Lake Superior College

3.10 Academic Program/Department Review

Part I. Program/Department Review Policy
Lake Superior College provides high quality affordable higher education that benefits diverse learners, employers, and the community.  LSC's academic, technical, continuing education, and workforce development offerings prepare learners for a rapidly changing global community.  Our services support learning, and our partnerships connect the college and its learners to a broader spectrum of community life.
On a regular basis using established institutional procedures, each college and university shall review all academic programs and departments with respect to (a) contribution to the mission and plans of the institution, (b) performance measures including aggregated student achievement, (c) accreditation, licensure or certification requirements, (d) advisory committee or other appropriate input as agreed to by the faculty and administration of the institution, and (e) other factors as appropriate. The college or university shall use results of the review for improvement of academic programming.

Subpart 1.  Purpose:
The purpose of program/department review is to ensure the continuation of high quality in all Lake Superior College programs/departments and to provide a range of offerings that is appropriate to the College's mission and the community we serve.

Part II.  Program/Department Review Process and Procedure
In an effort to offer quality academic programming, Lake Superior College has developed a program/department review process. The process includes two major activities:

•   A formal program/department review process every 4 years and
•   An annual program evaluation report.
  
  All programs/departments will participate in a review once every four years.
  
  The formal program/department review process comprises five major components: 
•  a self-study report (program/department review form) is completed by program/department faculty and submitted to the Dean and the Vice President of Academic Affairs for review and recommendations,
• the self-study is reviewed and a report is submitted by an external evaluator to the Academic Affairs and Standards Council,
• the program/department's advisory committee submits a report based on a review of the self-study and prepared questions,
• the Academic Affairs and Standards Council evaluates the self-study document, the external evaluator's report, and the advisory committee's report and provides an evaluation report to the program/department,
• the program/department submits and acts on an action plan for continuous improvement over the next 3 years with an annual update due to the dean in November of each year.

Completing a formal program/department review is a continuous outcomes assessment process and should focus on student learning, quality instruction, and effective planning.  The process centers around the questions:

• What do we want our students to know and be able to do when they graduate?
• How well does our program/department develop and promote the learning process?
• How well does our program/department plan for effective learning and teaching?
  
  The purpose of a program/department review process is to monitor how well a program/department is achieving its goals and making changes for improvement when and where necessary.

All program/department faculty should participate in the formal review process, however, the leadership role in the process will be identified in one of the following ways:

• In a program with a designated Program Coordinator, that person shall be the key person, or
• In a single-faculty program/department, that person shall be the key person, or
• In a multi-faculty program/department, the decision will be made in consultation with the dean.

The program/department review process will take approximately six to seven months to complete. During that time, orientation and training sessions will be provided to programs/departments participating in the review process, internal data sources will be identified, and mid-session reports will be submitted to the dean to identify necessary help and support for completion.

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