Academic programs are typically reviewed every seven years. Please see the 10-Year Program Review Calendar which is maintained by the chair of the Program Review Committee ( 10-Year Program Review Calendar [Excel
]).
When a program is up for review, it is necessary that program chairs/directors adhere to important deadlines in the review schedule or risk the tabling of all program business brought before the University Curriculum Council, including new-course approvals and curricular adjustments. The chair of the Program Review Committee works closely with programs so all deadlines are met and the process flows smoothly. Ideally, if program chairs/directors cannot recall when their program was last reviewed, they should inquire with the chair of the Program Review Committee (see contact below). Programs should keep program reviews in mind at all times, given that review requirements include the ongoing collection of data (include outcomes assessments), the tracking of initiatives, and engagement in the continual process of identifying and pursuing goals. The program-review calendar and overall process (established by the University Curriculum Council) are best understood, in practical terms, as a two-phased progression:
Phase I
March
Chair of the Program Review Committee notifies programs up for review during the subsequent academic year.
No Later than July 30
Program submits list of potential external reviewers to the Chair of the Program Review Committee.
Sept. 15
Program self-study due and submitted to the Chair of the UCC Program Review Committee. If self-study is not submitted by the deadline, all business before the University Curriculum Council is blocked until the tardy self-study is received.
Oct./Nov.
Site visit of review committees (external and internal reviewers).
Phase II
The site-visit report must be submitted to the chair of the Program Review Committee no more than two (2) weeks after the visit. The chair of the Program Review Committee then distributes copies of the report to the program chair/director and to the program's dean.
Program chairs/directors and the program's dean each have no more than two (2) weeks to comment on the report; such responses, which are submitted to the chair of the Program Review Committee, will be attached to the report and proceed with it throughout the remainder of the process. The correction of factual errors is of particular concern and the site-visit committee is under no obligation to change any recommendations, criticisms, conclusions, etc.
If the report includes the evaluation a graduate component, the report and any comments from the chair/director and dean goes to the Graduate Council, which has the span of two (2) meetings to review it. If there is no graduate component, the report, once reviewed by the program and dean, goes to the University Curriculum Council for approval (upon the endorsement of the Program Review Committee).
After consideration and a vote by the University Curriculum Council, a program's review is then placed on the agenda of the Ohio University Board of Trustees by the Provost as an informational item.
The entire process (from notification the previous March to the documentation's appearance on the Trustees' agenda at the end of the Spring Semester) should take no more than 15 months.
Contacts
Sherleena Buchman
Chair, UCC Program Review Committee
buchmans@ohio.edu
Sarah Poggione
Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education
poggione@ohio.edu