Annual Program Review Pilot
When the work of the Program Review Committee was completed, it was suggested by the team that a pilot during the fall term of the 2024-25 academic year was suggested as a starting place. Below are the details about the pilot and its results. Each part of the process solicited feedback and meetings with the Deans and the Provost provided even more perspective which helped to plan the full roll-out of the process.
Pilot Timeline
- February – April 2024: Stakeholder review and feedback of proposed process
- May - June 2024: Feedback reviewed by committee and Provost’s Office to develop pilot year process
- June 24, 2024– September 1, 2024: Complete Program Reports
- October 7, 2024 – November 18, 2024: Complete College/School Reports
- December 2024 -January 2025: College/School Meetings with the Provost’s Office
- January - February 2025: University-Level Report on APR created and shared with PPRC Committee
- March 2025: Suggested improvements incorporated into process in preparation for full launch
Pilot Process
The team created the collection instruments within Qualtrics for easier intake and also to facilitate the ability to aggregate reporting.
Program Reports (6-week timeline planned, but gave extension)
- Colleges asked to choose 5 UG program
- Some have fewer than 5
- GR only colleges were excluded from this round
College Reports (6-week timeline planned, but gave extension)
Chose 3 Deans to complete the college reports
- LeBow College of Business
- Westphal College of Arts & Desgn COMAD
- College of Arts & Sciences
The pilot provided a great test run for Annual Program Review with participation from almost all of the colleges within the program report phase and 3 deans within the college report phase. Besides the experience of the facilitators, there were many opportunities for stakeholders to provide input on the process and the dashboards. While the vast majority of participants found the process to be important and meaningful, it was suggested that it may be too much to try to review all of the programs every year. Also, the instruments themselves could be shortened in order to focus efforts.
Feedback Collection Efforts
•Gathered all of the suggested improvements from within the program and college reports and coded them into groups
•Follow-up meetings with Deans to discuss the tools, process.
•Deans shared their own thoughts and those collected from speaking to those that completed the program report
Changes for the First Year
Undergraduate Focus in the First Year
- Instead of all programs being reviewed every year, programs will be reviewed on a 3-year cycle
- The first year will concentrate on undergraduate programs with graduate programs starting in year 2
Streamlining the Program Report
- The Stategic Dashboard section was changed from 4 smaller qualitative questions to 1 larger section with one qualitative support question
- The Tactical Dashboard sections was changed from 16 metrics with the opportunity to comment on each to grouping metrics into 4 categories with the opportunity to comment on them
The Timeline is Set
The timeline was set as follows:
- Program Reports: Spring Quarter
- College Reports and College Meetings: Summer Quarter
- University Report: Fall Quarter