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

Kanagawa Dental University

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

Accreditation Status
Year of the Review: 2017
Accreditation Status: accredited （Accreditation Period: April.01.2018 – March.31.2025）

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Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Resultsfor Kanagawa Dental University
Overview
Kanagawa Dental University (hereafter, the University) was established in 1964,
preceded by Tokyo Women's Dentistry Training School founded in 1910, which waslater promoted to Tokyo Women's Dentistry Vocational School and then Japan
Women's Health Junior College. It is a single faculty university comprising School ofDentistry and Graduate School of Dentistry. Located in Yokosuka City, Kanagawa
Prefecture, the University conducts educational and research activities based on its
founding spirit of “love and respect for all forms of life.”
After its accreditation review by Japan University Accreditation Association(JUAA) in 2010, the University has been striving for educational reform based on its
educational philosophy and three policies in 2013. It has abolished the kozasei (Chairsystem) in its undergraduate school and set up a new comprehensive educational unit
responsible for policies on education in dentistry. The graduate school was reorganized
into one area of specialization from two and the University is working toward branding
aimed at continuous improvement in quality assurance in education and developmentof human resources.
As part of the University’s cooperation with and contribution to society, it
provides information for identity verification conducted by the Disaster Relief
Medicine/Dentistry Unit and cooperates in holding training lectures and practicaltraining courses for police dentists and police forensic experts. It also set up theYokosuka-Shonan Disaster Health Emergency Research Center to develop Odontology
for Disaster Relief Medicine/Dentistry and is strengthening it as a base to train dentists
who can help immediately at the time of disaster. Moreover, it has established theUniversity Center of Legal Medicine, Kanagawa and is developing human resources
with the objective to spread knowledge about forensic dentistry and perform forensic
autopsy. This effort is unique and expected to grow in the future.
On the other hand, issues related to the degree award in the Doctoral programin the graduate school, periodic implementation of self-study and building amechanism for connecting its outcomes to improvement need to be addressed.
Further improvement and development is expected as the University is making
educational reforms and social contributions in line with its mission and purpose and3aiming for University-wide improvement, based on this review and led by thePresident, in internal quality assurance also.
Notable Strengths
Social Cooperation and Contribution
 The University holds remarkable achievements in domestic social contribution
activities, including dental medicine support to victims of the Great East Japan
Earthquake as part of University-wide volunteer activity, sharing of identity
verification and other information as part of Disaster Health Emergency Unit andcooperation in lectures and practical education and training of police dentists andpolice forensic experts. In addition, it also established the Yokosuka-Shonan
Disaster Health Emergency Research Center to develop Disaster Health
Emergency Science and is nurturing human resources who can conduct andpromote practical work and research on disaster health dentistry and medicine witha focus on the region. To expand this further into the field of forensic autopsy, theUniversity established the University Center of Legal Medicine, Kanagawa and isundertaking expansion activities. It is commendable that the University iscontributing to society through such activities that embody its founding
philosophy.
Suggestions for Improvement
Educational Content, Methods, and Outcome
 In the Doctoral Program of the Graduate School of Dentistry, the University allows
grant of Doctoral degree to candidates who submit their thesis without any
affiliation with the University after dropping-out, when they are unable to obtain
the degree during the standard term of the program and drop-out upon earning thenumber of credits required to complete the program. This rule is not appropriate.
The University should review its degree award policy for the Doctoral programand encourage students to obtain the degree within the standard period of theprogram with due consideration to the purpose of the Program-Based Graduate
School System.

4Internal Quality Assurance Although the University has established a self-study system based on regulations,self-study is not implemented periodically, and no adequate university-widesystem is in place to connect the outcomes to improvement. The University should
implement periodic self-study and leverage it effectively by building a system toconnect the issues that surface to improvement and reform.