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Office of the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts |
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| CLA Departmental and Program Review and Self-Study | ||
| I. Purpose of Departmental Review The purpose of the departmental review process is to sustain the quality of the College's academic programs and to provide an institutional opportunity for on-going reflection, renewal and program improvement. Program review and self-study is intimately connected to the processes of assessment and departmental planning and should grow out of those regular activities. II. Timing of Reviews College departments and programs should be reviewed every ten years. The Dean's Office, in consultation with the Dean's Council and the Committee on Academic Policy and Curriculum, will create and maintain a schedule of reviews and will notify departments when they are coming up for review. Departments and programs may also initiate a review when some major change in the department/program seems to necessitate an out-of-cycle review. III. The Review Process |
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| 1. Initiation of Review The semester before a department/program is to begin the self-study process, the Dean will alert the chair or program director. Ideally some departments will begin in the fall and some in the spring so that reviewers' visits may be spread through the year. 2. Self-Study The department chair/program director initiates the self-study process which should take 6 months to a year and involve the entire department faculty. The Dean's Office will provide data and technical support to the department during the process. 3. Dean's Council and CAPC Representatives and Review. The completed self-study with all supporting material (see below) should be submitted to the Dean's Office, which will provide copies of the documents to both the Dean's Council and the Committee on Academic Policy and Curriculum. Each committee will assign one of its members as its representative for that departmental review (in the division? Not in the division?) The Dean's Council and the CAPC review the self study and provide their responses (observations, questions, concerns, and context) to the member designated to work on that review. The representatives of the DC and the CAPC together compile any questions generated by the two committees for the department, in consultation with the Associate Dean for Curriculum and Faculty Development, who forwards the questions to the Department. After the Department has responded to any questions and the self study is final, the two Committee representatives synthesize the committees' comments observations and any additional information the Committees wish to provide to the reviewers. The document they produce, which provides the College context for the self-study, becomes a part of the self-study document and will also be transmitted to the external reviewers. 4. Selection of External Reviewers. Normally there will be two, or in some cases three, external reviewers chosen from comparable and peer institutions. The department should recommend the names of five or six reviewers, providing brief credentials and a rationale for their choices. The Dean's Office in consultation with the DC and the CAPC will also develop a list of reviewers by seeking suggestions from appropriate disciplinary associations etc.. The two reviewers will be chosen by the Dean's Office, in consultation with the Dean's Council and the CAPC, from these lists on the basis of the appropriateness, the combined strengths and coverage of the review team, and their availability. The department will have the opportunity to review the list of names and to eliminate those who have personal connections with the department and may also make an argument for rejecting any of the reviewers chosen. 5. The Review Visit The campus visit will be planned for two days. The Dean's Office, in consultation with the department/program, will develop the schedule for the visit and make the logistical arrangements. Several weeks in advance of their visit, reviewers will be provided with the self-study and all of the supporting materials. Prior to the visit, all communication with the reviewers will be through the Dean's Office. The visit will include: |
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| 6. Reviewers Report. After the campus visit, the reviewers will be given four-weeks to complete a jointly- endorsed written report responding to the review questions (see attached). 7. After the Receipt of the Report. |
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| IV. The Self Study The self-study is arguably the most important part of departmental review. It is both a process and a product. During the self-study process, the department/program should engage in a collective process of review and reflection, considering the current state of the department/program and its future directions. Work on the self-study should involve a shared process in which all members of the department/program faculty participate. The self-study should also involve students and any staff members who work closely with the department/program. The Dean's Office will provide necessary data and other technical assistance at the department's/program's request. The five-year plan documents, completed annually, should serve as the basis of the department self-study. In some ways, the self-study will be an expanded version of the annual plan. That form outlines the broad areas to be covered by the self study and provides questions to structure thinking about each area. Each section of the plan should include: description of current conditions, an assessment of strengths and challenges, and plans for future directions. For the self-study, this fully developed planning document should be introduced by a narrative which includes: |
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| Supporting Documents for self-study: | ||
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| When the self-study is transmitted to the reviewers, the Dean's Office will add: | ||
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