Academic Program Reviewexternal Report

Academic Program ReviewExternal Report

Academic Program Review

External Reviewer Report

[Insert Department Name]

[Date Submitted]

Purpose of Program Review at Illinois

The University of Illinois Academic Program Review Process will provide each academic unit with the opportunity to examine its strengths, deficiencies, and strategic goals in a systematic way.The Program Review process aligns with the campus strategic goal of ensuring excellence in the academic programs, and allows us to:

• guide the future direction and priorities for the programs and the institution;
• identify areas for improvement and development
• promote goal setting within the departments as well as across departments
• identify potential opportunities to redirect existing resources
• identify potential opportunities to generate and use incremental resources
• fulfill accreditation and state requirements
• assure institutional quality to students, faculty, parents, alumni, and other stakeholders

Instructions

This external reviewer reportshould be succinct, so as to create a reflective report that no more than ten pages long. The primary responsibilities of the external review panel are to 1) evaluate the department in its national context; 2) assess the department’s goals, student academic experiences, research, organizational practices, and resource allocation decisions; 3) offer insight on issues and trends of relevance to the department; and 4) make recommendations for improving departmental performance.

The external review panel will read the program’s self-study, visit with various members of the university community, and prepare a final written report. A Review Guide is provided as a way to provide points to consider in writing the report. Reports can take whatever structure works for the team, but the team must address the overall question in the Review Guide. The report is shared with campus, college, and department academic leadership as well asdepartment faculty.

Common Data Set

To assist with the report, a common data set has been provided either as an appendices to the self-assessment or placed within the self-assessment document.

Self-Assessment

Each department being reviewed provides a self-assessment that reports on four areas: the overall goals, trends, and challenges for the department; the academic/student experience for major or graduate students in the department; the research vitality of the department; and the human, physical and financial resources of the department.

Deadline

The external review report is due three weeks after the campus visit.

Please submit the report to the Provost and Dean by sending it to Staci Provezis, Associate Provost for Academic Effectiveness, at .

Questions

Any questions about the process can be directed to Staci Provezis at or 217-333-1353.

Review Guide

Strategic direction of the department:

• To what degree are the goals and measures appropriate for the unit? If they are not appropriate for the unit, how could they be modified to make the department competitive at the national level?
• The department outlined strengths and weaknesses in the self-study, based on what you read and what you heard during your visit, to what degree are the strengths and weaknesses of the unit aligned with its self-assessment?
• What are the unit’s greatest opportunities and how best can it capitalize upon them?

Academic/student experience offered by the department:

• The department described in the self-study academic experiences for undergraduate and graduate students, and you had a chance to meet with students, how well does the department serve the needs of its undergraduate and graduate students?

Research expertise in the department:

• How well positioned is the department to take advantage of the current and emerging areas of scholarship?

Human, Physical and Financial Resources

• Does the organizational structure of the department, its staffing, its governance, and its physical resources contribute to the vitality of the department or what changes would you recommend?
• Assuming that the only additional financial resources that the unit receives will be self-generated, how should these be invested and/or redirected?

*Overall (all reviews must answer this question)

• Over the next 3-5 years, what five actions should be taken by the unit to maintain or increase its excellence?

Please place your five recommendations for departmental actions in the following table on the left side and include it in your report. The department will respond to your recommendations in a report to the Provost’s Office and will continue to use it for annual progress reports.

Recommendations for Action / Departmental Response
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

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