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Objectives
These Guidelines and Procedures for the Review of Academic
Programs are
an important part of the College’s efforts to meet reguirements
of SUNY System Administration (see http://www.suny.edu/provost/Assessmentinit.cfm?navLevel=5 and http://www.suny.edu/facultySenate/files/Program_Review.pdf ) and
of the Middle States Association (MSA) for programmatic assessment, including
the assessment of student learning (see http://www.msche.org/publications/CHX06_Aug08REVMarch09.pdf).
The Guidelines are intended to:
- Support faculty in the ongoing work of the review of their academic
programs including the evaluation of student learning; and
- Help faculty prepare for and complete the College’s required
review of their academic programs.
These Guidelines are procedures for the review and reporting
of academic programs and are not intended to impinge on the flexibility
that faculty require in order to accomplish meaningful and effective
program review.
Overview
The review of an academic program involves the completion of a self-study
which evaluates:
- The program’s faculty-prepared mission statement, goals, and
student learning outcomes;
- The program’s procedures and plans for meeting their
goals and student learning outcomes;
- The program’s processes for determining if the mission, goals,
and student learning outcomes are being met; and
- The program’s response to the findings identified through the
self-study process.
Program review should always begin with the faculty’s consideration
of the program’s mission and goals. Program goals reflect the broad
and enduring plans that faculty have with regard to advancing the mission
of the College, providing the curricula that facilitate the achievement
of student learning goals, and meeting other important goals in areas
such as effectiveness in teaching, scholarly accomplishments, service,
and continuing growth which substantially impact the overall academic
program.
The review of an academic program also includes measuring student learning. The
analysis of student learning is a continuous process intended
to enhance teaching and learning. It is not itself a goal or end point.
Rather, the purpose of reviewing student learning is to determine the
degree to which students acquired the knowledge, skills, and competencies
that are consistent with the program’s goals and the College’s
mission and that, by the time of graduation, students have achieved these
goals1. Thus, the analysis of an academic program includes information
from previous reviews and the results from ongoing evaluations of student
learning.
To address these objectives, these Guidelines include sections
that identify:
- What has and has not changed with regard to program review;
- What SUNY and MSA expect; and
- What is expected of faculty
To assist faculty in accomplishing program review, the Guidelines also
include:
- Basic “ground rules” for programmatic assessment at Oneonta;
- A timeline for completing and reporting the results of a program
review; and
- An organizational format for the Self-Study Report. (This format
is also available as a downloadable document on the College’s
academic assessment website.)
Faculty working on the review of academic programs may refer to the
contents of these Guidelines in any sequence.
1 Middle State Commission on Higher Education: Student Learning Assessment – Options
and Resources, 2003.
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