DIXIE STATE COLLEGE OF UTAH POLICIES AND PROCEDURES MANUAL | Section: 3-Faculty |
Policy No: 43 | |
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Approved: 05/04/01
Revised: 09/12/08 | |
Policy:PROGRAM REVIEW | |
3-43 PROGRAM REVIEW
PROGRAM REVIEW: Consistent with Board of Regent Policy R-411, each program at Dixie State College will undergo an in-house evaluation every five years; roughly twenty percent of the programs are will be evaluated each year. During the year of an academic program’s review, The program faculty will prepare the Program Report, which addresses the topics listed below. This report will be forwarded to the Academic Council, which will prepare an Institutional Response. The Academic Council will forward the Program Report and the Institutional Response to the President who may forward to the Board of Trustees for review and approval. The Program Report will include the following sections:
This policy recognizes that programs vary, and a program may wish to organize the required sections in a manner suited to its unique program characteristics. Programs that undergo professional accreditation may use the data gathered for that process as long as it is presented in a format required by this policy and the Board of Regents policy. The schedule for Program Review shall make every effort to coordinate with professional accreditation schedules.
43.1 Overview Of The Program and How It Is Organized: This section will address the following questions: The Program Review will include the following:
43.1.1. What is the program? Program Description. This section will briefly define describe the program, including:
43.1.1.1 What is the program’s role within the campus community? This section will discuss how The program's fits into relationship within the larger institutional organization structures, including departments, divisions, and schools. the entire institution. (Programs should refer to organizational charts that are available in the annual report.)
43.1.1.2 Who constitutes the program’s student body? Or what are main educational and demographic backgrounds and main educational objectives of students in the program’s courses? This section will describe The major student constituencies served (i.e., student groups as defined by such things as placement scores, intended majors, degrees sought, admission requirements if applicable, or other criteria). Also, if students must pass admission requirements to enter the program, what are those admission criteria? And, if students graduate with a certificate or a degree from the program, what are the criteria for graduation from your program?
43.1.4. What does the program do? This section will describe major program endeavors, including such things as:
43.1.1.3 Main curricular functions of courses in the program (i.e., degrees, certificates, and other credentials and General Education instruction). fulfilling major prerequisites, preparing for transfer into specific upper-division programs, providing G.E. skills instruction, and so forth).
43.1.1.4 Course series (those which students take in a sequence) and degree/certificate sequences.
43.1.1.5 Major course categories or types within the program (i.e., courses intended to fill particular roles, such as those which fill particular G.E. requirements or degree/certificate those which fill particular pre-major core requirements, etc.).
43.2 Mission and Goals: This section will:
43.2.1 Student Learning Outcomes: This section will List and describe goals of the program and desired student learning outcomes for the program. This list should focus on demonstrate how students’ knowledge and ability have been enhanced as a result of the program’s activities.
43.2.2 Articulation With Mission And Goals: This section will Indicate how the mission and goals of the program relate to and articulate with the mission and goals of the entire college.
43.3 Curriculum: This section will –
43.3.1 List course descriptions (from college catalog and curriculum approval forms).
43.3.2 Describe major curricular changes of the past five years, including such things as the addition or elimination of major course series, major requirement changes, changes in placement procedures and etc. Also, this section will discuss the rationale behind these changes.
43.3.3 Demonstrate that curriculum is of appropriate depth and breadth, given the institution’s mission, size, and goals. This section will provide evidence and justification that curriculum depth and breadth is appropriate, including references to such things as to program offerings at sister schools in the USHE and articulation agreements in Utah.
43.3.4 Discuss the nature and extent of course requirements that are based on library and information resources and assess the adequacy of library holdings, including books, periodicals, electronic media, and audio-visual resources in support of this program.
43.4 Faculty and Staff: This section will –
43.4.1 List faculty headcount and instructional full-time equivalent (FTE) for faculty and for adjuncts, for each of the past five years. This section will also list faculty degrees, areas of specialization, rank and tenure status, years of experience, and other credentials; involvement with student clubs or services; professional organization participation and professional development activities; membership on college committees; involvement with community services, etc.
43.4.2 Report average student credit hours (SCH) per full-time equivalent (FTE) faculty per year (twelve month period) for each of the past five years. Compare student credit hours (SCH) per full-time equivalent (FTE) faculty for the program with similar programs at peer institutions, if comparative data are available.
43.4.3 Report staff headcount and FTE as required by Regents' policy R-411. Describe the number and type of support staff assigned to the program and calculate those personnel in terms of full-time equivalents.
43.5 Students: Achievement – Indicators, Assessment, Analysis, and Appraisal: This section will describe the indicators of student achievement and show the extent to which the outcomes have in fact occurred.
43.5.1 List and describe indicators of student goal attainment achievement for the program’s intended outcomes to include:
43.5.1.1 Program enrollment data since the previous program review, including enrollment increases and attrition.
43.5.1.2 Graduation rates
43.5.1.3 Student placement rates and salary data in degree and certificate programs.
43.5.1.4 Transfer data
43.5.1.5 Other to include: (These indicators may be such things as Student satisfaction surveys, vocational follow-up studies, employer satisfaction surveys, transfer success indices, retention and completion rates, results of specialized accreditation as appropriate. etc.).
43.6 Program Assessment: This section should address all of the program's goals, and at a minimum, this section should include:
43.6.1 List and describe assessment techniques that demonstrate student learning in the program. These assessments may include
43.6.1 Identify program and course student learning objectives and explain how the achievement of those objectives is measured. Summarize data, evidence, and descriptive narrative concerning results of the assessments that have been implemented in the program. Tell how successful students are in achieving the learning outcomes of the program and how effectively the program has achieved its goals.
43.6.2 Detail how the results of assessments have been used to improve teaching and learning by describing:
43.6.2.1 Sample assessment instrument(s) such as projects, portfolios, objective tests, national board tests, satisfactory course completion, demonstration of critical skills, etc.
43.6.2.2 Narrative description, including where and when the instruments were applied, how many students participated, and the conditions of implementation.
43.6.2.3 Data summary, showing the results obtained when the assessment instruments were applied.
43.6.2.4 A summary statement of the strengths and challenges of the program, as indicated by the data and evidence and program goals developed in response to challenges.
43.6.2.5 A summary statement of the improvements to challenges of the program, as a result of indicated by the data and evidence.
43.7 Physical facilities, equipment, and technology: This section will –
43.7.1 Describe facilities, equipment and technology available to your program. Cite library, media, and information resources, where relevant.
43.8 Program Costs: This section will:
43.8.1 Identify the instructional costs in operating this program for the five year period since the previous program report.
43.8.2 Identify supports costs relative to this program for the five year period since the previous program report.
43.7 Program Strengths and Challenges: This section will –
43.7.1 List and describe in detail the program’s strengths, highlights, achievements, and successes.
43.7.2 List and describe in detail the program’s challenges, shortfalls, and problems, focusing on internal as well as external challenges.
43.9 Recommendations, Plans, and Improvements: Programs may address plans, goals and improvements within each of the preceding sections or in summary in a separate section. In either case, the program will: This section will
43.9.1 Explain improvements already made, processes already set in place, or progress already achieved in relation to program challenges. Highlight successes and achievements and identify challenges.
43.9.2 Describe in detail the program's plans, priorities, and recommendations for future improvements both internal and external to the program. Specifically, this section will describe major steps to be taken in the next five years to address challenges that have been identified though the program evaluation process.
43.9.3 Describe how the program responded to and/or addressed the challenges identified in the previous Program Review Evaluation.
43.10 Institutional Response: Upon completion of the Program Review, the Report will be submitted to the Program's Department Chair, Associate Dean, and Dean for their information, and to the Chair of the Institutional Effectiveness Committee, who will oversee the Program Review evaluation process.
After those responsible for the program have completed the Program Report, the Academic Council will prepare a recommended Institutional Response and forward the Program Report and the recommended Institutional Response to the Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees will review the proposed Institutional Response and either approve or alter it. In the Institutional Response, the program will be rated according to one of the following standards:
43.10.1 The Report will be reviewed by An evaluator external to DSC and identified for the program by the Institutional Effectiveness Committee will evaluate the Report. In the case of professionally accredited programs, external evaluators determined by the accrediting body may be used.
43.10.2 The Report and the external evaluation report identifying the program strengths and challenges will be presented to the appropriate Faculty Senate subcommittee for internal evaluation.
43.10.3 The Report, accompanied by the external and faculty reviews, will be returned to the authors to address and to respond to specific findings of the evaluators. The response should include an action plan for addressing identified challenges.
43.10.4 The Vice President of Academic Services will write an Institutional Response based on the external evaluation report, an evaluation by the appropriate faculty committee, and the program's response to those evaluations.
43.10.5 The Vice President of Academic Services will present a Program Review Summary, prepared by the Institutional Effectiveness Committee Chair and approved by the Committee, and the Program Review Report, including the Program's Response and Action Plan, to the Academic Council and College Council for approval. The Board of Trustees will review the proposed Institutional Response and approve or alter it.
43.10.6 The Program Review Summary will be sent to the Utah State Board of Regents as an "information item" as required in Regents' Policy R-411.
43.9.1 The program is judged to be Outstanding, and is to be commended for excellence. The program is among the top two or three programs in the institution, and is exemplary of the best programs in the nation of a similar scope and type. The program will be reviewed in the next regular cycle.
43.9.2 The program is judged to be Commendable, and certain components of the program may be commended for excellence. The program is considered to be strong or above average when compared against similar programs in peer institutions, and consistently ranks among the top third of programs in the institution. A progress report will generally not be required prior to the next regular program review cycle.
43.9.3 The program is judged to be Acceptable. The program meets generally accepted qualitative criteria for programs of its type. A progress report regarding specific recommendations for improvement may or may not be required prior to the next regular program review cycle.
43.9.4 The program is judged to be Marginal. The program meets few generally accepted qualitative criteria for programs of its type, and is therefore judged to be unsatisfactory. A progress report regarding specific recommendations for improvement is required prior to the next regular program review cycle.
43.9.5 The program is judged to be Probationary. The program does not meet generally accepted qualitative criteria for programs of its type. The program is placed on probation, and limitations may be placed on the operation of the program. A progress report or series of progress reports regarding specific areas of improvement is required prior to the next regular program review cycle.
43.10 Departmental response to the recommendations of the reviewers: Before the Institutional Response is forwarded to the Board of Trustees, programs may prepare a response, which will be included with the materials given to Trustees.
43.11 Trustees Approval: Materials will be given to the Board of Trustees for their review and approval per the recommendation of Academic Council.