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

Seigakuin University

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: Private

Location: Saitama, Japan

Accreditation Status
Year of the Review: 2021
Accreditation Status: accredited （Accreditation Period: April.1.2022 – March 31, 2029）

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Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Resultsfor Seigakuin University

Overview
With a founding spirit of “love god and serve his people,” Seigakuin University
provides education based Protestant Christianity, and has adopted “piety and learning”
and “the truth will set you free” as its mottos. To this end, Seigakuin University has
established the “Ten Principles of Seigakuin University” as the philosophy thatunderpins its educational and research system. In addition, in order to fulfill theUniversity’s founding spirit and objectives, in 2018 the Seigakuin SchoolCorporation drew up the “SEIG VISION 2018–2023” and “University Division
Action Plan” as medium- and long-term plans for the school corporation’s
educational and research activities.
With respect to internal quality assurance, an “Internal Quality Assurance
Policy” was developed in AY2020, and various organizations such as the “IRCommittee for Internal Quality Assurance Promotion,” which is responsible forpromoting internal quality assurance, were established and a new structure was putin place. However, the “Council for University Administration” which is not
specified in the above-mentioned internal quality assurance policy and consists ofalmost the same members as the “All-University Assessment Committee,” is in fact
involved in the internal quality assurance system, and although regulations for bothof these bodies are in place, there is no clear division of roles in the internal quality
assurance system. In addition, the IR Committee for Internal Quality Assurance
Promotion only issues instructions for improvement to each faculty, etc., with respect
to issues identified from the check and review results, and does not properly manage
the actual improvement activities being conducted. In addition, since appropriate
self-study has not yet been conducted at the graduate school level, the roles andauthorities of each organization, centering on the IR Committee for Internal Quality
Assurance Promotion, should be clarified going forward. This should also becorrected to establish a system for conducting self-study for the graduate schools andproviding support for improvements accordingly, allowing internal quality assurance
to function effectively.
Regarding education, all faculties and graduate schools have generallyorganized their curricula appropriately in accordance with their degree award policies(diploma policies) and curriculum design and implementation policies (curriculum1

Seigakuin Universitypolicies). Both the undergraduate and graduate schools are based on small-group
education, and the curriculum is designed so that each student can pursue deeper
discussions through each class and further enhance their motivation to learn.
One notable initiative is the various types of student support that have beenenhanced to help each student develop their potential. In particular, the International
Student Center, which opened in AY2017, carefully provides the support thatinternational students require. In particular, opportunities for peer teaching amonginternational students have been established, with current scholarship recipientsproviding guidance to prospective recipients in obtaining external scholarships aimed
at international students, helping to build relationships among them. In addition, byestablishing opportunities for international students to interact with the local
community and Japanese students through activities such as providing information
to the community via translation and participating in local events, the program fosters
the ability to live in Japanese society, which is highly commendable in light of theUniversity’s philosophy.
However, there are several issues that should be corrected or improved. First,
some faculties and graduate schools do not indicate in their degree award policies theknowledge, skills, abilities, and other learning outcomes appropriate for the relevant
degrees. Furthermore, although there are plans to utilize a “DP Rubric” and othertools to measure the learning outcomes indicated in the graduate schools’ degree
award policies, they are not measured at this time. With respect to finances, it isdifficult to say that the financial base necessary to conduct educational and research
activities has been sufficiently established.
Moving forward, the JUAA would like to see the University make greater
progress by resolving these issues through internal quality assurance efforts andfurther developing its many distinctive initiatives.
Notable Strengths
Student Support The International Student Center, which opened in AY2017, carefully provides
the support that international students require. In particular, opportunities forpeer teaching among international students have been established, with current
scholarship recipients providing guidance to prospective recipients in theirefforts to obtain the Rotary Yoneyama Scholarship, an external scholarship forinternational students. This initiative has helped to build relationships amonginternational students, as well as to maintain a record of success in obtaining this2

Seigakuin Universityscholarship. In addition, in light of the “Ten Principles of Seigakuin University,”
it is commendable that the University fosters international students’ ability tolive in Japanese society by providing opportunities for international students tointeract with the local community and Japanese students; for example,international students translating COVID-19 information on local public
relations magazines into foreign languages under the guidance of Japanese
language instructors for the benefit of local foreign residents and working toprovide such information, as well as participating in local events.
Suggestions for Improvement
Educational Program and Learning Outcomes The degree award policies of the Faculty of Political Science and Economics andthe Master’s Program at the Graduate School of Politics and Policy Studies do
not indicate the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other learning outcomesappropriate for the relevant degrees, a situation that requires improvement.
The Faculty of Political Science and Economics, the Faculty of Humanities’
European-American Culture Department, Japanese Culture Department, andChild Studies Department, as well as the Faculty of Psychology and SocialWelfare, set an upper limit on number of credits that can be registered for in one
year, but teaching courses, library and information science courses, etc. are notincluded. In addition, students who have a GPA of 2.5 or higher in the previous
semester may take two credits more in the following semester by applying to theDirector of Academic Affairs. As a result, a considerable number of students
actually register for more credits than the upper limit, indicating that measures
to substantiate credits are insufficient, and improvement is required in light ofthe purpose of the credit system.

At the graduate level, there is no university-wide measurement of learning
outcomes as indicated in the degree award policy. Improvements are required touse the “DP Rubric” and “Learning Portfolio,” which are scheduled to be
introduced in the future, to properly monitor and evaluate the learning outcomesindicated in the degree award policy on a university-wide basis.

Student Enrollment
 The ratio of student enrollment to the student enrollment cap is low at 0.20 for
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the Master’s Program at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and 0.35 forthe Department of Psychology and Social Welfare Studies in the Graduate
School of Psychology and Social Welfare Studies. This should be improved toensure proper graduate student quota management.
Faculty and Faculty Organization
 FD specific to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the Graduate Schoolof Psychology and Social Welfare Studies regarding educational improvement
has not been conducted. Therefore, improvements are required that such FD isappropriately conducted for the master’s and doctoral programs as a whole or forindividual graduate schools.
Recommendation
Internal Quality Assurance The division of roles between the All-University Assessment Committee, which
oversees the check and review results by each department, etc. and theManagement Committee is unclear. In addition, the IR Committee for Internal
Quality Assurance Promotion only issues instructions for improvement to eachdepartment, etc., with respect to issues identified from the check and review
results, and does not properly manage the actual improvement activities beingconducted. Moreover, it is difficult to say that appropriate self-study is being
conducted at the graduate level. Going forward, the roles and authorities of eachorganization, centering on the IR Committee for Internal Quality Assurance
Promotion, should be clarified. This should be corrected to establish a system for
conducting self-study for the graduate schools and providing support for
improvements accordingly, allowing internal quality assurance to function
effectively.
University Management and Finance The ratio of financial assets to the required reserve fund has remained at a low
level, and the ratio of excess expenditures carried over to the next fiscal year tooperational income has been on the increase, indicating that the financial basenecessary to conduct educational and research activities has not been established.
The “medium-term financial simulation” should be revised annually to meet thetargets for the finance-related ratios that have been set for building a stablefinancial base. First, a financial base should be established by steadily
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implementing the initiatives outlined in SEIG VISION 2018–2023, thereby
achieving a positive operational income and expenditure balance ratio.

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