Annual Program Review

A representative group of faculty and staff has developed an Annual Program Review (APR) process that has replaced the old program review process. APR features standardized program metrics within two complimentary dashboards. The idea of a "Program Health Dashboard" is not new as it surfaced in the Academic Resource Planning sub-committee of the Pre-Planning work for the current strategic plan. That idea set the foundation for the current process and plan. The goals of APR are 1) to provide transparent metrics and benchmarks to drive data-driven decision making and continuous improvement and 2) to be flexible enough to remain a meaningful and relevant process. APR is currently conducting the Second Cycle.

The Office of the Provost is committed to an ongoing, comprehensive process to continuously and formally review academic programs. The Periodic Alignment and Review (PAR) process, piloted in AY2012-13, served as Drexel's formal mechanism for evaluating the currency, relevance, quality, efficiency and economy of all academic programs until 2021. PAR complimented existing accreditation processes for programs subject to external review and provided a structured approach for assessing those not accredited by external bodies. Programs were reviewed on a 7-year cycle.

After the first cycle was completed, the Provost's Office evaluated the process to determine if it should continue or not. While there were many positive things about the PAR process, most notably, external review, a number of challenges were identified.

Not timely as 7 years between reviews
Not integrated into annual and long-term strategic planning
Lack of a consistent data points and benchmarks for comparison and improvement

Taking into account these challenges, the Provost asked the Office of Institutional Research, Assessment and Accreditation (IRAA) to create a new annual process which would be timely, flexible, relevant and data driven.

Background:

Over the course of the 2022 and 2023 academic years, the Program Performance Review Committee developed an Annual Program Review (APR) process that will be timelier and more meaningful, along with two complementary dashboards. The idea of standardized programs metrics surfaced in the Academic Resource Planning sub-committee of Pre-Planning work that set the foundation for the current process and plan. The APR and dashboards will enable each unit to look at their undergraduate program portfolio more effectively and be beneficial for informing any future program review and revision that may happen as part of implementing UAC recommendations. Longer term, the APR will become the foundation for a more comprehensive program review process that will take the place of our old PAR process. In the near term, the pilot will also serve as a complement to the current review of graduate program portfolios that we have been doing. Along each step of the process, stakeholders will be able to provide feedback to help improve the process year to year. An oversight committee will be developed to oversee the process in collaboration with the Office of the Provost.

The Dashboards:

DevelOver the course of the 2022 and 2023 academic years, the Program Performance Review Committee developed an Annual Program Review (APR) process that will be timelier and more meaningful, along with two complementary dashboards. The idea of standardized programs metrics surfaced in the Academic Resource Planning sub-committee of Pre-Planning work that set the foundation for the current process and plan. The APR and dashboards will enable each unit to look at their undergraduate program portfolio more effectively and be beneficial for informing any future program review and revision that may happen as part of implementing UAC recommendations. Longer term, the APR will become the foundation for a more comprehensive program review process that will take the place of our old PAR process. In the near term, the pilot will also serve as a complement to the current review of graduate program portfolios that we have been doing. Along each step of the process, stakeholders will be able to provide feedback to help improve the process year to year. An oversight committee will be developed to oversee the process in collaboration with the Office of the Provost.

The Dashboards:

Strategic Dashboard: A complement to the Tactical Dashboard, the Strategic Dashboard is used to determine if there is alignment to the Strategic Plan and to what extent. This rubric can be used by program directors, faculty, and individual school/college administration to discuss and develop solutions and strategic planning for programs
Tactical Dashboard: Available to units throughout the year, the Tactical Dashboard provides data across 16 metrics.

The Process:

Program Reports: Program representatives will utilize the two dashboards to complete a program report that will be shared with the leadership of their college or school.
College Reports: College representatives and leadership will utilize an aggregated college level report along with the context and information provided within the program reports to create a college level report.
- The colleges and schools will meet with the Provost and develop an action plan for the next year based on the college report and the meetings.
University Report: The APR Oversight Committee will review the college level reports in order to develop a university report with aggregated trends.

January 2023: First meeting of Program Performance Review Committe
June 2023: Addition of the Strategic Dashboard to the process
February 鈥� April,2024: Stakeholder review and feedback
May - June 2024: Feedback reviewed by committee and Provost鈥檚 Office to develop pilot year process
June 2024 - February 2025: APR Pilot
February - March 2025: Pilot results evaluated and shared. New process developed for full-roll-out
April 28, 2025: Full roll-out of APR for undergraduate programs

Process Details

All UG programs will complete a program report that will focus specifically on retention
College/schools will aggregate the data into college level reports to be shared with the Provost
For GR and professional programs, this year will be a discovery year in order to develop a pilot for the 3rd cycle.

Timeline

Program Reports: June 12 – July 14
College/School Reports: July 28 – September 8
College/School Meetings: September 15 – October 20
University Report: December – January

The Second Cycle Page provides more details and resources.

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