Program Review at UNC-Chapel Hill

Conducted by the Office of the Provost and The Graduate School

“The primary purpose of all program reviews is the improvement of graduate programs…a strategy for improvement that is well-reasoned, far-seeing, and as apolitical as possible…the size and stability of a program, its future faculty resources and student market, its equipment and space needs, its strengths and weaknesses, and its contribution to the mission of the institution…It helps set goals and directions for the future…It is necessary to assure the continuing quality of graduate programs and identify ways to improve them. There is no adequate substitute.”

Assessment and Review of Graduate Programs (Washington, DC: Council of Graduate Schools), p. 2-3

Program review is:

• Internal, initiated and administered by the university
• Evaluative, not just descriptive
• Forward-looking, directed toward program improvement, not simply assessment
• Based on academic criteria
• As objective and transparent as possible
• Independent of other reviews (e.g., accreditation, licensing), with recommendations directed to faculty and university administrators
• Intended to result in action — a plan to implement desired changes, if possible on a specific agreed-upon timetable.

Program Review provides answers to the following kinds of questions:

• How well is the program advancing the state of the discipline or profession?
• How effective is its teaching and training of students?
• To what extent does the program meet the institution’s goals?
• How well does it respond to the profession’s needs?
• How is it assessed by experts in the field?
• How well does it assess student outcomes and take action to improve based on the assessment data?

--Assessment and Review of Graduate Programs, pp. 4-5

For more information, please visit the links above.

For questions about program review at Carolina, please contact:

• Lou Anne Phelps
  laphelps@email.unc.edu
• Stephanie Schmitt
  sschmitt@email.unc.edu