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

Kyoto Tachibana University

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

Accreditation Status
Year of the Review: 2016
Accreditation Status: accredited （Accreditation Period: April.01.2017 – March.31.2024）

2

Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Resultsfor Kyoto Tachibana University
Overview
Kyoto Tachibana University (hereafter, the University) originally started as
Kyoto Girl’s Handicraft School, founded in 1902. In 1967, Tachibana Women’s
University was established with a single Faculty of Humanities and was renamed
Kyoto Tachibana Women’s University in 1988. Its name changed again to Kyoto
Tachibana University when the school became coeducational in 2005. After expanding
and reorganizing departments and faculties since its opening, the University now
comprises five faculties: the Faculty of Humanities, the Faculty of HumanDevelopment and Communication, the Faculty of Contemporary Business, the Facultyof Nursing, and the Faculty of Health Sciences; four graduate schools: the Graduate
School of Humanities; the Graduate School of Cultural Policy; the Graduate School ofNursing; and the Graduate School of Health Sciences, which opened in 2016. On itscampus in Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture, the University engages in education andresearch based on the philosophy of “Independence, Coexistence, and PracticalKnowledge.”
After its accreditation review by Japan University Accreditation Association(JUAA) in 2009, the University established Self-Review and Evaluation Committees
for each of its faculties and graduate schools to take the initiative to implement regularand active self-review, and made efforts to enhance its educational and research
activities.
This accreditation review notes a number of distinctive efforts made by theUniversity. The Faculty of Nursing has reorganized its curriculum in matrices thatclarify the skills for students to develop in each subject, and has also created astep-by-step series of career-based courses to help students consider, from their firstyear, a career after graduation. Meanwhile, the Faculty of Human Development andCommunication and the Faculty of Contemporary Business have deployed educational
methods that correspond to the distinctive features of each faculty and department tohelp students develop communication and problem-solving skills as well as improvetheir academic ability and technical skills. The University also supports students with
its class adviser and Oritor (Orientation Facilitator), or student adviser systems.
Faculty members, especially those in charge of seminar courses from the freshmanyear onwards, become core advisers, and support students with their studies, dailyliving issues, and job hunting, offering continuous support over the students’ fouryears, and enabling the sharing of information about students’ learning problems withother members of the department. Meanwhile, in the Oritor system, assigned senior
students support and advise junior students regarding many aspects of student life.
These two support systems work together to provide intimate, student support fromvarious angles throughout the University. This is a distinctive feature of the University.
The other distinctive feature is the University’s efforts to put its educational
philosophy into practice by engaging in various activities that contribute to the localcommunity. Information related to these activities is shared and integrated across theUniversity which, as a Center of Community, aims to help solve local problems
through local collaboration.
However, issues are found relating to student admissions and the number ofcredits students are allowed to register for per year in the Department of Childhood
Education in the Faculty of Human Development and Communication. These shouldbe improved.

3

Notable Strengths
Educational Content, Methods, and Outcome

It is commendable that the Faculty of Nursing has developed a curriculum thatallows students to review the level of achievement required for target outcomes inthese subjects and to recognize what and how much they have learned. Based on
the core concepts of “Nursing by the side of the Patient,” “understanding different
cultures,” and “life cycle,” the Faculty of Nursing specifies the technical skills tobe developed for each subject by organizing the curriculum in a matrix form,
which correspond to the educational goals and target outcomes for each group ofcourses and for each year. In addition, the Faculty holds yearly courses entitled“Career Development Practice” in which students in the first and second years
gain the general knowledge required for university students, and acquire reading,writing, and research skills. These courses also teach logical thinking and how to
use information, two skills required to study specialized subjects in nursing.
Based on what they learn in the first two years, students identify their own
challenges through case studies of nursing in their third year. In the final course of
the series, students make a comprehensive review of what they have learned, andstart to design their careers and set their personal direction within the nursing
profession.

It is commendable that the Faculty of Human Development and Communication
has made use of educational methods corresponding to the strengths of eachdepartment from the first year, and that students not only gain English-language
skills or a knowledge of education, but also develop communication skills and an
attitude of independent learning. In particular, in the Department of English
Communication, the “Program for Cross-Cultural Understanding” in which
students study abroad in the latter half of the second year, has been designed as acore of learning, and students take preparatory classes that encourage discussion
and promote cross-cultural understanding from the first year. In addition, theUniversity has common room facilities, known as “salons” where students canstudy independently and get advice from third- or fourth-year students. The
Department sets target TOEIC® scores and compares these with the actual resultsof IP tests that the students take before and after the Program to measure theimprovement in their English skills. Students in the Department of Childhood
Education engage in project-based learning (PBL) in their “Introductory Seminar”
from the first year, and conduct fieldwork in neighboring elementary schools.
Through information sharing and discussion, they have an opportunity to develop
problem-solving skills and practice active learning.

It is commendable that the Faculty of Contemporary Business has introduced
project based-learning (PBL) in an effort to incorporate one of the University’s
educational philosophies, “Practical Knowledge,” into many subjects to develop
students’ problem-solving skills and practical ability. The Faculty has adopted
PBL in addition to classroom lectures in many subjects, mostly in the second year,
for each of the corporate management, finance, tourism, and public policy courses.
Through PBL, the Faculty has integrated theory and practice into its education. In
the PBL classes, students have an opportunity to conduct fieldwork such as casestudies of companies and product development on the request of companies, or todiscover sightseeing resources and cultural resources specific to Kyoto Prefectureand neighboring areas, and to draft sightseeing plans. For this reason, it iscommendable that at the time of course selection, students are required to write anessay on their future career plans so they will select the right courses that help
them develop problem-solving skills and practical ability in each field.

4Student Support

It is commendable that the University has built an attentive student support
system that is available throughout the four years. According to the basic policyof student support, a class adviser system has been established, and faculty
members work together with other units such as the healthcare office and theStudent Support Office not only to check students’ attendance records, but also tooffer student support on anything at any time. Changing class advisers every newterm or new school year gives students an opportunity to receive different advice
from different faculty members and, for that reason, written comments onmeetings with students are kept in a “student chart” and posted on the intranet.
This information is shared with and smoothly passed around by the advisers.

It is commendable that the University has created a distinctive student support
system that works to not only help with new students’ smooth transition into
university life, but also to provide senior students with opportunities for
self-discovery and self-growth. The University has set up the Oritor system inwhich senior students help and advise new students, and plan and manage part ofthe orientation program for new students. After the program is over, senior
students continue helping new students address concerns about classes, getting
qualifications, and other aspects of student life, including making friends.
Preliminary training is offered to these senior students to ensure they are capableof giving support and advice.

Social Cooperation and Contribution

It is commendable that the University provides locations and opportunities forstudents, faculty, and staff to work together with local residents to solve problems
in the local community. For example, the University holds its “Tachibana Session”
forum to mutually recognize issues amongst local organizations,students, and university staff. The Faculty of Nursing and its Nursing Center also
work on solving the health problems of local residents through the “Tachibana
Health Counseling Program,” which utilizes the intellectual and educational
resources of both Faculty and Center. In addition, the University continues topromote a variety of activities to solve social and/or local problems, while making
use of its intellectual and educational resources. Its efforts include holding a“Parental Care Plaza” for pre-elementary children and their parents, where thoseparents can share and solve their concerns among themselves. These activities arecoordinated by the Center for Regional Collaboration, with a branch officeestablished in the Daigo Nakayama Housing Complex as a base for local
collaboration. The University, as a Center of Community, has developed theseactivities through its students and faculty working together with local residents tocontribute to the local community.

Suggestions for Improvement
Educational Content, Methods, and OutcomeIn the Department of Childhood Education in the Faculty of Human Development
and Communication, the maximum number of credits for which a student isannually allowed to register is high at 51 in the first year and 54 in the secondyear. These numbers should be improved considering the purpose of a creditsystem.

5Enrollment
In the Department of Japanese Language and Literature in the Faculty ofHumanities, the Department of Urban Environmental Design in the Faculty ofContemporary Business, and the Department of Psychology in the Faculty of
Health Sciences, the ratios of transfer students to the transfer student admission
cap are low at 0.20, 0.50, and 0.30, respectively. These numbers should beimproved.

In the Graduate School of Humanities, the ratio of enrolled students to the student
enrollment cap is low at 0.32 in the master’s program, and there are no students inthe doctoral programs. At both levels of the doctorate program in the Graduate
School of Cultural Policy, the ratio of enrolled students to the student enrollment
cap is low at 0.15 and 0.13, respectively. These numbers should be improved.