Questions Frequently Asked About Program Review

1. What is the purpose of program review? An academic program review affords a department or program the opportunity to do meaningful planning for the purpose of improving quality. It provides a background for setting goals both in terms of identifying available resources and directions for change. The review process can generate documents for evaluating alternative courses of action since resources are always limited and program needs often change. It also provides a mechanism for assessing the feasibility of planned growth of a program. Finally, reviews satisfy Regent rules for the periodic evaluation of individual programs that are administered by L&S.
   
2. How are programs selected for review? The selection of programs to be reviewed is made by the Dean, upon consultation with the L&S Academic Planning Council and/or Associate Deans. The following factors (not in priority order) are  considered in scheduling programs for review: elapsed time since last review, relationship of the program to other programs under review, accreditation cycles, planned changes in the program, marked changes in the program profile (e.g., numbers of faculty, student credit hours, majors), indications of difficulties in addressing problems concerning the mission and goals of the program.
   
3. What are the stages of the review process? The review consists of a systematic appraisal of the performance and direction of the program. The task of the review is to evaluate the quality of the program in five principal areas defined by the UW-Madison Strategic Plan, Connecting Ideas. The review process has four major stages: self-study, internal review, external review (optional), and Academic Planning Council Review.