Academic Program Review
Academic Program Reviews (APR) demonstrate UND's commitment to the quality and continuous improvement of educational programs and how student learning and success is promoted.
Program evaluation can help guide effective planning, resource allocation, and insight into how curriculum, scholarly activity, and service advance the university's mission, and serve the state, nation, and global communities.
APR Self-Study Template
Each academic program and certificate will be required to complete the APR self-study prompts focusing on the following topics.
- Mission and introduction.
- Student learning outcomes assessment.
- Faculty qualifications, activities, and scholarship.
- The student experience.
- Industry and program trends.
- Program analysis.
- Overview of the certificate.
- Student learning outcomes assessment.
- Certificate analysis.
For information about your Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) codes(s), please contact the OIEA at assessment@UND.edu.
All self-study reports are reviewed by:
- A college review team
- The academic dean
- Either the Vice Provost of Undergraduate Studies & Student Success or the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies, depending on degree level
A final report is submitted for each credential reviewed during the cycle by either the Vice Provost of Undergraduate Studies & Student Success or the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies, for undergraduate or graduate programs respectively.
External Review
Programs and their academic credentials that do not have an external program accrediting body (e.g. ABET, ABBI, etc.) are required to undergo an external review once every 10 years. The external review step occurs before the college review team step in the overall APR timeline.
All certificates, whether graduate or undergraduate, are exempt from the external review requirement.
The additional required steps for those programs needing an external review are outlined in the annual timeline section below.
APR Data Sources
Many of the APR prompts can be answered with data from the reports provided by University Analytics & Planning (UAP). These are found in UND's Data Information Hub, linked below.
Within the UND Data Information Hub, select Academic Program Review. Log in with your NDUS credentials.
For assistance with navigating the UAP Academic Program Review dashboard, contact Dr. Matthew Berosik.
How to Submit the APR Self-Study
Log in to Planning & Self Study using your NDUS credentials. Click on Planning & Self-Study.
Programs Being Reviewed
The following programs are being reviewed during the 2025-2026 academic year:
- Classical Languages UGCRT
- Creative Writing UGCRT
- French UGCRT
- German UGCRT
- Linguistics UGCRT
- Norwegian UGCRT
- Physics BS
- Physics MS
- Physics PhD
- Spanish UGCRT
- Writing, Editing & Publishing UGCRT
- College Teaching GRCRT
- Educational Practice & Leadership EdD
- Inclusive Rehabilitation Sciences BS
- Learning Analytics GRCRT
- Quantitative Research Methods GRCRT
- AI and Machine Learning GRCRT
- Computer Hacking Forensics GRCRT
- Environmental Engineering GRCRT
- Petroleum Engineering UGCRT
- Petroleum Geology GRCRT
- Software Engineering GRCRT
- Nurse Anesthesia DNP
- Nursing - Family Nurse Practitioner MS
- Nursing BSN
- Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing NP MS
- Atmospheric Sciences BS
- Atmospheric Sciences MS
- Atmospheric Sciences PhD
- Applied Economics & Predictive Analytics GRCRT
- Entrepreneurial Studies UGCRT
- Indigenous Health PhD
- Public Health GRCRT
Review Cycle
All academic degree and certificate programs will be reviewed on a 5-8 year cycle.
5 Year Review Cycle
The five year review cycle applies to programs for the following reasons:
- All programs with no programmatic or external accreditation (will also be required to have an external review).
- If a program has an external accreditation with either a 5-year or 10-year cycle:
- 5 years: AABI, AACSB
- 10 years: NAST, ARC-PA, CAPTE, CAATE, NAACLS, CCNE, COA, APA, NASAD, NASM
6-8 Year Review Cycle
The 6-8 year review cycle is only for programs with a programmatic or external accreditation and aligns with the accreditation cycle.
- The 6-8 year cycle applies to programs with the following accrediting bodies:
- 6 years: ABET, ACS
- 7 years: CAEP, ACEND, CEPH, ACOTE, NASPAA
- 8 years: CAA, CSWE
The APR review will take place during the academic year after the external accreditation self-study and site visit occur to enable programs to use the information provided in their accreditation self-study report for the APR process.
New degree programs and certificates (both undergraduate and graduate) will be reviewed after either the fifth year, or after the first graduating class, whichever is longer.
Timeline
APR Annual Timeline
The timeline outlined below is for all programs going through the APR process for a given academic year.
| Date | Activity | Responsibility |
|---|---|---|
| March 2025 |
Notification of upcoming APR. Email to programs and deans, including timeline, responsibilities, and prompts. |
Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Accreditation (OIEA) |
| April 2025 | Provide names of College Review Team members to OIEA at assessment@UND.edu. | Academic Deans |
| April 2025 | APR kickoff event to review the process and timeline. |
OIEA Vice Provost of Undergraduate Studies and Student Success Dean of the School of Graduate Studies University Analytics & Planning |
| June - October, 2025 | APR Office Hours (monthly in summer, weekly starting in September) |
OIEA |
| October 31, 2025 | Self-Study due (submitted to Planning & Self Study) | Program Review Author |
| November 6, 2025 | Self-study reports are sent to the college review team | OIEA |
| January 16, 2026 | College Review Team report due | College Review Team |
| January 30, 2026 | Rejoinder due (optional) | Program Review author |
| February 4, 2026 | Full report sent to college/school dean | OIEA |
| April 1, 2026 |
Dean's summary report due |
Academic Dean |
| April 3, 2026 |
Full reports sent to respective VPAA reviewers |
OIEA |
| April - May, 2026 |
Meetings to discuss program review outcomes and action steps |
Department Chair; Appropriate Department Representatives Meet with: Vice Provost of Undergraduate Studies and Student Success; OR Dean of the School of Graduate Studies |
| May 29, 2026 |
VPAA Summary Reports due |
Vice Provost of Undergraduate Studies and Student Success Dean of the School of Graduate Studies |
| June 2026 |
Final reports distributed to academic programs |
OIEA |
APR External Review Timeline
Programs requiring an external review should consider 1) all steps in the timeline outlined above, and 2) the additional steps outlined in the table below.
| Date | Activity | Responsibility |
|---|---|---|
| June 20, 2025 | External reviewer recommendation list due to assessment@UND.edu | Department chair |
| June 30, 2025 | Dean's review and revision of external reviewer list due to assessment@UND.edu | Academic deans |
| July 2025 | Recommendation list reviewed for conflicts of interest |
Vice Provost of Undergraduate Studies and Student Success; Dean of the School of Graduate Studies |
| August 15, 2025 | Final approved list sent to deans | Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Accreditation (OIEA) |
| August 29, 2025 | Dean's final recommendations for external reviewers due to assessment@UND.edu | Academic deans |
| September 2025 | Contact recommended reviewers | OIEA |
| September 26, 2025 | External reviewers list finalized and contracts sent | OIEA |
| November 6, 2025 | Self-study reports are sent to external reviewers | OIEA |
| December 1, 2025 | External reports due | External reviewers |
| December 2025 | Stipend payments begin after confirmation that external review is complete. |
OIEA Finance |
FAQs
The program review is a retrospective examination of the program since the most recent review. For most departments this is 5 years.
For the reviews occurring during the 2025-26 academic year, departments will be focusing on Academic Years 2020-2021 through 2024-2025 (for a 5 year review).
Yes! If a program has generated a self-study report for purposes of external accreditation, that report may be used as the basis for UND’s Program Review process.
The Program Review Leader must enter content from accrediting reports in conjunction with or in place of a response to prompts, but may do so by appending the accreditation report and providing a reference to the relevant section of the accreditation report under each Program Review prompt, as in “See Section One, paragraph two of Accreditation Report”. If utilizing responses from accreditation reports, be sure to specify how the response answers the question for program review.
Any APR questions/sections not addressed by the accreditation report must be answered in the submission. Programs should check with their respective Dean for guidance.
Contact the OIEA for assistance with logging in.
It is the responsibility of the program/ department to keep a copy of the most recent APR.
Historical documents from Taskstream, if available, were uploaded into the Docs & Reports area within Planning & Self-Study.
If you cannot locate the most recent APR, reach out to the Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Accreditation and we may be able to track it down for you.
Use the Dashboards provided by UAP in the Data Information Hub for your APR. These are the official counts that are reported at census time. Hawk Central will provide you data that is a 'snapshot in time'.
Guiding Principles of Academic Program Review (APR)
Continuous Improvement and Future Oriented
- APR aims for continuous enhancement of undergraduate and graduate programs.
- Provides critical information on program size, stability, future resources, strengths, weaknesses, and mission contribution.
- Guides goal setting, future direction, and ensures decisions are based on accurate data.
Benchmark Change
- Uses previous APRs, accreditation self-studies, and benchmarks to highlight achievements and improvements.
- Addresses past recommendations and assesses responses to previous concerns.
Integrate Academic Planning
- Describes academic planning, including strategic planning, budgeting, resource allocation, decision-making, governance, and program goals.
Assessment of Student Learning
- Documents assessment plans for student achievement and actions taken based on past assessment data.
Coordinate with Accreditation
- Aligns APRs with accreditation activities where applicable, using self-study reports and site visits as components of APR.
- Meets HLC accreditation requirements through regular reviews and actions on findings.
Monitor Progress
- Academic Deans, in coordination with academic leaders, schedule and monitor APR progress to ensure continuous improvement and strategic alignment.
Contact
- matthew.berosik@UND.edu
-
IT Building Suite 234
Grand Forks ND 58202-7106
- soojung.kim@UND.edu
- 701.777.2786
-
Twamley Hall Room 103
Grand Forks ND 58202-8178
- karyn.plumm@UND.edu
- 701.777.1322
-
O'Kelly Hall Room 8
Grand Forks ND 58202-8006
- shane.schellpfeffer@UND.edu
- 701.777.4684
-
Twamley Hall Room 313C
Grand Forks ND 58202