Frequently Asked Questions
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1. Why do we have to do Program Review?
Academic program review is a requirement of the CSU since 1971
and
CSULA policy has been in place since 1973.
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2. Why does my program have to participate in Program Review if we
are already accredited?
Accreditation generally is based on meeting specific outcomes
that may or may not be aligned with the mission and goals and
Institutional Learning Outcomes of CSULA. Program Review assures
that all programs are aligned with CSULA’s mission, but provides a
mechanism, the Modified Self-Study Report (MSSR), that allows a
program to avoid duplicating work that has already been performed.
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3. What is the procedure for accredited programs with regard to
Program Review?
If a department has undergone accreditation within the past three
years with at least one external review, the documents gathered for
the accreditation can be used in response to questions posed in the
Self-Study Report. Therefore, one year prior to the scheduled
program review the department will develop a matrix comparing the
program review standards and criteria with the standards and
criteria required for accreditation. This matrix is submitted to an
ad hoc review committee composed of the Executive Secretary of the
Program Review Subcommittee, the Chair of the Program Review
Subcommittee (PRS), the College Dean, and the Chair of the
Department. The review committee evaluates the “fit” of the
accreditation documentation with the needs of program review. The
Department then creates a Modified Self-Study Report (MSSR).
A full, regular Self-Study Report and a Five-Year Plan must be
provided to the Program Review Subcommittee for any program in the
department that was NOT part of the specialized external
accreditation process. For example, if an accreditation focused only
on the undergraduate degree(s), then a full Self-Study Report and
5-Year Plan is required for any Master’s programs within the
department. Sections relevant to both (e.g., faculty CV) may simply
be referenced appropriately.
If the external accreditation process included more than one
department (e.g., review of an entire College), then each department
is to undergo a separate program review. Separate documents are to
be prepared and separate meeting schedules with the Program Review
Subcommittee are to be implemented for each program.
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4. What is a modified self-study report for accredited programs?
The MSSR should at least list and/or provide a matrix of all the
sections and subsections required in the most recent CSULA program
review handbook and follow its outline and format. If a Program
Review Procedural Handbook subtopic was addressed in the specialized
accreditation document, then the relevant page numbers, etc. should
be given at the appropriate point and heading in the MSSR. Even if a
topic was addressed in the specialized accreditation document, an
overview paragraph must be provided. Also included will be the
“Verification of Faculty Review” page signed by all full time
faculty members. A copy of the department/College response to the
accreditation report must also be included. PRS and the ad hoc
committee require that the documents be combined into one file and
the relevant sections in the accreditation documents be accessed
through hyperlinks in the MSSR matrix or similar mechanism. The
matrix and the linked areas will be reviewed in order to determine
the extent to which accreditation documents meet the program review
criteria. This ad hoc committee will be composed of the Executive
Secretary of the Program Review Subcommittee, the Chair of the
Program Review Subcommittee, the College Dean, and the Chair of the
Department. At the conclusion of the review of documents, the ad hoc
committee will report to the Provost the extent to which the
Department's accreditation documents meet the requirements for the
Self-Study Report, and identify areas, if any, that should be
addressed in documents beyond those prepared for accreditation.
The department must provide each Program Review Subcommittee member
with a copy of the MSSR, the accreditation report, and a copy of the
latest report from the accrediting agency. If duplication costs make
this prohibitive, then a full copy must be made available in a
convenient location and relevant pages must be inserted in the MSSR.
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5. What is the PRS timeline?
The program review schedule can be found
here and the process is
explained in some detail
here. Please note that year of review is
when the external reviewers and PRS meet to review the program, and
that the self-study and five-year plan must have been completed
the
previous year.
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6. What are the different steps in the review?
The program review process is summarized
here.
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7. What are the roles of the Dean, the Program Head and Program
faculty in Program Review?
The process map for program review is found
here and the roles of
the various participants are reviewed
here.
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8. How does our program get external reviewers?
Typically in Winter Quarter of the self-study preparation year,
the Academic Affairs office will request names of potential external
reviewers from the program and the College and will also solicit
reviewers from Universities in California. In Spring Quarter of that
year, PRS will rank the candidates for external reviewer. The
College will invite them (working down the list from PRS in rank
order) and develop their itineraries.
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9. What is the process for external review?
The external review process occurs in Fall Quarter of the year of
review and spans at least one day (for bachelors level programs) to
two days for departments with both bachelors and masters level
programs. The reviewers prepare by scrutinizing the self-study and
other resources that they can access regarding the programs. When on
campus, they meet with administrators at the University and College
level, program heads and faculty, students and staff. These are
examined, facilities toured and concerns heard from all parties
interviewed. The reviewers participate in an exit interview that
includes administrators, college, program and PRS representatives. A
more detailed report is submitted to the PRS executive secretary
within several weeks of completing the visit.
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10. Is there an orientation for self-study preparation review?
There is an orientation for self-study preparation which is
scheduled for the third Friday of October.
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11. Who should write the self-study? Who should be involved in the
Program Review process from the program?
The entire faculty should play some role in writing the
self-study. One suggested strategy for writing the self-study is
that the program/Department head call a meeting to establish working
groups to address different sections of the self-study. One
structure is to utilize the existing standing committees (the
curriculum committee addresses the curriculum section; the faculty
committee, the faculty section; etc.) and develop a timeline for
different drafts to be finished. These tasks correspond to the
column in the center of the process map <link> in which many
constituents are involved, from students to external stakeholders.
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12. What is in the self-study?
The self-study describes the program(s): mission and goals,
student outcomes; program data on student retention, graduation
rates and the demographics of the student population; the curriculum
that helps students achieve those outcomes; assessment results that
show the success of the curriculum and the changes to improve it;
the program faculty composition and accomplishments and their
utilization in delivering the curriculum; student engagement and
learning experiences and program self-recommendations that are
supported by the data.
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13. What is the procedure for getting data from Institutional
Research (IR)?
At the time of this writing, data is obtained by making an
appointment with the director of Institutional Research (IR). A link
to database-access may be available by Fall 2010. Comparison figures
can be obtained at this
CSU site.
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14. How do we find data on our program alumni?
You can collect some from exit surveys you may have conducted on
graduates. You can also work with IR which has a web based survey
that can be sent out by email. IR will work in conjunction with the
Alumni office to find more contact information.
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15. How does your committee review our program?
The self-study is reviewed using
rubrics developed by PRS. Internal review is
spread out over Winter and Spring quarters with PRS devoting a
significant portion of each of eight meetings to each
program/Department. PRS meets multiple times with Program
Representatives and College Dean(s).
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16. What is included in an assessment plan?
See the assessment rubric for
characteristics and expectations.
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17. Do we have to provide evidence that we have made changes to our
program as a result of student outcome data?
Yes, and that evidence may be present in your annual assessment
reports and the quality of the evidence is described in
Rubric B.
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18. How do GE courses offered in our program fit into Program Review?
If your program offers courses in the GE program, it is expected
that those courses help students achieve the GE outcomes the courses
were designed (and approved by the General Education Subcommittee
(GES)) to do. Results for the assessment of those outcomes should be
described in a subsection of the assessment section, with supporting
material in an appendix.
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19. What information do we need to report about our GE courses? Does
assessment of GE outcomes matter in Program Review?
See # 18.
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20. What is the difference between the five-year plan and the action
plan?
The five-year plan is composed by the program upon reviewing the
program data since the last review, and describes a timeline and the
responsibilities for implementing the program self-recommendations.
The action plan is developed from the five-year plan, but includes
the recommendations from PRS, and is developed in concert with the
College Dean.
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21. What has to be in a five-year plan?
See Rubric C which is used to evaluate the five-year plan.
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22. What type of evidence helps justify our program’s
self-recommendations?
The most compelling evidence is that which unambiguously shows
that program outcomes are not being met. Evidence should be direct
as well as indirect and there should be more than one piece of
evidence that corroborates such conclusions.
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23. How do we know how we did on the self-study?
The self study is evaluated using
rubrics developed by PRS.
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24. What data needs to be collected for Program Review?
Required data include enrollment and utilization data (from
Institutional Research), assessment data since the period of last
review (this may be obtained from program archives, annual
assessment reports, etc.) and faculty data (from the Equity and
Diversity office).
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25. Why do we have to turn in an annual report?
The annual report provides input to the Educational Effectiveness
Committee on the results of efforts to improve the quality of the
education students receive at CSULA. This work also serves as
evidence to WASC of our diligence in program improvement.
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26. What’s in an annual report?
Annual reports summarize program assessment efforts over the past
year.
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27. What data should we collect on a regular basis to make it easier
to complete the self-study next time?
Assessment data should be collected as well as student surveys
(these might be in set classes at different points in the program
curriculum or as an exit survey for students that are graduating).
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