Establishment of the "Center for Quality Assurance in Higher Learning"

2022/07/26

On April 1, 2022, the Center for Quality Assurance in Higher Learning of Keio University was established. Simultaneously, the Office for Quality Assurance in Higher Learning was set up as the department responsible for the center's administrative affairs.

The purpose of this center is "to promote evaluation and improvement activities for education and learning at Keio University, to ensure and improve the quality of education and learning and further enhance them, and through these efforts, to contribute to the development of Keio University as a comprehensive academic institution and the full fulfillment of its social role" (Article 2 of the Center Regulations). Its mission is to comprehensively re-examine the diverse educational and learning activities developed by various undergraduate and graduate schools from a university-wide perspective, and to work on inspection, maintenance, and improvement by gathering internal and external expertise while keeping in view social and global trends surrounding universities. In particular, it aims to link constant inspection and evaluation activities to university-wide improvements in education and learning, and then inspect and evaluate those improvements again. It specifically aims to functionalize the internal "quality assurance" system as indicated in its English name. In this way, the center also plays a role in bridging and strengthening cooperation between academic departments such as undergraduate and graduate schools, the academic affairs departments that support their educational and learning activities, and the Office of the President Planning Section responsible for inspection and evaluation.

The center's activities are wide-ranging (Article 3 of the Regulations). They include: "(1) Planning, implementation, and support of various measures to ensure and improve the quality of education and learning at the university; (2) Support for the evaluation, verification, and improvement of educational content and outcomes of each undergraduate and graduate school; (3) Planning and implementation of cross-organizational educational initiatives for undergraduate and graduate schools; (4) Research, development, and promotion of new selection methods, educational methods, and learning support covering everything from student selection to curriculum organization and degree conferral; (5) Collection, analysis, and provision of internal and external information for IR (Institutional Research) related to education and learning; (6) Surveys and research on higher education in general and the dissemination of results to society; and (7) Other matters necessary to achieve the center's objectives."

The author assumed the position of Director as the Vice-President in charge of education, and Professor Kazuaki Kishida (Faculty of Letters), Professor Toshiaki Kadokawa (School of Medicine), and Professor Keiya Shirahama (Faculty of Science and Technology) were appointed as Associate Directors. Additionally, a Steering Committee composed of the Director, Associate Directors, Deans of undergraduate and graduate schools, and others has been established to deliberate on various matters related to the center's operation.

The "Working Teams" (WT) are the cornerstone of the center's activities. These organizations are formed by task under the Steering Committee. Center staff and researchers belong to each WT and participate in activities. According to the regulations (Article 6), four permanent teams have been established: "Academic Planning" (Shirahama), "Evaluation of Education and Learning Outcomes" (Kishida), "FD Promotion" (Matsuura), and "Academic IR" (Kadokawa) (names in parentheses are team leaders). In addition, the Steering Committee approved the establishment of the "Graduate School Common Program" WT (Staff Member Kenji Yasuoka) to address urgent issues in the medium-term plan.

The creation of an organization that promotes "management" based on university-wide surveys, research, analysis, evaluation, planning, operation, and information dissemination regarding various aspects of educational and learning activities is a first for Keio University.

Similar organizations have already been established at many universities. A pioneer is the Research Center for Higher Education at Hiroshima University (now the Research Institute for Higher Education), which was founded in 1972 and celebrated its 50th anniversary this May. Since then, various research and management organizations for universities and higher education have been established, primarily at national universities, to work on university/higher education research and surveys, curriculum development and management for university-wide subjects, improvement of student selection, measurement of learning outcomes, university evaluation, FD/SD (Faculty / Staff Development), and IR (collection, analysis, and sharing of data and information related to university management and teaching). In many cases, full-time faculty members are assigned to these organizations. Furthermore, this trend has spread to public and private universities. For example, Waseda University established the Center for Higher Education Studies in 2014, which has two divisions: Higher Education Research and Educational Development.

Compared to these trends, Keio University's activities regarding surveys and research on university/higher education and development/support for education and learning are clearly lagging behind.

At Keio University, educational and research activities are developed across multiple campuses, and each undergraduate and graduate school has implemented unique education based on its own traditions and policies. Each campus has its own unique atmosphere and culture. These are also the strengths of Keio University. However, there are many instances where university-wide responses are necessary, such as the difficulty in rationally and meaningfully utilizing the diverse educational and learning resources provided by each campus and department. Amidst the trends of interdisciplinarity, addressing social issues, and globalization, it is essential to reconstruct education, research, and learning from a university-wide perspective while leveraging Keio University's traditional strengths.

Until now, the Curriculum Advisory Committee under the University Council, as well as its subcommittees—the University Education Planning and Review Committee (2018–21) and the University Education Planning Committee (2021–)—have deliberated on university-wide educational implementation policies. Various measures have been launched, such as the substantiation of the semester system, the development of the GPA system, course numbering, and class implementation policies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Currently, Japanese university education policy emphasizes a shift from a "provider's perspective" to a "learner's perspective." It is a critical task for universities and their departments to independently and organizationally formulate and implement educational policies and effectively utilize educational and learning resources from a "learner-centered" perspective—focusing on what and how students should learn and what skills they should acquire, rather than the attitude of teaching what the university or faculty wants to teach. The aforementioned measures introduced over the past few years have aimed to realize this "learner-centered" education. The Center for Quality Assurance in Higher Learning will inherit these achievements and aim to more flexibly create new university education at Keio University based on findings from inspection/evaluation activities and research/surveys. We ask for your support and cooperation from both within Keio and outside.