PROGRAM REVIEW

In order to ensure program quality and effective stewardship of resources, the College shall conduct regular reviews of all of its academic programs, designated academic support areas and student services. These reviews provide programs a design testing platform that encourages the strengthening of program resiliency through continuous improvement strategies. The aggregation of multiple review cycles based on this principle ensures the sustainability of the College over the long term. Emphasis is placed on developing the self-evaluation capacity of programs so that organizational learning intelligently informs continuous improvement and encourages growing alignment and integration of assessment processes. This policy is established to clarify the objectives for program review and the procedure to be followed in program review.

Procedure 2140A

PROGRAM REVIEW

Reference:  Policy 2140A Program Review

Each of the following program, curricular and co-curricular, will be reviewed utilizing an approved template based on the following schedule:

• Those awarding Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS), Associate of Applied Science (AAS) and Associate of Nursing (ADN) degrees will be reviewed once every five years.
• Those awarding Associate of Art (AA) or Associate of Science (AS) degrees will be reviewed once every seven years. *

*programs that award degrees from both areas (for example AA & AAS) shall be reviewed every five years.

• Designated academic support programs shall be reviewed every seven years.
• Designated student services programs shall be reviewed every seven years.
• All newly approved programs shall be reviewed at the end of their third year. In addition to adhering to all of the review procedures outlined in this policy, a determination will be made if the program is to be continued or discontinued. Programs that are continued will be placed on the appropriate schedule for their next review.

A program review schedule detailing when each program is required to complete their review shall be established by the Institutional Effectiveness office.  This schedule will only be altered under exigent circumstances and with the approval of the Western Leadership Council. Specialized accreditation processes may supplement, but do not substitute for program reviews.

Each program shall be reviewed by two internal evaluators and one external evaluator. It is the responsibility of the program to identify the evaluators and coordinate time adequate to review the entirety of the program.

Guidelines for identifying the evaluators are as follows:

• Internal evaluator 1: A staff or faculty member from any department or discipline who can serve as an objective third party.
• Internal evaluator 2: A staff or faculty member who is not employed in the program but who works closely with the program under review.
• External evaluator 1: A staff or faculty member who is not a full-time employee of the College and has experience or education in the discipline or a similar field.

Each program shall address the following areas as part of their review:

• Culture of Continuous Improvement
• Culture of Evidence
• Planning for the Future
• Strengths and Limitations
• Resource Adequacy
• Organization Context and Impact

As part of the program review process, programs are required to submit annual assessment updates, these updates are a critical component of continuous improvement.

• Academic programs must submit annual updates to Institutional Effectiveness NO LATER than the day of Commencement.
• Support and service areas must submit annual updates by June 30.

It is the responsibility of the faculty and employees within each program to complete required program review and annual assessment components and meet all submission deadlines.

Adopted: June 25, 2019
Revised: January 9, 2020
Reformatted: October 22, 2020
Revised: June 30, 2021