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

Kagawa Prefectural University of Health Sciences

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: PublicLocation: Kagawa, 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 Kagawa Prefectural University of Health Sciences

Overview
Kagawa Prefectural University of Health Sciences (hereafter, the University) was established in
2004 based on its predecessor Kagawa Medical College, when it started the four-year system inits Faculty of Health Sciences comprising the Department of Nursing and the Department ofMedical Technology. Later, it established the Master’s courses in Health Sciences in its
Graduate School of Health Sciences in 2009. As the only prefectural university in Kagawa
Prefecture, it has continued to strive for better healthcare professionals possessing high level ofknowledge and skills.
After its accreditation review by Japan University Accreditation Association (JUAA)
in 2010 and in light of the changes in the University’s surroundings, it undertook thoroughrevision of its basic principles in 2016 and declared its intent to aim to become a university
respected by the residents of the prefecture by clarifying its social mission as a public university.
Furthermore, it reorganized its graduate school to offer specialization in Medical Science (theMedical Science Major) and specialization in Nursing (the Nursing Major) and established aDoctoral Program in Medical Sciences in 2017.
The center for regional collaboration established in 2011 organizes the Ikiiki Kenko
Hiroba program for residents. The distinctive feature of this program is that the entire
university unites to provide residents opportunities for health maintenance and lifelong learning.
Moreover, student participation also makes this program valuable for development of skills
such as interpersonal relations and understanding the subjects. This activity is expected todevelop further into a distinctive feature of the University based on its mission and purpose
through the promotion of regional collaboration that includes student education.
On the other hand, the University needs to improve its education program andinstruction as it is faced with issues such as incomplete information on the syllabus; somesubjects have sufficient information on their syllabuses while other subjects do not. Other
issues include the unavailability of systematic activities and training opportunities for
improvement in educational content and methodology. It should work for further growth byimplementing a PDCA cycle based on improvements in routine educational activities centeredon self-study and faculty council and striving for enhancement of the quality of education itprovides.

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Notable Strengths
Social Cooperation and Contribution

The University is harnessing its human and material resources to contribute to society by
establishing a center for promotion of regional collaboration, which provides health careclasses for residents and lifelong education to medical professionals along with promotinginteraction between the University and the community. As part of this initiative, the University
organizes the ikiiki kenko hiroba program targeted at health promotion for local residents. This
program trains students as “health supporters,” giving them an opportunity to accompany
faculty members to the community and support health care activities. The University’s effort
for continued contribution to the region is commendable.
Suggestions for Improvement
Educational Content, Methods, and Outcome

The undergraduate and graduate course syllabuses contain no description of the learning
outcomes to be attained, prior preparations required, further application of the subjects andrelation to other subjects. As for the undergraduate syllabuses, JUAA has found an inconsistentlevel of information between subjects, with only some subjects providing sufficient informationon their syllabuses (for instance, how classes will be held). The syllabuses for bothundergraduate and graduate courses should be improved.

Although the University has been conducting student surveys on the status of their research andlearning environment as part of FD activities of the graduate school, making improvements
based on the findings is left to individual faculty members and opportunities for systematictraining and research are unavailable. The University should work to rectify these issues.