Program ReviewIn Student Affairs

Office of the Vice President Division of Student Affairs

Virginia Tech 2008 - 2009

What is Program Review?

A systematic mechanism to monitor the status, effectiveness, efficiency, and progress of programs and services provided Both descriptive & evaluative

Tied closely to the mission, goals, and specified outcomes of a department Comprehensive examination of what an office

does and how well it performs to that end Forward looking

Provides a snap-shot of where a department is currently and whether they are making progress toward departmental priorities and university-wide strategic planning

Why conduct a Program Review?

Process yields information that allows the department and the division to:

Identify future directions, needs, and priorities

Recognize and respond to strengths or weaknesses of programs and services

Assist in assessing a department’s relationships with and contributions to other programs within the university

Strengthen and improve programs and services offered to students and faculty

Why conduct a Program Review?

Continuous improvement

Accreditation commissions and governing bodies

Concerns about accountability to multiple constituents

Tight budgets and markets

Savvy consumers

Perceptions about learning and higher education

The Role of Assessment

Assessment is any effort to gather, analyze, and interpret evidence which describes a unit’s effectiveness (Shuch & Upcraft, 2001)

Assessment allows units to examine key questions, including: What do we expect our students to know, be able to

do, or value as a result of participating in our programs & services?

Do our students know, do and value these things? Are they learning what we want them to learn? How do we know?

Elements of Program Review

One year process including: Planning

Self-Study using professional standards

Completion of Program Review Report

Review of recommendations included in the report by the Executive Leadership Group

Phase 1: Planning

Establish an objective committee Estimate a budget Set a timeline Gather information

Policies/procedures Program descriptions Assessment data that has been collected Programmatic budget Staffing and resource descriptions

Phase 2: Self-Study

Review items in Program Review Template

Decide on professional standards CAS Standards Professional Standards

Conduct self-study, using information collected to support findings and conclusions

Council for the Advancement of Standards (CAS):

Standards vs Guidelines

Standard, printed in BOLD TYPE, considered to be essential to successful professional practice Use auxiliary verbs “must” and “shall”

Guideline, printed in LIGHT FACE TYPE, is a statement that clarifies or amplifies a standard. Use auxiliary verbs “should” and “may” Not required for compliance to be achieved; designed

to offer suggestions & illustrations

Complete Program Review Report template

Departments may wish to have a group or person external to their department review the completed report and provide feedback

Phase 3: Completion of Program Review Report

Phase 4: Review of Report Recommendations

The Executive Leadership Group will review the completed Program Review Report focusing on the recommendations

Each department’s director will be scheduled to present their report to the Executive Leadership Group, typically this is done during the fall semester following completion of the report