hosted by the city of
Utsunomiya, with their suggestions for community development adopted as the city’s
administrative policy measures. The Faculty of Child Studies supports children withdisabilities and their families, and provides childrearing support in response to4community needs through interactions with local day care centers. It is commendable
that the two faculties’ activities utilizing the specialized resources of their students
are contributing to community problem solving and revitalization, in line with theUniversity’s purpose of social contribution.
Suggestions for Improvement
Internal Quality Assurance The Internal Quality Assurance Meeting, newly formed as an organization promotinginternal quality assurance, is primarily responsible for verifying whether the SelfStudy Committee conducts self-study based on its policy and procedures. However,issues monitored by each committee are reviewed by the Teaching and Learning
Committee and coordinated as needed by the University Association positioned as acoordinating body for the two faculties, and discussed by each faculty council before
improvement initiatives are implemented. This system is not sufficiently organized
for the internal quality assurance efforts to function as consistent processes under
university-wide responsibility. This issue should be improved.
Recommendations
Student Enrollment
 The average of ratios of freshman enrollment to the freshman enrollment cap over thepast five years are low at 0.49 in the University as a whole, 0.59 in the Department ofCity Life Studies, Faculty of City Life Studies, and 0.43 in the Department of ChildStudies, Faculty of Child Studies. The ratios of student enrollment to the student
enrollment cap are also low at 0.47 in the University as a whole, 0.62 in theDepartment of City Life Studies, Faculty of City Life Studies, and 0.39 in theDepartment of Child Studies, Faculty of Child Studies. These ratios must be correctedwith the student quotas thoroughly managed.
University Management and Finance Rules are established for various committees, but the University-wide Committee andthe Committee for Each Faculty are not defined in these rules, with each5organizational chart failing to match rules and school codes. In addition, there are
numerous discrepancies between rules and actual operations. For example, some rules
do not cover all campuses; each center is not staffed by administrative staff members
as specified in the rules; and rules stipulate a library office to be established in theadministrative section, but a librarian is instead assigned to the general affairs division.
These issues must be corrected immediately.
 The university division’s financial situation shows a consistently negative balance
sheet for operating activities (imputed balance sheet) greatly exceeding the operating
income (imputed income). In addition, the Utsunomiya Kyowa University Mediumterm Financial Plan forecasts an expenditure excess in the balance of payments during
the final fiscal year, but does not include specific target values for improvements.
These situations must be corrected, with the University formulating medium- andlong-term financial plans stating specific target values with the aim of improving thebalance sheet of the university division, thereby establishing a solid financial base asa university.