Review Participants & Milestones

Review Particpants

Successful academic program reviews require engagement from many people and units. The primary roles and responsibilities of each participant are outlined here.

Office of the Provost

  • Provide broad oversight of process.
  • Share direct costs of reviews with colleges/programs.
  • Offer review process orientation for programs up for review.
  • Work with collegiate administration to select and invite members of review team (from pool provided by programs).
  • Work with collegiate administration to write charge letter to review team (based on key issues identified by college and program).
  • Advise colleges and programs before and during review process, including answering questions during self-study development and scheduling site visit sessions involving the provost, vice provosts, and the special assistant to the provost for professional education.
  • Coordinate with vice provosts for undergraduate and graduate education and the special assistant to the provost for professional education as needed throughout review process.

Office of Planning and Analysis & Institutional Research

  • Data provision for centrally available data.

Collegiate Deans

  • Determine program review scope and schedule.
  • Share costs of reviews with Provost Office.
  • Help frame key issues for programs up for review.
  • Work with Provost office staff to select and invite reviewers members of review team.
  • Work with Provost office staff to write charge letter to review team (based on key issues identified by college and program).
  • Work with programs to develop action plan resulting from review.
  • Be accountable for action plans.
  • Brief new program leaders on process and status of action plans from past reviews.

Program Leaders and Faculty

  • Establish plan for development of self-study that broadly engages stakeholders.
  • Generate pool of potential review team members.
  • Gather and review data, working with Office of Institutional Research where data is available centrally.
  • Compose self-study, including identification of key issues and emphases.
  • Host review team site visit, including arranging travel, lodging, transportation, and meeting space for reviewers.
  • Plan site visit itinerary, including inviting key constituents and scheduling sessions with review team.
  • Work with college administration to develop action plan resulting from review.
  • Be accountable for action plans.

Review Team

  • Identify issues and make recommendations based on charge questions and offer potential models for improvement based on reviewers’ experience with home institutions.
  • Deliver brief report of findings and recommendations by end of site visit.
  • Promptly submit expense receipts for reimbursement.

Review Milestones

Although academic program review is part of an ongoing process of quality assessment and continuous improvement, the milestones described here generally take place over the course of 12 months. The specific schedule and deadlines for any particular review will be set in consultation with the program under review and the respective collegiate administration.

  • Deans determine list of programs to be reviewed in upcoming year(s), consulting with Provost's Office.
  • Programs to be reviewed are notified by deans.
  • Provost's Office and/or collegiate administration provide program leadership with orientation to review process.
  • Program submits list of potential reviewers to collegiate administration and Provost's Office.
  • Program and collegiate leadership frame key issues and emphases, to be included in charge letter for review team.
  • Reviewers selected and co-invited by Dean and Provost.
  • Program works with reviewers to set date of site visit, begins development of site visit itinerary, and makes reviewer travel arrangements.
  • Program prepares self-study, submits to collegiate administration and Provost's Office no later than six weeks prior to site visit date.
  • Program submits site visit itinerary to collegiate administration and Provost's Office for review.
  • Site visit conducted, review team report received by collegiate administration and sent to Provost's Office, program leadership, and faculty.
  • Program prepares response and drafts action plan, submits to collegiate administration and Provost's Office.
  • Collegiate administration and Provost's Office confer with program and document final recommendations and action plan.
  • Implementation meeting held, action plan finalized.