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

Senshu University

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: Private

Location: Tokyo, Japan

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

Senshu University

Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Resultsfor Senshu University

Overview
Senshu University takes “serving the public good and repaying their (the founders’)
indebtedness to society” as its founding spirit and philosophy, and its purpose is “tocreate young Japanese equipped with a peaceful conscience and democratic training
that, based on free and unrestricted study of social phenomena, respects human values
and is critical of old authority and power.” The University has drawn up a 21stcentury vision that reinterprets the spirit of its founding in a modern context, and isundertaking a bold reform of the University on that basis. For the period from
AY2016 to AY2020, the vision is focused on the principle of “developing a solid
university foundation,” and medium-term goals have been set for seven businessareas (education, research, student support, globalization, admissions, socialcooperation, and management and finance, with work underway on business plansfor each year.
With respect to internal quality assurance, the “Senshu University Self-Study
Committee” and the “Law School Self-Study Committee” have been establishedunder the university-wide framework of the “Internal Quality Assurance Promotion
Committee.” and these determine the general outline and details of the self-study
criteria, reflecting the goals and plans set by the Internal Quality Assurance
Promotion Committee. Actual self-study activities based on the specified self-study
criteria are carried out by the “Institutional Self-Study Implementation Committees”
and the Law School Self-Study Committee established under the Senshu University
Self-Study Committee. As such, an internal quality assurance system has been
appropriately established, and PDCA cycles using this system are also functioningeffectively.
Regarding education, the university-wide (undergraduate program) degree
award policy (diploma policy) specifies the abilities (learning outcomes) to beacquired by students in the four areas of “knowledge and understanding,” “interest,motivation and attitude,” “skills and expression,” and “thinking and judgment,” andeach faculty and department establishes their own policies based on this. Faculties
and departments are preparing for the measurement of learning outcomes inundergraduate education by establishing a three-tiered structure of “commonperspectives indicating learning outcomes in bachelor’s degree education” with the1Senshu University

21st century vision of “development of social intelligence” at the top (Tier 1), theabove four areas in Tier 2, and two to six abilities for each of the Tier 2 abilities inTier 3.
One notable strength is that the Center for the Development of Social
Intelligence, which promotes specialized, interdisciplinary, and comprehensive
research and education activities, conducts research projects in various academic andcultural fields. This is highly commendable as an initiative that is consistent with theUniversity’s mission and purpose. For career support, the university has implemented
an initiative called the “Triple Support System” to provide students with “careerdevelopment support,” “employment support,” and “qualification and employment
examination support.” This is commendable in that it functions as a comprehensiveand fine-grained system for supporting individual students from career development
to job searching.
There are, however, some issues that should be corrected or improved. First,
in some graduate schools, the methods and schedule of research guidance are notdefined in the form of a research guidance plan. This should be corrected. In addition,at the Law School, the relationship between the learning outcomes indicated in thedegree award policy and the methods used to measure them is unclear. Therefore,improvements are required to ensure that appropriate methods are used.
In the future, it is important to implement the internal quality assurance systemthat has been established and work on quality assurance for further progress,
especially in the area of education, where issues can be remedied and strengths canbe further developed.
Notable Strengths
Education and Research Organizations
The “Research Center for the Development of Social Intelligence” is aninstitution that aims to contribute to the development of society by promoting
specialized and interdisciplinary research from the perspective of “thedevelopment of social intelligence,” as specified in the University’s 21st century
vision, and related educational activities. Conducting project research on avariety of topics, this center is commendable as an interdisciplinary research
initiative in line with the University’s vision.

Student Support“Triple Support System” consisting of “career development support,”
2Senshu University“employment support,” and “qualification and employment examination support”
is in place to support students in their career paths. “Career development support”
gives students opportunities to think about ways of working and to engage withsociety immediately after enrollment, and in the subsequent “employmentsupport,” a variety of employment preparation courses are offered to prepare
students for job hunting activities from their third year onward. Meanwhile,“support for qualification and employment examinations” consists of a uniquecurriculum that allows students to begin studying for various examinations intheir first year, with an individual tutoring system also in place. Furthermore, it
is commendable that in AY2020, a system was established under Career Design
Center Administration Office to provide even more fine-tuned support,enhancing convenience for students by offering employment counseling without
the need for appointments and providing step-by-step support in line with theirneeds.
Education and Research EnvironmentAt the end of March 2020, when the outbreak of COVID-19 began in Japan, theInstitute of Information Science prepared a “Brief Guide to Developing Online
Classes,” which summarizes the knowledge, skills, and teaching methods thatteachers should know when conducting online remote learning classes for thefirst semester of the AY2020. It was also made publicly available outside theUniversity on the Institute’s website and was used as a reference by many people
working at universities. It is commendable that even in an emergency situation,
the University responded promptly to ensure a quality educational environmentand shared the fruits of its efforts not only within the University but also withexternal parties.

Educational Program and Learning Outcomes

The Master’s Program in History at the Graduate School of Humanities does notindicate its basic approach to curriculum design and implementation in thecurriculum design and implementation policy, so improvement is requiredaccordingly.

In addition, at the Law School, the relationship between the learning outcomesindicated in the degree award policy and the methods used to measure them isunclear. Therefore, improvements are required to ensure that they are measured3

Senshu University

using appropriate methods.
Student Enrollment
The ratios of student enrollment to the student enrollment cap are low at 0.30 for
the Master's Program at the Graduate School of Economics and 0.36 for theMaster’s Program of the Graduate School of Law. This should be improved toensure proper graduate student quota management.

Recommendation
Educational Program and Learning OutcomesIn the Doctoral Program at the Graduate School of Economics, the Doctoral
Program at the Graduate School of Law, the Master’s and Doctoral Programs atthe Graduate School of Humanities, the methods and schedule of researchguidance are not defined in the form of a research guidance plan. This should becorrected so that these are specified and clearly indicated to students in advance.

4