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

Kobe Women’s University

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: Private

Location: Hyogo, Japan

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

Kobe Women’s University

Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Resultsfor Kobe Women’s University

Overview
Kobe Women’s University defines one of its founding spirits as “to educate women who
will help build a democratic and culture-oriented nation that will contribute to world
peace and the welfare of humankind.” The University outlines one of its purposes as“cultivating women who are pure, noble, and competent,” and one of the graduate schools’
purposes as “teaching and researching specialized academic theory and practice, pursuing
deeper understanding, and contributing to cultural development and advancement.” To
this end, the University has formulated the Medium-Term Goals and the Medium-TermPlan for the five-year period from AY2019 to AY2023.
Regarding the University’s internal quality assurance, the Kobe Women’s
University/Kobe Women’s Junior College Internal Quality Assurance Committee(hereafter “Internal Quality Assurance Committee”) is positioned as an organization
playing a central role in quality assurance, and the Inspection and Evaluation Committee
is formed under this committee. In addition, the faculties, departments, graduate schools,
their courses, teaching and learning organizations and committees, and administrativeorganizations have established mechanisms for implementing specific measures.
However, divisions and committees at the school corporation’s headquarters are tasked
with some inspections and assessments, and the relevant information, including theinspection and assessment results, is inadequately compiled by the Internal Quality
Assurance Committee. The Regulations on Kobe Women’s University/Kobe Women’sJunior College Internal Quality Assurance (hereafter “Internal Quality AssuranceRegulations”) stipulates the items to be discussed by the Internal Quality AssuranceCommittee, but in some cases, the Kobe Women’s University/Kobe Women’s JuniorCollege Division Chief Meeting (hereafter “Division Chief Meeting”) is actually tasked
with these items as well as planning and formulating internal quality assurance. With
many items unconfirmed, the Internal Quality Assurance Committee is unable to fulfill
its role as stipulated in the regulations and other rules. The school corporation’s divisions
and committees involved in quality assurance and the University’s divisions andcommittees should be organized to clarify their roles and coordination in internal quality
assurance, and to effectively operate the improvement and enhancement cycle based on
the inspection and assessment results. The present internal quality assurance system was1

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developed after the Internal Quality Assurance Policy was established in AY2019. Given
the inconsistencies between its regulations and actual conditions, the University isexpected to address this situation by establishing a mechanism for inspecting andevaluating the appropriateness of the internal quality assurance system and periodicallyreviewing its appropriateness and functionality.
As for education, the undergraduate and graduate schools as well as theirfaculties, departments, and master’s and doctoral courses have appropriately formulated
and published their diploma policies with the student learning outcomes clearly stated. In
terms of consistency between the curriculum policy and the curricula, all faculties anddepartments have designed and clarified curriculum maps and course models to theirstudents. Lesson subjects are also illustrated in connection with the diploma policy forstudents to easily monitor and understand the curricula in a systematic and sequential way.
These arrangements indicate that the University has appropriately designed the curricula
based on the curriculum policy, with consideration given to a systematic and sequentialprocess. To encourage students’ active learning, the University aims to ensure credit
validity and to promote lessons focusing on student participation; it also responds tospecific student needs by establishing a homeroom teacher system for students to readily
request consultation on all aspects of campus life including study.
The University undertook a particularly notable initiative in renovating astudent lounge on the Suma Campus in AY2022 as part of its efforts to improve campus
amenities based on student ideas and perspectives. Redesigned in pursuit of greater
comfort from the viewpoint of students, the facility now attracts more users and provides
learning opportunities for students as well. In addition, the Extracurricular Student
Activity Grant Program (Shinjo Support), newly established in AY2022, is expected tocultivate human resources in line with the University’s educational goals. Furthermore,
the University dispatched full-time faculty members in the Faculty of Nursing, along withgraduate students in the Graduate School of Nursing, to a large-scale COVID-19
vaccination site during the pandemic. It is highly commendable that this activity
contributed to improving the physical and mental health of the community, whileproviding students with a practical learning opportunity.
There are several areas of improvement the University should address, however,involving education, student enrollment, and finance, in addition to the above issues
related to the internal quality assurance system. In terms of educational program andlearning outcomes, the Science of Health and Nutrition Master’s Course in the Graduate
School of Science of Health and Nutrition does not specify the basic concept ofcurriculum implementation. The graduate schools provide a vague connection between

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the student learning outcomes stated in the diploma policy and the measurement methods.
In regard to student enrollment, the average ratios of freshman enrollment to the freshmanenrollment cap over the past five years and the ratios of student enrollment to the studentenrollment cap are low in the faculties, while the graduate schools have low ratios ofstudent enrollment to the student enrollment cap. The student quotas should be managed
thoroughly. As for finance, the University is far from establishing the financial basenecessary to sustainably conduct its educational and research activities. Steady efforts arerequired to establish a sound financial base by formulating a financial plan and effective
measures based on the actual financial status.
The University is in the process of drawing up the next medium-term goals andplan starting in AY2024. With this plan appropriately formulated, the University isexpected to lay out the future outlook and vision as a university, and to share them withschool members with the aim of enhancing its educational and research activities. The
University is also expected to develop an appropriate internal quality assurance structureand fully operate the mechanism to independently assure the appropriateness of its
activities, thereby addressing various issues and enhancing its distinctive initiatives.

Notable Strengths
Education and Research Environment The Indoor Environmental Studies Course in the Department of Home Economics,
Faculty of Home Economics, renovated a student lounge on the Suma Campus inAY2022. To pursue greater comfort from the students’ viewpoint, students andbusinesses discussed space design in a workshop format and successfully designed aspace that meets a variety of student needs. The renovated lounge now attracts moreusers. The University plans to allocate a budget in AY2023 for the course’s
renovation project involving another campus facility. It is commendable that theUniversity provides students with opportunities to put their specialized knowledge
into practice, while improving campus amenities based on students’ ideas andperspectives.
Social Cooperation and Contribution
 The Extracurricular Student Activity Grant Program (Shinjo Support) was newly3Kobe Women’s University

established in AY2022 to support students’ self-directed community contribution,volunteer, and other activities aimed at overcoming regional challenges. The program
awards grants for projects selected after screening the plans and applications acceptedfrom students, with the achievements including establishing a volunteer center,producing a regional vitalization event, and devising and commercializing a recipe
using local resources. Some projects continue to receive grants. This program iscommendable as a meaningful initiative that helps cultivate regional humanresources with “independence, communicative ability, and creativity” as stated in theUniversity’s educational goal.
 The University participated in a large-scale COVID-19 vaccination programorganized by Kobe City and its partner companies. Both full-time faculty membersin the Faculty of Nursing and graduate students with nursing licenses took part in theinoculation program. The University used this opportunity to expand the vaccination
drive for its faculty and staff members as well as residents in some areas. It iscommendable that these efforts contributed to creating a safe environment to protect
the physical and mental health of local residents, and also provided students with apractical learning opportunity as graduate students worked in pairs with faculty
members at the vaccination site, received feedback from them afterwards, and shared
the knowledge gained from this experience with other students in the Faculty ofNursing.

Suggestions for Improvement
Internal Quality Assurance The Internal Quality Assurance Committee is positioned as an organization
promoting internal quality assurance, but some inspections and assessments areconducted by divisions and committees at the school corporation’s headquarters, andthe relevant information, including the inspection and assessment results, isinadequately compiled at the Internal Quality Assurance Committee. In addition,items related to internal quality assurance, including items to be discussed at thecommittee as stipulated in the Internal Quality Assurance Regulations, are discussed,
planned, and proposed at the Division Chief Meeting in some cases. Theseinconsistencies between regulations and actual conditions indicate that the Internal

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Quality Assurance Committee is far from fulfilling its responsibility. The University
should address these issues by clarifying the roles and coordination of the school
corporation’s headquarters and the University’s organizations involved in internal
quality assurance and streamlining its internal quality assurance structure toeffectively operate the improvement and enhancement cycle based on the inspection
and assessment results.
Educational Program and Learning Outcomes In terms of the curriculum policy, the Science of Health and Nutrition Master’s
Course in the Graduate School of Science of Health and Nutrition does not specify
the basic concept of the curriculum implementation. This issue should be addressed.
 The graduate schools monitor and evaluate student learning outcomes based on thescreening of dissertations, subject grades, and other factors, but the connection
between the measurement methods and the learning outcomes stated in the diploma
policy is unclear. This issue should be addressed.
Student Enrollment
 The average ratios of freshman enrollment to the freshman enrollment cap over thepast five years are low at 0.84 in the Faculty of Health and Welfare, 0.83 in theDepartment of Social Welfare, Faculty of Health and Welfare, and 0.86 in theDepartment of Health, Sports and Nutrition, Faculty of Health and Welfare. The
ratios of student enrollment to the student enrollment cap are also low at 0.88 in allundergraduate programs, 0.82 in the Faculty of Health and Welfare, 0.81 in theDepartment of Social Welfare, Faculty of Health and Welfare, 0.82 in the Departmentof Health, Sports and Nutrition, Faculty of Health and Welfare, 0.85 in the Facultyof Literature, 0.88 in the Department of Japanese, Faculty of Literature, 0.82 in theDepartment of English, Faculty of Literature, 0.82 in the Global-Local StudiesDepartment, Faculty of Literature, 0.88 in the Department of History, Faculty ofLiterature, and 0.86 in the Department of Education, Faculty of Literature. Theseratios should be improved.
 The ratios of student enrollment to the student enrollment cap are low at 0.13 in theMaster’s Course in the Graduate School of Literature, 0.21 in the Doctoral Course in5

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the Graduate School of Literature, and 0.17 in the Doctoral Course in the Graduate
School of Life Science. These ratios should be improved with the graduate schools’
student quotas thoroughly managed.
Faculty and Faculty Organization
 The University does not conduct faculty development (FD) activities aimed atenhancing its research activities and promoting social contributions and otheractivities other than improving its education. This issue should be addressed.
University Management
 The University’s balance sheet for operating activities has turned negative over theyears due to a decline in student fees and other factors, and the University’s low ratioof financial assets to the required reserve fund continues to trend downward. Thissituation indicates that the University is far from establishing the financial basenecessary to sustainably conduct its educational and research activities. Specifictarget values are presented in the medium-term plan, but there are discrepancies
between these values and actual conditions. To address these issues, the University
should make steady efforts to establish a sound financial base by formulating afinancial plan and effective measures based on the actual financial status.

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