Academic Program Review

(revised July 2009)

Purpose

McNeese State University seeks to maintain the highest academic program quality and ensure each program meets stated objectives and student learning outcomes. Academic Program Review is conducted to ensure that academic excellence and appropriate student achievement and success is maintained for each program offered. Programs accredited by professional accrediting agencies undergo thorough self-evaluation and external review periodically as required by the respective accrediting agency. Programs that are not professionally accredited or for which there is no professional accrediting agency conduct periodic self-evaluation and review according to MSU policy.

The purpose of academic program review is to take a comprehensive look at an academic program from the perspective of self-assessment, viability, needs, student learning outcomes, and adequacy of resources (funding, personnel, facilities, etc.). The process is intended to identify opportunities, understand weaknesses, and set a path for future improvements. The culmination of the review should produce a portfolio that is evaluative rather than merely descriptive. The APR should reflect the past and anticipate the future.

McNeese Assessment Team (MAT)

The McNeese State University Assessment Team reviews program and unit Master Plans to ensure that fulfillment of the University’s mission is ongoing and appropriate student learning outcomes are being achieved, documented, and reported. The annual Master Plan process ensures academic programs document expectations for student learning objectives, achievement of the objectives, and identifies improvements as a result of analyses of program assessment information. A more detailed and comprehensive program self-evaluation and review is conducted periodically (approximately every seven years) according to the timeline established by the MAT.

The MAT will serve as the internal evaluator for the APR and will provide guidance to support continual improvement. The team will determine that the Academic Program has completed the APR portfolio and has fulfilled all of the requirements of the APR. The team will return any inadequate portfolios to the Program Coordinator with instructions for completion within ninety days.

Candidates for Program Review

For professionally accredited programs, the program review conducted during accreditation or reaffirmation processes serves as an appropriate academic program review.
Non-accredited undergraduate and graduate programs for which an accrediting agency exists may use respective program accreditation criteria outlined by the accrediting agency for the self-evaluation format.
Non-accredited undergraduate programs for which no accrediting agency exists use the MSU academic program self-evaluation format. A program review requires faculty to develop a formal document (not to exceed 75 pages). Guidelines for the document are indicated in the academic program self evaluation procedure.
Non-accredited graduate programs for which no accrediting agency exists use the MSU Graduate Program Standards.

In some circumstances, a review of the program by a person or persons external to the University may be requested of the program by the VPAA upon the recommendation of the MAT reviewing team. Alternatively, program faculty may request an external reviewer upon conclusion of the MAT review. External reviewers may come from sister institutions and ought to be experts in the discipline. Undergraduate and graduate academic program coordinators are responsible for program development as well as coordinating the program review and evaluation and identifying appropriate external reviewers. The Office of Institutional Effectiveness will make arrangements for the external review should one be required.

Procedure for Review

The Program Coordinator, in collaboration with the Department Head, Dean, and teaching faculty, should prepare the APR portfolio. The Program Coordinator may use any format for the APR, but it must fulfill the requirements outlined below. The McNeese Office of Institutional Effectiveness can provide guidance for creating a complete and meaningful APR portfolio. In general, the final APR should not exceed 75 pages.

Once the Program Coordinator completes the APR, the Department Head and Dean should review and approve it. Next, the Vice President of Academic Affairs should review and approve the APR. The VPAA will submit the APR to the Office of Institutional Effectiveness which, in turn, will submit it to the McNeese Assessment Team (MAT) for review and comment. The Program Coordinator may make changes to the APR at any step in the process.

The final phase of the APR may call for an external review and evaluation of the APR. The Program Coordinator, Department Head, and/or Dean may suggest candidates to serve as external reviewers, or they may be selected by the Provost or IE Director. The Office of Institutional Effectiveness will liaise with the Academic Program and the chosen external reviewers.

Guidelines

Undergraduate Academic Program Review Guidelines (2006 Guidelines)
Undergraduate Academic Program Review Guidelines (2010 Guidelines--available May 21, 2010)
Graduate Academic Program Review Guidelines