Northcentral University

What is an Academic Program Review? Academic Program Reviews (APRs) play an important role in the cycle of continuous improvement of each program. Annual completion of an APR involves reviewing data about each program to inform institutional curricular, policy and procedure changes. These documents are used in setting goals for the coming review period and recommendations to address issues identified in the review. What does an APR cover? Annual APRs cover the following areas: Degree Program Information: This section provides an overview of the degree program, actions resulting from the previous program review, a summary of the program's demographic data, the degree program's mission and goals, the strategic initiatives and documentation as to if and how each action item from the previous reporting period was addressed and its progress in implementation. Comparisons are made to the degree program's academic peers or aspirational peers as well as analysis in determining whether the program is meeting external accreditation and licensing standards. Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes: This section identifies the curriculum mapping at the course, program and institutional levels for the Elaine Willerton, PhD | Assessment Director, SSBS degree program under review. The intent of this section is to describe the alignment of course learning outcomes to activities, ensure that course activities build upon one another, ensure that all courses contain Signature Assignments that are representative of overall course content and to identify what curricular changes have been made since the last review to ensure students are achieving learning outcomes at the course level. At the program level, this section also describes the degree program goals, the assessment methods or instruments used to assess each goal; the standards used to measure results and suggested improvements to the assessment process. Program Performance Indicators: This section provides assessment and strategies for improving program enrollments, completions rates, and retention rates for the degree program and period under review. Direct Indicators of Student Success: This section summarizes how well students have achieved the competencies defined by the degree program under review. Other direct indicators of student success include comprehensive exam scores, licensure examinations and dissertation time to completions. Indirect Indicators of Student Success: This section is an evaluation of Post Course Survey, Student Satisfaction and Alumni Satisfaction Survey data for the degree program under review and identifies strategies for improvement. Faculty Profile: This section includes information on faculty credentials, faculty qualifications, professional development and faculty mentor workloads for the degree program under review.

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