This website is maintained by the Office of Faculty & Programs. Comments and questions should be directed to:
Joni Lenig, Asst. Vice President of Faculty & Programs
phone: 931-540-2752
email: Joni.Lenig@columbiastate.edu
Purpose of Academic Program Review of Existing Programs
A. Quality Assurance: Program review is one way for Columbia State to assure to the Tennessee Board of Regents, SACS, administration, faculty, students, and community that it is providing quality academic programs.
B. Program Improvement: Program Review should provide program faculty and professional staff with information and feedback that will assist in their responsibility to continuously improve quality and cost effectiveness.
C. Program and Resource Alignment: Program review should ensure that Columbia State is offering academic programs that are needed in the service area and that resources are sufficient for those programs.
Overview
Review of Existing Programs is a bi-level process at Columbia State, which provides for both annual review (Level I) and five-year program analysis (Level II).
A. Level I Review Overview
1. Emphasis: Establishing trends, reporting
2. Purpose: To identify trends within the program, to provide information for local and state level review, and to identify significant problems requiring program adjustments or further review (Level II).
3. Schedule: Annually, as part of the strategic planning and budget process.
4. Description: Review at this level is based on trends apparent in annual data collected about each program. This review will look at enrollment trends, student performance, levels of program support, and past evaluations. The primary purpose of this review is to answer the question, “Does the program meet acceptable levels of performance?” This review should provide early warning signals, which allow program faculty to deal with concerns before they become problems. Departures from a baseline rather than absolute numbers are important at this level. When the concerns appear to be of sufficient magnitude, a more extensive, in-depth review, Level II, may be required as a prelude to decision-making about the future of the program.
B. Level II Review Overview
1. Emphasis: Program Improvement
2. Purpose: To develop recommendations for program improvement from program faculty and, if required by TBR, an outside peer review team.
3. Schedule: At least once every five years as part of a regularly scheduled program review cycle or as required by results of a Level I review.
4. Description: Review at this level is designed to address those issues central to program quality and the teaching/learning process. The primary purpose of review at this level is to provide information which can be used to answer the question, “What can we do to make this a better program?” Analysis at this level requires program faculty to evaluate program performance and make judgments, which will provide the basis for planning for program improvement. It examines the program’s relation to the college’s purpose, the college’s mission, the college’s core values, enrollment trends, and student performance and satisfaction with the program. The curriculum, instruction, faculty development, student advisement, external relationships, adequacy of program resources/support, and the program’s progress in responding to the previous evaluations are analyzed. Recognizing that all programs have unique aspects, the analysis provides for flexibility in the evidence and methods used in analyzing the program. While the review emphasizes institutional concerns, it also addresses the external concerns of agencies such as Tennessee Board of Regents, Tennessee Higher Education Commission, and SACS.