Essential Studies Program Review
Purpose
The Essential Studies Committee will be conducting a program review for the ES Program during the 24-25AY. Academic Program Review (APR) at the University of North Dakota (UND) provides an opportunity for all academic programs to document, examine, and assess the achievement of their goals and objectives over time and is founded on principles of continuous evaluation and improvement and institutional quality.
The Essential Studies program has not been reviewed in 10 years. Although the prior review includes some recommendations that have not yet been acted upon, the landscape of higher education has changed dramatically in those 10 years.
- A review can provide critical information about the size and stability of a program, its future faculty resources and student market, its strengths and weaknesses, and its contribution to the mission of the institution.
- Program review helps set goals and directions for the future and ensures that overall academic planning and budget decisions are based on accurate data and agreed-upon priorities.
- The information gathered in the review process, particularly the assessment of program strengths and needs, provides compelling evidence of the quality of the program and the foundation on which future improvements should be built.
Process
The ES Program Review will begin with an internal report of the current state of affairs of the program, including all policies (state and university), procedures, and functions of the ES program. This report is being created by an internal report writing team that began their work in May. The internal report will be provided to the external committee to inform the listening sessions. A series of listening sessions for all campus stakeholders will be held across two days. The external review team will compile information gathered during the listening sessions with the internal report to provide a full report to the ES Committee by the end of the Fall semester. The full report will be shared with the campus community in Spring 2025.
Internal Report Writers
Listening Sessions - October 16 and 17
The ES Committee would like to gather broad campus-wide feedback on the state of the program to best consider how to align the ES Program with the UND LEADS strategic plan, and to think about the future of general education at UND.
Please join us for listening sessions about the ES Program to be held across campus on October 16th and 17th. Please see the overall schedule below. Zoom links and details to come soon. The listening sessions will be hosted by an invited team of external reviewers:
External Review Team Members
- Stephen Biscotte (serving as external team chair), Assistant Provost for Undergraduate Education, Virginia Tech
- Christopher “Kit” Murphy, Associate Provost for Curriculum and Liberal Learning, The College of New Jersey
- Wynn Yarbrough, Director of General Education, The University of the District of Columbia
Program Review Schedule
Wednesday, October 16th
Time | Session | Location |
---|---|---|
8:30 a.m. | Breakfast with Transfer Team | O'Kelly 323 |
9:30 a.m. | Open Faculty Session | O'Kelly 343 |
11 a.m. | Student Support Staff Session | MU 220 |
12 p.m. | Lunch with Students | MU 340 |
1:30 p.m. | Advising Staff Session | O'Kelly 343 |
3 p.m. | Open Student Session | MU 220 |
Thursday, October 17th
Time | Session | Location |
---|---|---|
8:30 a.m. | Breakfast with SASCE Directors | O'Kelly 323 |
9:30 a.m. | Deans and Department Chairs Session | O'Kelly 343 |
10:30 a.m. | Institutional Effectiveness, Assessment, and NDGEC Session | O'Kelly 201 |
11:30 a.m. | Lunch with Essential Studies Committee | O'Kelly 343 |
1 p.m. | Open Faculty Session | Nistler 220 |
3 p.m. | External Review Team Meeting | O'Kelly 323 |