Principle of University
To the World, To the Future
As Kanagawa University marks its 80th anniversary in 2008, looking ahead to our centennial, we have drawn up a concept of the university's future embodied in a set of guiding principles (the "Mission") and a set of goals (the "Vision for the Centennial").
As an educational institution that incorporates one of Japan's largest universities and an integrated junior and senior high school system, Kanagawa University is committed to creating a more attractive academic environment in every dimension of campus life, from education and research to social contribution.
Mission
In accordance with the school’s founding principles, we will contribute to a prosperous and stable society by talented individuals who will create new value in a self-directed way, guided by a constant desire for the truth, by a worldview marked by self-discipline and a commitment to coexistence, and by a deep, globally oriented awareness of the challenges and missions that face our era and our society.
Vision for the Centennial
As befits a university founded in Yokohama, the port city that became Japan’s point of contact with the world, Kanagawa University will aim for international recognition of its attractive learning environment and its distinctive approach. In an era in which diverse values coexist, our campuses offer personal interaction and cross-cultural rapport, interplay between knowledge and practice, and a melding of education and research, thus providing learning that is truly attuned to the real world of the 21st century, and solutions to problems both local and global.
Medium-Term Action Plan for Kanagawa University Future Vision
Kanagawa University established the Committee for Kanagawa University Future Vision in order to implement the vision for the university's future that was formulated on the occasion of the university's 80th anniversary. The committee has developed a list of the challenges that the university must address over the medium term and has drafted a medium-term action plan that outlines the concrete tasks to be undertaken during the six-year period from academic year 2010 through 2015. The committee will continue to strive to implement the university future vision with an eye to ensuring the further qualitative improvement and advancement of both the university and its affiliated schools.
Founding Principles
Over the years, Kanagawa University has contributed to a prosperous and stable society by nurturing promising young talent for careers in every field, including business, in accordance with the school’s founding principles: "simple and sturdy," "forward-thinking," and "balanced and steady." "Simple and Sturdy" epitomizes a respect for tradition and the classics, a regard for common sense, and an unwavering sense of justice, while "forward-thinking" indicates a readiness to take on difficult challenges, to seek progress and positive change. The "balanced and steady" individual, while deeply aware of the values contained in these two principles, creates new value in a self-directed way, discerning what is true and essential by bringing to bear an inquiring mind and a spirit of harmony and rapport, within a worldview marked by self-discipline and a commitment to coexistence.
Philosophy of Kanagawa University
Kanagawa University seeks excellence in both education and research. In light of its tradition of providing learning that is truly attuned to the real world, the university aims educate students with abilities of judgement, practical skills, international awareness, communication abilities, specilized knowledge and eagerness for self-development as responsible and sensible citizens. As a university that is open to the local community and the world, the school conducts research to contribute to the advancement of the humankind and the society in light of the needs of the times and the society, and then invests the findings of that research back into the society.
Three Basic Policies for Undergraduate Education at Kanagawa University
Nowadays, universities are in the situation that the society is globalized and 50% of high school students go to universities. Therefore, universities are required by the society to reconstruct bachelor programs that educate student for world-class human resource and sent them to the society. To achieve this goal, Kanagawa University has set forth the following three polities for undergraduate education.
Diploma Policy
In light of the school's tradition of emphasizing learning that is truly attuned to the real world, Kanagawa University expects its students to become dynamic and vital members of society who can cooperate with others and initiate their own development. We award degrees to students who are recognized as (a) having gained a broad general education, (b) having mastered specialized and systematic knowledge needed for the new era as well as practical skills that draw on that knowledge, and (c) having demonstrated the ability to think and engage in dialogue from a global perspective as well as the ability to work toward the practical resolution of issues by building cooperative ties with others.
Curriculum Policy
To ensure all students have the fundamental skills required of our undergraduates, Kanagawa University requires students in the four-year undergraduate program to master necessary and sufficient basic academic skills by combining the core education required of all students with introductory education in their chosen faculty and department. Our faculties and departments provide learning that is truly attuned to the real world by developing diverse, high-level, systematic, and specialized curricula that further the basic academic abilities students already possess. In implementing curricula, we aim to further promote our small, interactive classes founded on the Kanagawa University tradition of requiring humanities students to participate in seminars and those in the sciences to submit graduation research papers. Moreover, we aim to ensure students have study time and to improve our academic credit system by making grading and other evaluations stricter.
Admissions Policy
Our school emphasizes learning that is truly attuned to the real world, and we accept a diverse range of students who support that educational philosophy and have a clear study objective, a strong desire to learn and grow, and sufficient academic abilities to engage in university-level education. To accept such students, we are actively improving our first-year education program and promoting programs through partnerships with high schools in addition to diversifying our entrance exam system and improving our methods for selecting students.
