A campus of The California
State University
Office of the Academic
Senate • One Washington Square • San Jose, California 95192-0024 •408-924-2440 Fax: 408-924-2451
SS-F06-2
At its meeting of
November 20, 2006, the Academic Senate passed the following Sense of the Senate
Resolution presented by Senator David for the Curriculum and Research Committee.
SENSE OF THE SENATE
RESOLUTION
In Support of Revised Program Planning
Guidelines
Whereas: Program
planning which is evidence-based and future-oriented is essential in order to
align program goals and objectives with assessment of student learning
outcomes, student recruitment and retention efforts, faculty hiring,
interaction with the community, and resource allocation; and
Whereas: Program planning is most useful when
the process is completed within a single
academic
year so that results are available on a timely basis and is informed by
systematic data collected from multiple sources; and
Whereas: Current
program planning guidelines were revised and streamlined in response to new
university, college, and department visions, goals, and objectives;
therefore
be it
Resolved: That
the following document, “Program Planning Guidelines” be endorsed by the
Academic
Senate; and be it further
Resolved: That
the Program Planning Committee collect data from programs using the new
guidelines
and use that input to review and, as necessary, revise the guidelines and
report to the Curriculum and Research Committee during the 2009-2010 Academic
Year.
Approved: October
16, 2006
Present: Peter Buzanski, Toni Campbell,
Robert Cooper, Debra David,
Triant Flouris, Benjamin Henderson, Michael Kaufman, Dea
Nelson, Pam
Stacks, Dominique Van Hooff, Beth Von Till
Absent: Bill Nance
Vote: 11
0-0
Financial Impact:
None
Workload Impact: It
is expected to reduce workload
related to program planning.
San Jose State University
Program Planning Guidelines
AUTHORITY............................................................................................................................... 1
MOTIVATION FOR REVISED POLICY AND GUIDELINES.................................................. 1
PROGRAM PLANNING GOALS.............................................................................................. 1
PROGRAM PLANNING PROCESS.......................................................................................... 1
Program Planning for Accredited Programs................................................................................ 3
Primary Steps in Program Planning............................................................................................. 3
Program Planning Procedures.................................................................................................... 5
Program Coordinators........................................................................................................... 5
Undergraduate Programs with More than 120 Units............................................................... 5
Standardized Data and Required Data Elements..................................................................... 6
Role of the Liaison................................................................................................................. 6
Responsibility for Self-Study.................................................................................................. 6
External Reviewers................................................................................................................ 6
Departmental Review and Response...................................................................................... 8
College Curriculum or Other Review Committee's Report...................................................... 8
Dean's Report....................................................................................................................... 8
Program Planning Committee Report..................................................................................... 9
Final Decisions...................................................................................................................... 9
Format of the Self Study.............................................................................................. 9
Accredited Programs................................................................................................................. 9
SECTIONS OF THE SELF STUDY.......................................................................................... 10
Title Page:............................................................................................................................... 10
Table of Contents:................................................................................................................... 10
1. Executive Summary............................................................................................................. 10
2. Context and Scope.............................................................................................................. 11
3. Curriculum and Achievement of Student Learning Outcomes................................................ 11
4. Students.............................................................................................................................. 12
5. Faculty................................................................................................................................ 13
6. Resources........................................................................................................................... 14
Self Study Appendices............................................................................................................ 14
Further Details on Preparing the Self Study................................................... 15
Table 3. Materials Gathered by Coordinators........................................................................... 16
Program Planning Guidelines Appendices.......................................................... 16
Appendix 1: Required Data Elements....................................................................................... 17
Appendix 2: Program Review Schedule................................................................................... 19
Appendix 3: Sample Cover Page for Self-Study Report........................................................... 20
Appendix 4: Five-Year Plan for Faculty Recruitment................................................................ 21
Appendix 5: External Reviewer................................................................................................ 25
Appendix 6: Department Program Planning Checklist............................................................... 28
These guidelines are published pursuant to University Policy S94-2, "Organization of
the Program Planning Process at SJSU", as amended by S96-10,
"Program Planning Process" and F03-4, “Coordination of
External Accreditation with Program Planning.” Policy statements shall prevail
in case of any conflict with these guidelines. These Guidelines are guided by
University Policy S93-14
"Curricular Priorities."
These revised guidelines are designed to enhance and streamline the current
Program Planning Process to foster more effective assessment and planning and
to ensure that the effort leads to maximum payoff. There are two key changes in these guidelines. (1) The timeline is shorter. The preparation of the self study is expected
to be completed in a single academic year (9 months). The external review and internal processing
of the self study is expected to be completed in a second academic year. (2) A more focused self study with a strict
page limit is defined around a set of required data elements, many of which
will be supplied to the department at the beginning of the process.
The three key goals of the Program Planning process are:
1)
To promote a continuous internal review and planning
process that will provide programs with purposeful future direction.
2)
To serve as a vehicle to help programs support the
mission of
the university, college, and department.
3) To
provide an opportunity for programs to systematically assess their course
offerings, achievement of student learning outcomes, and the faculty and
instructional resources necessary for providing an excellent educational
experience to students.
Program planning is
evidence-based and future-oriented; program goals and objectives should guide
assessment of student learning outcomes, faculty hiring, student recruitment
and retention efforts, and interaction with the community. Program planning and
evaluation involve faculty at the department, college, and university levels
and culminate with the Provost's approval of clearly articulated goals and a
corresponding framework for resource management. Typical questions to bear in
mind include:
·
What changes in career opportunities,
professional practice, technology, or other relevant discipline characteristics
are students completing this program likely to face five years from now?
·
What changes are expected in the characteristics
or academic backgrounds of students coming into the program five years from
now?
·
What changes in the curriculum (e.g., for
lifelong learning, good citizenship, living in a complex, multicultural
society, etc.) should be in effect five years from now to better prepare
students?
·
What alternative modes of instructional delivery
will best help students achieve program outcomes?
·
What faculty recruitment and development
opportunities are needed during the next five years to support the program?
·
What changes in support resources (e.g., staff,
equipment, infrastructure, travel funds, etc.) are needed to maintain or change
the program quality, size, and achievement of student learning outcomes in the
next five years?
Evidence gathered from student outcomes assessment
should inform both curricular and resource decisions.
The unit of analysis is the program, defined as a sequence of studies
leading to a degree or teaching credential. Whenever separate descriptions are
provided in the University catalog for similar sequences of study, they are
treated as different programs to be reviewed. Concentrations are considered to
be specialized variants of a more general field, are reviewed as separate
programs, and may have different final decisions. Teacher education programs
meeting the requirements of the California Commission on Teacher Credential
(CCTC) are reviewed as programs. Minors, options, and emphases are reviewed
with the degree or program to which they most closely relate.
One or more external experts in the discipline will review the self-study,
visit the campus, and provide observations and recommendations in a written
report. After program faculty have had an opportunity to respond to the report
in writing, the college curriculum or other review committee and the dean, who
offer college-wide perspectives on the program, review all relevant documents.
The college committee and the dean provide written responses to the self study
and external review and recommend actions stated in Section V(A) of University
Policy S96-10 namely, (i) acceptance of the plan without modification, (ii)
provisional acceptance of the plan with suggestions for improvement and/or
requests for additional information, (iii) rejection of the plan for explicit
reasons, or (iv) initiation of program termination review for specific reasons.
These documents are next reviewed by the University Program Planning Committee
(PPC), which provides a university-wide perspective on the program and makes
recommendations to the Provost. The Provost (or the Provost’s designee), dean
and department chair (or other faculty member designated for this purpose) will discuss program recommendations and
plans. This will lead to an administrative planning document that will be kept
in the Program Planning files, and also in program and college files. It is expected that programs and colleges will
refer to this administrative planning document and any amendments made to it
when requesting faculty positions, proposing major curricular actions, or
initiating other major changes in program activity.
The Office of Undergraduate Studies will be the official site of records and
is responsible for electronic distribution to concerned entitities.
In accordance with University Policy F03-4, the Program Planning
Committee (PPC) coordinates the timing of program reviews with those of
external accreditation agencies. Programs normally are scheduled for review
once every five academic years except for programs that have an accreditation
cycle that is other than five years.
According to University Policy F03-4, the program planning cycle for
accredited programs will be coordinated with accreditation cycles up to seven
years in length. If the accreditation
cycle is greater than seven years, then there will be one program planning
cycle between successive accreditation cycles.
For departments in which only some of the degree programs are
accredited, the other programs will go through the program planning process at
the same time as the accredited programs. The format of the self study for
accredited programs is discussed later in these guidelines.
The primary steps and timeline in program planning are summarized in Table
1. The events of the external reviewer
visit are summarized in Table 2.
|
Table 1.
Summary of Program Planning Timeline
|
|
Self-Study
Preparation Year
|
|
Events
|
Deadline date:
May occur at any
time before deadline
|
Primary
Responsible Party/Parties
|
|
Call issued for appointment of coordinators
for all programs to be reviewed during following academic year
|
Beginning of fall semester
|
Office of Undergraduate
Studies (UGS)
|
|
Initiate process to identify suitable
external reviewers for programs as paid consultants
|
Beginning of fall semester
|
Departments
|
|
Informational meeting held with department
program planning coordinators and department chairs to distribute guidelines
and identify liaisons for the program review
|
During September
(before October 1)
|
Program Planning Committee
(PPC)
|
|
University-provided data elements delivered
to the department
|
By October 1
|
UGS in consultation with
the Office of Institutional Research, Faculty Affairs and SJSU Foundation
|
|
Negotiated schedule (see Guidelines
Appendix 2) for major tasks of the review, signed by the Department Program
Planning Coordinator, Department Chair, Dean, and University PPC Liaison, to
be filed with the Office of Undergraduate Studies
|
Schedule approved by Dean
and forwarded to UGS by Nov. 15
|
Department Program Planning
Coordinator, University PPC Liaison,
and College Dean
|
|
Justification for unit
requirements in excess of 120 units approved by department and college
curriculum committees delivered to UGS for action by the Undergraduate
Studies Committee and the Curriculum and Research Committee
|
By November 1
|
Department and College
Dean's Office
|
|
Assemble all documents
needed to prepare self study
|
December 1
|
Department
|
|
Provide the vitae of three
External Reviewers to the College Dean (in the case of accreditation reviews,
this is handled by the accreditation agency).
|
April 1
|
Department
|
|
Completed self study due to
Dean for review and approval
|
May 1
|
Department
|
|
Forward to Undergraduate
Studies two copies of the approved self study (signed by College Dean) along
with an electronic copy and the Dean’s recommendation for an external
reviewer
|
May 15
|
Department and College Dean
|
|
Send approved self study to
the external reviewer.
|
July 1
|
Department
|
|
Program
Review Year
|