Inspecting, Setting Goals, Being Evaluated : Reflections on Drawing up the "Self-Inspection Report", "Mid-term plan/Mid-term goals", and "External Evaluation/Internal Evaluation"

The International Student Center conducted a self-inspection of the Center' educational, research, and support activities from the 1998 to 2002 academic year. Based oh the self-inspection report, there was an external evaluation and internal evaluation at the Center in the fall of 2003. The results are published in "Yokohama National University International Student Center Self-Inspection (1998-2002)/External Evaluation Report" (April 2004). The objective of this essay is to record the course of the self-inspection/external evaluation process and its main points. Especially noteworthy are the following points. The achievements of self-inspection led to the formulation of "Mid-term Goals/Mid-term plan" and a number of reforms from 2003. In addition, an objective assessment of the Center's activities was gained through the external evaluation while a step was made toward establishing the Center's place in the University through the internal evaluation