Academic Program Review

In addition to the improvement of programs, program review has several associated objectives or goals. For the individual university, program review helps in long-range planning and in setting both institutional and departmental priorities. It gives administrators and academic leaders critical information about the size and stability of a program, its future faculty resources and student market, its equipment and space needs, its strengths and limitations, and its contribution to the mission of the institution. It helps set goals and directions for the future, and ensures that overall academic plans and budget decisions are based on real information and agreed-upon priorities.

Program review also provides a mechanism for change. Programs evolve slowly; intellectual differences, bureaucracy, time pressures, vested interests, concern for survival, and simple inertia all make change difficult. By creating a structured, scheduled opportunity for a program to be examined, program review provides a strategy for improvement that is well-reasoned, far-seeing, and as apolitical as possible.

Faculty are evaluated for salary increases and promotion and tenure; students are evaluated for admissions, performance and degree completion; courses are evaluated as they are added to the curriculum; and facilities and resources are scrutinized annually in the budgeting process. So why have program review? Program review provides the only comprehensive evaluation of an entire academic program, examining the elements which contribute to its success. Constant scrutiny is unhealthy for any program, but periodic, thorough review will ensure that the program has lived up to its original goals and will identify key areas in which it should be strengthened.