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

Showa Pharmaceutical University

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: Private

Location: Tokyo, Japan

Accreditation Status
Year of the Review: 2023
Accreditation Status: accredited （Accreditation Period: April 1, 2024 – March 31, 2031）

Showa Pharmaceutical University

Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Resultsfor Showa Pharmaceutical University

Overview
Showa Pharmaceutical University actively undertakes educational and research activities
with the purposes of undergraduate and graduate schools established based on thefounding spirit of “independence and harmony” and the mission of “pharmaceuticalcontribution to humanity.” To achieve the mission and purposes, the Showa
Pharmaceutical University Grand Design was formulated as the University’s medium- tolong-term plan setting forth the long-term objective of “becoming a leading university
with six-year pharmacy education and research by nurturing pharmacists andpharmaceutical researchers with well-rounded character traits who can play an active roleas pharmaceutical experts in a wide range of fields from drug design to clinical practice.”
The University’s mission is reflected in its social contribution activities incooperation with municipalities. The Medication and Childcare Consultation Cafe offers
services for childrearing households to consult with pharmacists and psychologists about
medications and health. The Lesson with Babies and Their Parents is organized as aregular class for students and childrearing parents to interact with each other. These arehighly commendable activities that provide students with opportunities to directly
communicate with childrearing parents and to think in detail about their own future worklife styles, while helping to create a local community that supports childrearing
households.
Regarding the University’s internal quality assurance, the Showa
Pharmaceutical University Internal Quality Assurance Policy was established in AY2022
to clarify the concept of internal quality assurance, and has been publicized both on
campus and off, along with the Showa Pharmaceutical University Internal Quality
Assurance Structure that illustrates the internal quality assurance system. To assure
university-wide internal quality, the University has organized the Showa Pharmaceutical
University Self-Study Committee, under which the University Self-Study Committee,
Graduate School Self-Study Committee, Affiliated Junior and Senior High School SelfStudy Committee, and University Corporation Self-Study Committee are formed to
conduct inspections and assessments for improvement and enhancement. However, withthe structure and mechanism recently developed in AY2022, each self-study committee’s
regulations are inconsistent with the newly established internal quality assurance policy,

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with discrepancies also found in the actual conditions, indicating the inadequate
functioning of the mechanism stated in the policy. Moreover, the connection between theroles of four committees involved in the University’s self-study activities – the Showa
Pharmaceutical University Self-Study Committee, University Self-Study Committee,Graduate School Self-Study Committee, and University Corporation Self-Study
Committee and the president in charge of the University’s decision-making process andthe University Management Meeting is unclear. This situation points to major issues with
the internal quality assurance structure that should be addressed. In the coming years, theUniversity needs to clarify the positions and roles of each self-study committee, thepresident, University Management Meeting, Standing Committee, and other bodies in its
internal quality assurance structure as well as conduct self-studies on a regular basis andmake improvements based on the results.
As for education, the faculty and graduate school have established diploma
policies for each degree to be awarded, and formulated and published curriculum policies
with the connection to the diploma policies ensured. However, the graduate school does
not specify student learning outcomes appropriate for degrees in its diploma policy, andthis issue should be addressed. In terms of curriculum policy, the faculty and graduate
school do not state the basic concept of curriculum implementation. This should beexplained in detail.
To measure student learning outcomes, the faculty uses a diploma policy rubric
while considering connecting the learning outcomes to the grade point average (GPA) andother items, with a system nearly in place to appropriately monitor and evaluate thelearning outcomes stated in the diploma policy. However, the graduate school measures
student learning outcomes based solely on the screening of dissertations. This situation
should be addressed to explore more appropriate, multifaceted ways to monitor thelearning outcomes stated in the diploma policy. The master’s and doctoral courses provide
students with individual guidance, but do not establish the research guidance methods andschedules as research guidance plans for two-year or four-year courses. This issue must
be corrected with these items clarified to students beforehand.
There are other areas of improvement the University should address. First, thegraduate school master’s course has taken steps to fulfill its student enrollment quotas,
but quota fulfillment remains insufficient. More efforts should be made to address thisissue. With respect to faculty development (FD) activities aimed at enhancing faculty
members’ skills and abilities and improving faculty organization, the undergraduate
school only promotes pharmaceutical education, and does not implement initiatives toenhance its research activities and promote social contribution and other activities. This2

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issue should be addressed.
In the years ahead, the organizations promoting internal quality assurance areexpected to make responsible efforts for internal quality assurance to resolve various
issues and enhance the quality of the University’s education and research. In addition, theUniversity is expected to advance its unique and outstanding initiatives.

Notable Strengths
Social Cooperation and Contribution
 The University works with Machida City in Tokyo to provide childrearing
households with opportunities to seek counseling about childcare and medications aswell as help create a community for those households through such programs as theLesson with Babies and Their Parents and the Medication and Childcare
Consultation Cafe, with pharmacists and psychologists providing consultation
services about medications and health. These are highly commendable initiatives thatprovide students with job experience and contribute to building a local childrearing
community that supports childrearing households, while embodying the University’s
mission of “pharmaceutical contribution to humanity.”
Suggestions for Improvement
Educational Program and Learning OutcomesThe basic concept of curriculum implementation is not specified in the Faculty of
Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Master’s Course and Doctoral Course in theGraduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences. This issue should be addressed.

The Master’s Course and Doctoral Course in the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical
Sciences monitor and evaluate student learning outcomes through the screening ofdissertations, but the connection between the learning outcomes stated in the diploma
policy and the measurement methods is unclear. This issue should be addressed.

Student Enrollment

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 The ratio of student enrollment to the student enrollment cap is 0.00 in the Master’s
Course in the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences. This ratio should beimproved with the course’s student quotas thoroughly managed.
Faculty and Faculty Organization
The undergraduate school does not conduct activities to improve the faculty members’
skills and abilities with the aim of enhancing its research activities and promotingsocial contribution and other activities. This issue should be addressed.

Recommendation
Internal Quality Assurance
The University Management Meeting (led by the president) issues instructions forimprovement as necessary based on the results of inspections and assessments
conducted by educational and research organizations, but the Showa Pharmaceutical
University Internal Quality Assurance Policy, Showa Pharmaceutical University
Self-Study Regulations, and other rules do not stipulate the meeting body’s role. Thissituation creates inconsistencies between the policy and the rules and regulations aswell as discrepancies in actual conditions. This issue must be corrected to organize
the internal quality assurance structure by clarifying the roles and coordination of theorganizations involved in internal quality assurance. Moreover, no concrete
indicators and methods are specified for inspections and assessments, and thegraduate school has never conducted systematic inspections and assessments. Withvarious issues found with the inspections and assessments, efforts must be made toeffectively operate the mechanism for making improvements based on the inspectionand assessment results.

Educational Program and Learning Outcomes
The Master’s Course and Doctoral Course in the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical
Sciences do not state the research guidance methods and schedules as researchguidance plans. This issue must be corrected with these items specified and clarified
to students beforehand.

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