Academic Program Review Guidelines

 

Purpose

Methodical Program Review provides an opportunity to advance the quality of each academic department/unit through assessment of its mission, curriculum, operations, and resources.

 

Principles

• The program review is part of an overall assessment plan that provides a portrait of program strengths and limitations and should result in program improvement.
• The process should be broadly participatory.
• The process should facilitate planning in areas such as curricular development, scholarship activities, and resource allocation.
• The program review process allows the university to account for its use of resources and develop support among its various constituencies.

 

Review Calendar

Undergraduate and graduate academic programs^[1] usually will be reviewed every six years.  In no case shall the time between reviews exceed ten years.  Programs that have attained professional accreditation normally will be reviewed in accordance with the schedule set by the  accrediting agency. Wherever possible, both undergraduate and graduate components of a program will be reviewed simultaneously.  Program reviews must be completed within one academic year.

 

The Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (VCAA) with the assistance of the academic deans will establish a master calendar for program review^[2].  The Office of Assessment will maintain the program review calendar. 

 

Review Process:  Phase I

 

Establishment of Review Committee.  The dean of the college shall establish a review committee in consultation with the appropriate department chair and the VCAA.  Each review committee must consist of at least three TCU faculty members.  The review committee members will have no official affiliation with the program under review.  The review committee may include no more than one non-faculty member. The dean, in consultation with the department chair, will designate one member of the committee to serve as chairperson.  In addition, the review committee may add supplemental committee members in non-voting status.  

 

The review committee will construct a calendar for the program review and will be responsible for its maintenance.  The voting members of the committee will conduct the review and write a formal report detailing their findings and substantive recommendations and suggestions. 

 

Self Study.  The program under review must conduct a self-study based on defined criteria (see page 3) and submit the findings to the review committee by the specified deadline.  Programs that have attained professional accreditation may submit their accreditation or reaffirmation materials to fulfill this requirement upon recommendation of the dean and approval of the VCAA.

 

The Review.  The review committee will review the self study document, hold meetings with program faculty, staff, and students to discuss the unit and pose questions that may arise from the self study, and write a draft report with substantive suggestions and recommendations.  The review committee will then meet with the dean and department chair to discuss the draft report of the committee’s findings.  The self study document and the final report of the review committee will be forwarded to the department chair, the dean of the college, and the VCAA.

 

The Report and Response.  Formal briefings will be scheduled, one with the department chairperson, the dean, and the VCAA and another meeting with the dean, the VCAA, and the program faculty to discuss the review committee’s findings.  The program under review will submit a formal action plan addressing the review committee’s recommendations no later than 60 academic days after the briefing.  The dean of the college and the VCAA will approve the action plan and create a schedule and method of evaluation for assessing the success of the plan.  The action plan will form the foundation of the next review cycle as well as guide planning and interim assessments such as the department annual report and program assessment plans.   

 

Review Process:  Phase II

 

Indication for Phase II.  The dean and/or the VCAA may deem it necessary to further evaluate the program based on the findings of the Phase I review or the review of the action plan.  They may extend the program review to include an external review component.  This does not preclude a department chair from requesting an external review at any time during the process, subject to approval from the dean of the college. Costs associated with external review are born by the Academic Affairs office. 

 

Establishment of External Review Team.  The dean and VCAA, following consultation with the department chair, will select the external reviewers.  The external review team must consist of at least two members from similar programs at accredited institutions, preferably from the SACS region.  Team members will have no official affiliation with the program under review.  The team will submit a formal report of the findings and substantive recommendations and suggestions. 

 

External Review Criteria.  Criteria for the external program review will be the same as those established for the internal review.  The dean will make the criteria available to the external team members.  The program self study document from Phase I will also be made available to the external review team upon their selection.  As in the internal review, programs that have attained professional accreditation may submit their reaffirmation document to fulfill this requirement, but must provide any supplemental information requested by the review team. 

 

External Review Process.  The external review team will review the criteria established for the review and the program self study document.  The dean, in consultation with the department chair, will schedule a two-day visit to the campus by the external review team.  On the first day of the campus visit, the external review team will hold separate meetings with the dean, the department chair, the VCAA, program faculty, and students to discuss the program and pose questions that may arise from the materials. On the second day of the campus visit, the external review team will meet with the appropriate dean and department chair to discuss the team’s preliminary findings.  Within 30 days, the external review team will submit a draft written report of its findings to the dean of the college.  The dean of the college, in consultation with the department chair, will review the draft report and, where appropriate, suggest revisions to the external review team within 30 days.  A final report from the external team will be forwarded to the department chair, the dean of the college, and the VCAA no later than 90 days from the date of the campus visit.

 

Report and Response.  Formal briefings will be held to discuss the external review team’s findings, the first with the department chair, dean, and the VCAA.  A second meeting will be held with the dean, the VCAA, and the program faculty.  The program under review will submit a formal action plan addressing the review committee’s recommendations no later than 60 academic days after the briefing.  The dean of the college and the VCAA will approve the action plan and create a schedule and method of evaluation for assessing the success of the plan.  The action plan will form the foundation of the next review cycle as well as guide planning and interim assessments such as the department annual report and program assessment plans.   

 

Self Study Criteria for Academic Review^[3]

Criteria for the program review will be determined by the dean and department chair and approved by the VCAA, but must address the areas noted below. 

 

1.   Brief History of the Academic Program

Provide a brief overview of the history of the program including such things as changes in administrative organization; dates new degree programs were established; significant additions to the faculty; and major changes in program direction.

2.   Missions and Goals^[4]

·         Describe the mission of the unit and its relation to the mission of the college and the university.

·         Describe program goals and the role of faculty in setting these goals.

·         Describe the process for assessing the extent to which goals are met.

 

3.       Learning Objectives and Program Effectiveness

·         Describe the critical elements of the program, e.g., degrees, majors, tracks, concentrations, certificates, online/distance education/off-campus programs.

·         State the learning outcomes for the program.

·         Describe the direct measures used to assess learning outcomes, e.g., performance on standardized tests, capstone courses, portfolios.

·         Describe other measures of program effectiveness, e.g., rankings, student satisfaction, employer feedback, institutional surveys.

·         Discuss ways that the assessment data are used to improve the program.

4.   Student Recruitment, Retention, and Placement

·        Describe graduate student recruitment, retention, graduation, and support practices, e.g., recruitment initiatives, financial aid, course advising, mentoring, career advisement and placement effort.  Evaluate the effectiveness of these strategies noting areas for improvement.  As appropriate and useful, review these factors for undergraduate students in the program.

·        Present a table showing the academic credentials of graduate students, e.g., undergraduate institution, grade point average, scores on standardized tests (all students who have applied, been admitted, and enrolled in the graduate program during the past five years).

·        Present a profile of the admission and academic characteristics of undergraduate students in the program, e.g., scores on standardized tests, grade point averages, retention and graduation rates (available data vary by unit; extent of profile to be determined at time of review by dean and department chair)

·        Based on available data, discuss the diversity of your student population, e.g., ethnicity, nationality, gender, age, noting areas for improvement.

·        Identify the graduates of the graduate program for the past five years and state their current positions.

·        Present available data related to placement, employment, and alumni participation of graduates of the undergraduate program. 

5.   Faculty and Teaching/Research Quality

·         Note outstanding achievements/contributions, e.g., leadership in national professional/research organizations in the discipline, awards for outstanding teaching, scholarship and creative activity, external funding for individuals or groups, success in recruiting faculty and staff from underrepresented groups.

6.      Required faculty data include:

·         A profile of program faculty that includes the following: budgeted FTEs; number and rank of tenured/tenure-track faculty, instructors, research and teaching assistants/associates, adjunct faculty, and affiliated faculty; age, gender, ethnicity. For tenured and tenure-track faculty, include credentials, and areas of specialization. The department chair and dean should review salaries and be able to report that salaries are generally appropriate for the faculty in the unit according to these factors.    

·         Tenured/tenure-track faculty must submit a one-page professional statement describing his/her research, teaching, and service activities in the program.  Faculty annual reports for the past five years will be available for review.

·         An aggregate profile of faculty and enrollment that illustrates enrollment trends, faculty workload for teaching, scholarship, and service.  Include such data as credit hour production, faculty-student ratios, and number of major and service courses offered.

7.   Resources

·         Describe the physical areas for instruction and research.  Include usual classrooms and a brief overview of laboratory, technological resources, and other equipment in teaching and research areas. Note strengths, limitations, and possible resolutions.

·         State that the department chair, dean, and VCAA have reviewed the departmental budget, e.g., history, constraints, immediate needs linked to goals.

8.   Community Involvement

·         Evaluate the quality and impact of faculty professional involvement with the community relevant to the program.

9.   Summary and Future Plans

·         Based on the results of the review, discuss the program's goals, assuming existing resources.

·         Should limited additional resources become available, specify three priority actions for the next three years. Identify specific outcomes to be accomplished with the additional resources.