Academic Program Review
Academic Program Reviews (APR) demonstrate UND's commitment to the quality and continuous improvement of the 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.
Submit APR Self-Study
Log in using your NDUS credentials. Click on Planning & Self-Study.
APR Self-Study Template
Each academic program and certificate will be required to complete the APR self-study prompts focusing on the following topics:
- Alignment to mission of college/university
- Progress since previous APR
- Student learning outcomes assessment results and actions
- Faculty activities and scholarship
- Enrollment and retention trends
- Curriculum
- Overall program analysis
- Purpose of the certificate
- Student learning outcomes assessment results and actions
The self-study responses are reviewed by (1) external reviewers, (2) a college review team, (3) the academic dean, and (4) either the Vice Provost of Undergraduate Studies & Student Success or Dean of the School of Graduate Studies, who authors the final report.
APR Data Sources
Many of the APR prompts can be answered with data from the reports provided by University Analytics & Planning.
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 Matthew Berosik.
How to Submit the APR Self-Study
Programs Being Reviewed
The following programs are being reviewed during the 2024-2025 academic year:
- Anthropology BA
- Communication Sciences & Disorders BA
- Speech-Language Pathology MS
- Forensic Science BS
- American Indian Studies BA
- History BA
- Philosophy & Religious Studies BA
- Physics BS
- Physics MS
- Physics PhD
- Global Studies BA
- Instructional Design & Technology MEd
- Instructional Design & Technology MS
- Applied Behavior Analytics graduate certificate
- Cyber Security Analyst graduate certificate
- Ethical Hacking graduate certificate
- Secure Networks graduate certificate
- Software Engineering graduate certificate
- Social Work BSSW
- Social Work MSW
- Aviation Studies BSA
- Aviation Safety & Operations BSA
- Aviation MS
- Aerospace Sciences PhD
- Earth System Science & Policy MEM
- Earth System Science & Policy MS
- Earth System Science & Policy PhD
- Space Studies MS
- Clinical & Translational Science MS
- Clinical & Translational Science PhD
Review Cycle
All academic degree and certificate programs will be reviewed on a 5-8 year cycle.
5 Year Review Cycle
- If no programmatic/external accreditation
- If external accreditation is on 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
- Aligning with the programmatic/external accreditation cycle
- 6 years: ABET, ACS
- 7 years: CAEP, ACEND, CEPH, ACOTE, NASPAA
- 8 years: CAA, CSWE
The APR will take place the academic year after the external accreditation self-study and site visit occur to enable programs to use the information provided in their accreditation report for the APR.
New programs and certificates (both undergraduate and graduate) will be reviewed after year 5 or after the first graduating class.
APR Annual Timeline
| When | What | Who |
|---|---|---|
| March 2024 |
Notification of upcoming APR. Email to programs, including timeline, responsibilities, and prompts. |
VPAA Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Accreditation |
| April 1, 2024 | Provide names of College Review Team members to assessment@UND.edu. | Academic Dean |
| April 15, 2024 | Host an APR kickoff event to review process and answer questions. | Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Accreditation |
| August 1, 2024 | Submit names of potential external reviewers to assessment@UND.edu. | Academic Dean & Department Chair |
| April - October | APR Office Hours (monthly in summer, weekly starting in September) |
Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Accreditation |
| November 1, 2024 | Self-Study due | Program Review Author |
| December 1, 2024 |
External Review Report due External reviews will only be completed for degree programs who do not have an external accreditation. Certificate programs will not go through the external review process. External reviews will occur during every other APR (once every 10 years) |
External Reviewers |
| January 17, 2025 | College Review Team Report due | College Review Team |
| January 31, 2025 | Rejoinder due | Program Review author |
| March 14, 2025 | Dean's Summary Report due | Academic Dean |
| April - May |
Meeting to discuss program review outcomes and action steps |
Program Director Department Chair Appropriate Department Representatives |
| May 31, 2025 |
VPAA Summary Report due |
Vice Provost of Undergraduate Studies and Student Success Dean of the School of Graduate Studies |
For details on each step of the process, see the APR prompts, above.
FAQs
The program review is a lookback since the most recent review. For most departments this is 5-8 years.
For the reviews occurring during the 2024-2025 academic year, you will be focusing on Academic Years 2019-2020 through 2023-2024 (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 OIEA to get help with logging in.
It is the responsibility of the program/ department to keep a copy of the most recent APR.
Historical documents from Taskstream were uploaded into the Docs & Reports area within Planning & Self-Study.
If you cannot locate the most recent APR, reach out and we may be able to track it down for you.
Use the Dashboards provided by UAP 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.
Assess 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
- karyn.plumm@UND.edu
- 701.777.1322
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O'Kelly Hall Room 8
Grand Forks ND 58202-8006
- jeffrey.holm@UND.edu
- 701.777.5964
-
O'Kelly Hall Room 302B
Grand Forks ND 58202-8116
- karina.knutson@UND.edu
- 701.777.4085
-
Education Building Room 288
Grand Forks ND 58202-7189