Title: Some Important Considerations When Conducting Undergraduate Cyclical Program Reviews at a Small University
Stream: Educational Research, Development & Publishing
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Authors:
Oliver Franke, Concordia University of Edmonton, Canada
Colin Neufeldt, Concordia University of Edmonton, Canada
Elizabeth Smythe, Concordia University of Edmonton, Canada
John Jayachandran, Concordia University of Edmonton, Canada
Abstract:
Cyclical program reviews (CPRs), also called periodic or academic reviews at institutions of higher education, are undertaken to ensure that the programs meet a variety of academic, pedagogical, professional, credentialing, and quality assurance objectives. Preparing, reviewing and implementing a CPR involves a great deal of time and effort and potential pressure on those who are tasked with preparing one especially if the program has never had a CPR, or a long time has passed since the last one was undertaken. Much has been written on how to do a CPR (Bresciani et al, 2006), what measures are most useful in assessing programs (Jayachandran, Neufeldt, Smythe and Franke Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 2019) and some of the problems from the perspective of external reviewers (Halonen and Dunn, 2017). This presentation, however, draws on our experiences as faculty and administrators at a small university in Western Canada involved in reviews of several academic programs in the social sciences. Reflecting on challenges we faced our findings identify key issues and considerations that should be addressed when preparing to undertake a CPR, both from the perspective of administrators and faculty, especially at smaller institutions where the number of faculty may be small and the institutional supports to the review process more limited. Key issues include timing of reviews, the costs and benefits of tasking a team or an individual with preparing the CPR, the role of administrators, the importance of policy templates, and the need for clearly identified learning outcomes.
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