Academic Program Review (A-64)
Original Implementation: April 28, 2005
Last Revision: July 14, 2005
BACKGROUND
Academic Program Review (APR) is intended to enhance the quality of academic programs and ensure the ongoing support necessary for continuation, modification, and development of programs. All undergraduate and graduate degree programs fall within this policy.
Professional or specialized accreditation reports will substitute for the program review document required by this policy. The scheduling of reviews for programs requiring such reports will be modified so the two reports can be produced simultaneously. Any information required by the program review but not included in the professional or accreditation review should be added before the report is submitted as a program review.
The provost, dean, or department chair may recommend that a program which has very low enrollments be subject to an independent (external) evaluation to help assist in assessing the program and determine if new strategies to increase enrollment are warranted.
The following definitions help in distinguishing terms used throughout this document:
- An academic program is a structured grouping of coursework designed to meet an educational objective leading to a baccalaureate or post-baccalaureate degree, a minor, or a teaching credential.
- A department is an administrative unit that may manage one or more academic programs.
PURPOSE
The goal of Academic Program Review is to improve the quality and viability of each academic program. Academic Program Review serves to encourage self-study and planning within programs and to strengthen connections among the strategic plans of the program, the college, and the university as a whole. Academic program reviews provide information for curricular and budgetary planning decisions at each administrative level. In turn, resources needed for growth, continuation, or modification of programs can be included in planning processes.
PROCESS SUMMARY
The academic program review process is intended to close a circle of self-inquiry, review, and improvement. The basic components of APR are the following:
- A self-study, recommendations, and implementation plan completed by the faculty associated with the program and in some cases, an external evaluation.
- Review and recommendations by the college
- Review and recommendations by the University Program Review Committee.
- Final approval by the Provost.
The process can be summarized as follows:
- The Office of the Provost announces the programs to be reviewed one year prior to the completion date of the self-study along with its recommendations and implementation plan.
- The program representative(s), program administrator, dean and Institutional Research establish a schedule for completion of the review within the university’s timeline for review.
- For accredited programs, the provost, in consultation with the college dean and the program administrator, will determine whether the accreditation review process covers the essential elements of APR.
- The program representative conducts the self-study and then prepares recommendations and a suggested implementation plan along with the budgetary/resource issues identified in the self-study.
- The college reviews the self-study, requesting additional materials as needed, and makes recommendations. A copy of the self-study and implementation plan is forwarded to the Office of the Provost for distribution to the University Program Review Committee.
- The Program Review Committee reviews the self-study, recommendations, and implementation plan of the program and makes recommendations.
- The program representative(s), the program administrator, the college dean, the representative of the Program Review Committee, and the provost meet to discuss recommendations.
- The program administrator, in collaboration with the dean, submits to the provost a final implementation plan that identifies resource needs consistent with the recommendations of reviewing committees, and consistent with the college mission strategic plan. Programs responsible for core curriculum courses and those programs that teach courses in the Honors Program may also factor needs resulting from such participation into their resource needs.
- A copy of the self-study, recommendations, and action plan is submitted to Institutional Research
- Institutional Research submits a year-end report to the Board of Regents on the program reviews completed that year.
- Academic Affairs and the individual college builds the program review recommendations into planning for the coming year(s).
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Academic program review is a comprehensive and periodic review of academic programs and General Education. APR is a function of the Provost, in conjunction with the deans and academic governance, and is supported by Institutional Research. Since APR is the major assessment of all academic programs, appropriate support should be given to programs to ensure a thoughtful, critical appraisal of the program.
Academic programs should be reviewed periodically at intervals of five years. This schedule may be accelerated in individual cases either at the discretion of the Provost or college dean or in compliance with recommendations from prior program reviews. Wherever possible, APR's will be coordinated with specialized accreditation reviews.
ELEMENTS OF THE SELF-STUDY
- Introduction and update since last review
How has this discipline/field changed over the past five years? How has your curriculum changed to address these developments? What actions have been taken in response to recommendations made in any previous reviews? - Commitment to student learning
What are the learning goals of your program? How do you measure that students are achieving these goals? How do you gather and use data collected in your assessment program? For undergraduate programs, identify the general education goals/skills that are most critical for majors entering your program. What is your assessment of student achievement in these goals/skills as they enter your major courses? On what evidence do you base this assessment? - Describe enrollment trends in the program for the past five years
Provide an analysis of how successful the program is in recruiting, retaining and graduating students. Include information about service courses (for other majors, general education, remediation) if appropriate. - Does faculty expertise cover the breadth of the program?
Please report how faculty members are engaged and supported in development of expertise and skills required to strengthen the program and how they are engaged in scholarship, research, and/or creative activity. - Recommendations and implementation plan.
What are the recommendations of the program in response to this review? Provide the plan that shows implementation of these recommendations and projections for the program for the next five years. In the course of your plan, please address the following:- Are there any changes you can reasonably anticipated in the profile of the students in your program, including number and types of students?
- What curricular changes are planned? What scheduling changes are planned? How will the program contribute to non-traditional modes of delivery (i.e. short courses, web, TV)
- What types of human, fiscal and physical resources are needed to implement your enrollment projections and recommendation
A preliminary draft should be included with the self-study; however, the final draft should reflect not only the views of the program faculty but also recommendations by university committees. The final implementation plan will result from discussion and consultation among the self-study coordinator, the department chair, the dean of the college, and the provost. The implementation plan will link the program plans and goals to those of the college and university and will guide the activities of the program for the subsequent five years.
DATA APPENDICES:
Information provided by the Office of Institutional Research
STUDENT DATA (5-year history)
Student enrollment (major, minor)
Student/ethnicity/gender
Student grade distribution; GPA
Student retention rates, degrees awarded
FACULTY & faculty workloads (5-year history)
Student/faculty ratio
Course History
CURRICULUM DATA (5-year history)
Course enrollment history
Student credit hour generation
OTHER
Senior exit survey responses
TIMELINE
The timeline will be disseminated by the Provost's office in September.
Source of Authority: Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs
Cross Reference: None
Contact for Revision: Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs
Forms: None