Program Review In Student Affairs Office of the Vice President Division of Student Affairs Virginia Tech

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