Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Results forProfessional Graduate Business School

Graduate Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: Private

Location: Niigata, Japan

Accreditation Status
Year of the Review: 2015
Accreditation Status: Accredited（Accreditation Period: April.01.2016 – March.31.2021）

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Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Results
for the Graduate Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies
The Graduate Course of Entrepreneurship, Professional Degree Program (hereafter, theProgram) in the Graduate Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies, was established to train“practitioners of entrepreneurial creation” to start new businesses or entrepreneurial
creative activities within an existing organization. It intends to train entrepreneurs who
can initiate local development in the Niigata region while responding to the global
economy.
Niigata City, where the program is located, has been designated as the National
Strategic Special Zone for agriculture and employment, and this region is expected todevelop independent economic structures based on its particular local features. Therefore,
it is commendable that the Program has social significance as a professional graduate
school specifically related to training entrepreneurs based in the Niigata region. For
example, in order to respond to the social demands for training persons of talent, adultstudents are able to pursue an MBA while they work and training is offered for
entrepreneurs who plan to develop the local economy. These are notable strengths that are
in line with the purpose of the Institute.
It is commendable that the Program has made special efforts to demonstrate its
active contribution to the development of the local economy. For example, the Program
set up the Niigata Institute of Regional Revitalization in order to apply research results tothe local community and pursue joint projects with local industries and local governments.
A full-time faculty member participates in research activities as the head researcher, andpublishes the results in open lectures, trial experience lectures, and seminars. It is alsocommendable that the Program gives thoughtful attention to inclusivity by admitting
many international students of diverse cultural backgrounds and having them work
together with Japanese students in seminars.
The Program has made various efforts to attain better education and researchbased on the recommendations of the previous Certified Evaluation and Accreditation.
This time, Japan University Accreditation Association (hereafter, JUAA) noted that theProgram closed its Tokyo campus and concentrated its resources in Niigata, establishedthe Niigata Institute of Regional Revitalization, and produced actual results by acquiring
students sent by local companies and building strong ties with local businesses. Also,activities such as setting up an advisory committee consisting of outside experts andseeking opinions from broad perspectives in order to improve the Program produced
good results.
Although the Program has steadily improved since the previous accreditation, it
still needs to make further improvements. The following five points are importantconsiderations.
First, with regard to research experience among full-time faculty, some faculty
members have few research records in their area of specialization. This requires
improvement, because to provide good education the faculty needs to produce research ofhigh quality. This point is related to the regulation and standard of recruitment,
appointment, and promotion of faculty members and the Program needs to reconsider
these.
The second issue, which is related to the first one, is to consider the introductionof sabbatical leave to improve the research environment for faculty. While the limitation
to sabbatical leave imposed by the limited number of full-time faculty members isunderstandable, it might be possible to introduce at least a half-year sabbatical leave by
figuring out practical ways to handle a faculty member’s absence.
The third point concerns the student enrollment. While the selection process
consists of faculty members interviewing the applicants, consulting the assessments of
their proposed research topics, and assessing a writing examination, in reality, every year

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most of the applicants are admitted. To maintain the educational quality and standard
appropriate for the purpose of the Program, it is important to secure high quality
applicants. The Program is expected to consider examining basic academic ability andtesting for Japanese language proficiency among international applicants.
The fourth point concerns business-related databases. Although most of theinformation necessary for the creation of business plans is prepared in the Program, theProgram does not offer the financial and macroeconomic databases necessary for theanalysis of financial relations. The Program should consider acquiring additional
databases.
The fifth point concerns carelessness in the accreditation procedure. Severalerrors and mistakes are found in the self-study report and the written replies to questions
asked in the field audit submitted for this accreditation. Also, the tabulated totals of theInquiry to students who completed the Program (conducted in 2014) have serious errors
in the responses. Therefore, it is inevitable to point out that the self-study was conductedbased on the inappropriate data, and will require careful handling in the future.
It is noted that the Program has made significant efforts to improve theshortcomings of its education and management pointed out in the previous accreditation
review by JUAA. However, many of its efforts began in 2014, and it will take a few more
years to verify the results. Thus, the Program should continue these efforts in the future.