HANDBOOK FOR THE FIFTH CYCLE OF ACADEMIC PROGRAM REVIEW--Fall 1999

HANDBOOK FOR THE FIFTH CYCLE OF
ACADEMIC PROGRAM REVIEW

Fall 1999

Office of Academic Affairs
1600 Holloway Avenue San Francisco, California 94132

CHAPTER 5: REVIEW BY THE ACADEMIC PROGRAM REVIEW COMMITTEE

Policies
Operational Procedures
Format and Guidelines for APRC’s Report

5-1 Sample Summary Table of the APRC Report [Example].

The Academic Program Review Committee (APRC) is a standing committee of the Academic Senate which serves to provide a University-wide faculty perspective in the program review process. The policies regarding APRC, its operational procedures, and the format of and guidelines for its review report are provided in this section.

Policies

Academic Senate Policy #F93-133 (formerly #S85-133), "Procedures for Faculty Participation in the Academic Program Review Process," delineates the constitution and functions of APRC. Briefly, the three functions are (a) consultation with programs and colleges conducting self-studies; (b) review, consideration, and evaluation of documents and reports from all components; and (c) recommendations via reports to the Vice President for Academic Affairs, the program faculty, the college dean, and the Academic Senate.

Academic Senate Policy #S99-161, "Guidelines for the Fifth Cycle of Academic Program Review" (see appendices), describes APRC’s role in the process as follows:

In order to provide a University-wide faculty perspective and assist in University-wide planning, the Academic Program Review Committee will carefully review each unit's self-study, external review report, and responses to the external review. APRC will meet with the College Dean and other program faculty to ensure that APRC fully understands all recommendations made. APRC will accept additional data and recommendations from the units at this time. It will then proceed to evaluate all recommendations and send its report to the Chair of the Academic Senate and the Vice President for Academic Affairs for transmission to all interested parties. APRC will also send any policy recommendations and its annual report to the Academic Senate.

Operational Procedures

APRC participates throughout the review process, as follows:

The chair of APRC attends the initial meeting of the college dean, faculty representatives of the program(s) which are beginning review(s), the AVP for Academic Program Development, and the faculty coordinator. At this meeting the APRC chair presents information regarding the summary review process after self-studies, reports by external reviewers, and responses to these reports are completed.

A representative of APRC attends, with other participants in a program's review, a luncheon for the external reviewer(s).

All members of APRC review the program's self-study report, external reviewers' report, and responses to the external reviewers’ report by the college dean and program head. A sub-committee of APRC prepares a summary table (see Example 5-1) of all recommendations and responses to them which are made in the reports and responses. APRC also considers communications from others if pertinent, e.g., recommendations from the University Interdisciplinary Council in the case of interdisciplinary programs.

APRC meets with the program head, and any others the program wishes to be present, to discuss questions and issues raised by the reports and responses. The questions and issues are provided to the program head in writing prior to this meeting.

APRC discusses the recommendations and issues raised and addressed in the reports, responses, and meetings with the program representatives and college dean and makes its own evaluation regarding the recommendations. APRC may introduce a recommendation at this point if it deems that an important issue has been overlooked. The committee also decides, in rough outline, the contents of the text for the report on its review.

A sub-committee prepares the final text and summary table of the APRC report of its review. The entire committee reviews, agrees upon any changes needed, and approves the report. Members of APRC sign the report.

The chair of APRC forwards the original of the report to the AVP for Academic Program Development and copies of the report to the program head, the college dean, and the Academic Senate. This report is used as a basis for development of the MOU.

APRC makes an annual report and periodic status reports to the Academic Senate summarizing its review activities. APRC also sends any policy recommendations to the Academic Senate which arise out of its review activities and deliberations, and it may transmit reports and recommendations to other units as appropriate.

The chair of APRC maintains close communication with the AVP for Academic Program Development and the faculty coordinator throughout all review processes.

Example 5-1: Sample Summary Table of the APRC Report

APRC REVIEW OF (PROGRAM NAME)

(date of report) Summary of Recommendations

RECOMMENDATIONS	SELF-STUDY	EXTERNAL REV.	PROGRAM RESP.	COLLEGE DEAN	APRC
CURRICULUM
Eliminate some GE classes	**	Agrees	Reiterates	N/A	Agrees
Offer MA thesis option		**	Will consider	Agrees w/ Ext. Rev.	Agrees

FACULTY
Improve gender balance in hiring	**	Agrees	N/A	Agrees	Agrees
Initiate collaboration with UC faculty	**	Disagrees	Reiterates	Disagrees	Disagrees

STUDENTS
Start a majors club	**	Low priority	Justifies	Medium priority	Medium
Update advising site				**	Agrees

RESOURCES
Replace obsolete lab software		**	Need $$	High Priority	High
Re-assign office staff		Sees problem	**	Agrees	Agrees
Establish advisory board		**	Agrees	Agrees	Agrees

Key: ** Indicates source of the recommendation

N/A Indicates recommendation not addressed

Note: This summary table is only part of the complete APRC report. For additional information and explication, see the text of the report.

Format and Guidelines for APRC’s Report

APRC's report of its review of programs consists of the following three parts:

(1) The text report begins with a listing of the information sources which APRC has used in its review, including all reports, memoranda and meetings. The next section is an APRC commentary on major strengths of and issues for the program which were identified in the review process. The subsequent sections are the same as those for the summary table: curriculum, faculty, students, resources, and other if applicable. These sections explicate the brief statements of the recommendations in the table and provide explanation for APRC evaluations of them.

The summary table (see Example 5-1) includes all recommendations made at any point in the review process, identifies where each recommendation originated, and indicates the responses of each participant to the recommendations. It is a summary table and as such is not intended to replace/substitute for the entire report. The table is organized by the major topic areas which should be addressed in the self-study: curriculum, faculty, students, and resources. Where a program has included recommendations in another area, these are treated in a separate section of the table. Important issues which are raised but not treated as recommendations are also included in the summary table.

(3) A signature page listing all members of APRC and their department affiliations is signed by all who participated in the program review and is attached to the forwarded report.

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