Academic Program Review

1
Academic Program Review

• 1999 University Meeting
• 23 August 1999

2
Purpose of Program Review

• To improve student learning
• To assess and improve program quality
• To increase cross-disciplinary collaboration
• To reinforce importance of aligning unit and
  campus planning

3
Purposes of Program Review

• Help academic departments and the University
  prepare for specialized and general accreditation
  activities
• Help department and school planning activities
  and guide University evaluation of new academic
  program proposals, budget requests, and capital
  project requests

4
The Review Process

• Five Steps to Program Review
• Initial Planning
• Self-Study
• Internal/External Review
• Discussion of Review Findings
• Report to the Academic VP

5
Initial Planning

• Memo sent to chair/program director
• Program Review Coordinator appointed (internal)
• Review Criteria
• Request Data from IR

6
Program Review Timeline

• Process begins in August with delivery of
  Guidelines for Academic Program Review to
  academic department chairpersons
• October-November - departments request necessary
  data and information from Institutional Research
• Reports due to Institutional Research in May 2000

7
The Self-Study Document

• Six Required Components
• 1. Program Description
• 2. Program History
• 3. Overview of Program Academic Quality
• 4. Student Learning Outcomes Assessment
• 5. Faculty
• 6. Resources
• Outlined in the document Guidelines for Academic
• Program Review

8
The Self-Study

• Review document is typically coordinated by the
  department/program chairperson
• Input should be sought from department/program
  faculty (both full- and part-time) and students
  (current and former)
• Review must follow the outline as provided in
  the Guidelines for Academic Program Review

9
The Self-Study

• To ensure consistency of data across program
  reviews, please request data and information from
  the Office of Institutional Research early in the
  review process
• The final draft of the review should be reviewed
  by the school dean prior to submission to
  Institutional Research

10
The Self-Study Report

• ABBREVIATED CRITERIA
• Program Description
• Program History
• describe program history over last 5 years
• emphasizes major changes made to program

11
The Self-Study Report

• Overview of Academic Quality
• list programs educational goals
• explain how curriculum leads to these goals
• describe program contributions to the Core
  Curriculum or other degree programs
• describe program enrollment trends
• describe student recruitment, retention, and
  academic advising strategies

12
The Self-Study Report

• Resources
• indicate what new major resources program
  received during last 5 years
• indicate what new resources are needed
• Student Learning Outcomes Assessment
• describe program assessment plan
• describe how results of assessment are used to
  improve program curriculum and instruction

13
The Self-Study Report

• Faculty
• highlight noteworthy professional activities and
  accomplishments of program faculty
• describe the distribution of full-time and
  part-time faculty within the department with
  special attention given to the assignment of
  teaching loads

14
Internal/External Review

• If warranted, programs can request funds from IR
  to support external peer review
• Review committee consists of two academic deans,
  a member of the general faculty (usually a
  department chair who has/will undertake a review
  the following year) and at least one academic
  affairs administrator

15
Discussion of Review Findings

• The Internal/External Review Committee will
  provide the department chairperson/director and
  School Dean with a written draft report. After
  any concerns relative to the report are
  addressed, a final report is shared with the Vice
  President for Academic Affairs and the Academic
  Affairs Council.

16
Discussion of Review Findings

• The final committee report will include the
  committees findings, including identification of
  program strengths, weaknesses, if warranted -
  areas in need of focused attention, and
  recommendations for program improvement.

17
Discussion of Review Findings

• Final Committee Report
• Program Description
• Outline of Most Recent Review
• Summary Statement
• Major Findings, Conclusion
• Future Plans
• Follow-up Monitoring/Reporting Plan

18
Discussion of Review Findings

• The final committee report will be considered a
  public document and shared with faculty,
  students, and others upon request.

19
Final Report

• A final program review report will be submitted
  to the Vice President for Academic Affairs by the
  Internal/External Review Committee. At the
  discretion of the Vice President, an interim
  program report may be requested to address areas
  of concern identified by the review.

20

• Examples of Program Review reports are available
  for review. Call Institutional Research at x
  7020.