Not Too Small to be Strategic: The State of Academic Program Review Guidelines and Instrumentation in Public Institutions

Abstract

In higher educational settings, the academic program review process allows academic units to solicit feedback, make data-driven decisions regarding effectiveness and sustainability, and report to stakeholders. In order to discover trends and best practices in the current state of academic program review in higher education, examined was a sample of 53 processes representing a range of small-to-large public institutions in the United States in the categories of associate-degree granting, bachelors-degree granting, and masters-degree granting. Using a content analysis methodology, outcomes assessment and the use of data results featured prominently with 86.7% of the sample requiring their incorporation in academic program review, followed closely by judgments of resource adequacy and demonstration of program necessity and efficiency.