Academic Program Review

1.0    Purpose

This policy establishes guidelines for conducting academic departmental reviews.

2.0    Revision History

3.0    Persons Affected

3.1    Vice president for academic affairs (VPAA), academic deans, department chairs, programs directors, institutional research (IR), director of assessment, and faculty members.

4.0    Policy

The policy of Casper College is to ensure the following.

4.1    The college has a comprehensive, standardized, and regular process to review academic departments and programs.

4.2    The process provides academic departments and programs with a mechanism for continuous improvement.

4.3    Academic schools receive aggregated departmental and program data to use for planning and decision-making.

4.4    College administrators receive aggregated data to use for strategic planning.

5.0    Definitions

5.1    Academic Program Review (APR). A process to systematically and regularly review academic programs. APRs are used for program improvement and planning and strategic planning.

5.2    Updates. APRs are reviewed and updated every five years, annually, with components updated as need or at the request of the VPAA.

5.3    Artifact. A set of academic class assignment submitted by students that align with an institutional student-learning outcome. Artifacts are used for institutional assessment.

5.4    Deans Council. A committee comprised of the VPAA and the academic deans that addresses academic matters.

6.0    Responsibilities

6.1    The VPAA is responsible for maintaining compliance with this policy.

6.2    Deans are responsible for managing the APR process and using the data for program improvement.  

6.3    Department chairs and program directors are responsible for completing the APRs in collaboration with their faculty and using the data for program improvement.

6.4    IR and the director of assessment are responsible for providing data and assisting with the APR process.

6.5    Faculty members are responsible for submitting artifacts and assisting with their APR.

7.0    Procedures

7.1    The VPAA annually sets a deadline for department chairs and program directors to complete APRs and provides a report template, instructions, and needed training.

7.2    Academic deans establish an APR schedule for their schools with 20 percent of departments and programs completing a five-year update annually. The deans provide department chairs and program directors with an annual deadline based on the deadline set by the VPAA and that is no later than spring midterm. Academic deans annually review the APRs.

7.3    Faculty members submit artifacts to their department chairs and program directors at least once per academic year. The department chairs and program directors forward the artifacts to the Assessment Office using the artifact submission form.

7.4    Department chairs and program directors complete the five-year, annual, and as needed APR. The appropriate dean, IR, and the director of assessment assist with the process as needed. Department chairs and program directors submit the updated APRs to the appropriate dean.

7.5    Deans review the APRs with their department chairs and program directors for completeness and accuracy. Department chairs and program directors make any changes as requested by the deans. The deans submit final APRs to the VPAA.

7.6    Deans Council annually reviews the APR data prior to the beginning of the academic year.

7.7    The director of assessment annually reviews APRs for artifact data and consults with department chairs and program directors on assessment activities.

7.8    The Academic Affairs Office retains copies of the APRs.