Academic Program Review Policy

Purpose

McNeese State University conducts periodic reviews of all academic programs for quality and effectiveness. The academic program review process directs academic departments to conduct self-studies that examine a program’s faculty, curriculum, student success, and resources. The review culminates in an action plan integrated into annual assessment reports.

This policy complies with the following SACSCOC Principles of Accreditation: Standard 6.2.a (faculty qualifications), Standard 6.2.b (program faculty), Standard 6.2.c (program coordination), Core Requirement 7.1 (institutional planning), Standard 8.2 (student outcomes), Core Requirement 9.1 (program content), Standard 10.4 (academic governance), Core Requirement 11.1 (library and learning/information resources), and Standard 13.7 (physical resources).

Procedures

The Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness (IRE) coordinates the academic program review process. Each academic program that does not have programmatic accreditation must conduct a self-study every seven years. Elements of the process include:

• Self-study: Completed by the department and examines faculty, curriculum, assessment, student success measures, resources, student enrollment and completers, and capabilities of the academic program.
• Internal review: Three tenured faculty who are not in the same department undergoing academic program review evaluate the self-study and external review and offer perspectives on the program’s quality and efficacy. The panel consists of:  (1) a panel chair, who is a senior, experienced faculty member with experience in accreditation and program review; (2) a faculty member from the same college as the department; (3) a faculty member from a different college than the department.
• Action plan: Academic departments conclude the process by creating an action plan comprised of recommendations from the internal review, proposed actions by the academic department with input from faculty, and a timeline for implementation. Elements of the action plan will be integrated into the department and program assessment plans and updated by the department annually.

Communication

This policy is distributed via the University Policies webpage.