Academic Program Review
Programs undergoing a full review or a shorter mid-cycle review in 2022-23 will need to submit reports by November 21, 2022.
Academic program review is designed to meet the standards of the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, the accrediting organization that oversees UAF, as well as to comply with University Regulation 10.06.010.B. As required in Regulation, centrality of the program to the university’s mission, program quality and distinctiveness within the UA system, student demand, employment opportunities for graduates, program productivity, efficiency, and total cost are considered. Every academic program at UAF undergoes review at least once during a four-year cycle.
The reviews are conducted by peer committees within the college or school; these committees have the option to refer a program on to a university-wide committee of faculty and administrators.
Program review and student learning outcomes assessment processes do not require IRB review: Guidance on Research
All programs are in a four-year cycle of review, with a mid-cycle check in. Reports will be due in the mid-cycle and full review years, which include a section on Student Learning Outcomes Assessment (SLOA) work.
Each active degree or certificate program is on a schedule which determines their current phase in the review cycle.
During any academic year, the Program Review process follows the following general timeline:
| By September |
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| Monday prior to Thanksgiving |
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| December 1st - March 1st |
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| March 1st - May1st (when applicable) |
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Under the new program review process, we are using Airtable software for the departments' reporting portals and for the reviewers in committees to provide programs their feedback. User access to these tools is tied to your alaska.edu email address, and so you will need to log in to Airtable using Google sign-on:
- Select the option to Sign in with Google, and then enter your alaska.edu address when prompted
Departmental data for program review is supplied through Power BI, and you will be prompted to log in using your UA domain username and password when accessing the data dashboard. Power BI works best in the latest version of Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Safari browsers; Internet Explorer is not supported.
- Direct link to the data dashboard, which is also available in the department's reporting portal. Log in using your UA username and password. Remember that the data in this dashboard is created, defined and provided for Academic Program Review purposes only.
- Weekly office hour with the office of Planning, Analysis and Institutional Research: Thursdays from 1:30-2:30pm via Zoom
- Videos on using the data dashboard and filters
- College and school identified data liaisons
Departments are asked to report on SLOA activity in both the mid-year and full review reports. More guidance and resources can be found on the assessment website.
Access the current plan on file for your academic program here
⇒ Program review links and guidance from this point on are specific to your role in the process:
Departments or Programs - Will prepare reports, access information, and utilize resources related to academic degree and certificate programs' improvement
College/school Review Committee - Will review departments' submitted reports and provide feedback regarding academic programs
Data Liaisons - New in 2022, data liaisons are individuals in each academic unit who have volunteered to serve as a program review resource for understanding and using data
Deans and Administrators - Will oversee the review process and utilize resources related to the departments and academic degree/certificate programs in their unit
Step 1: Use this page to look up where your program(s) is/are in the review cycle for the current or upcoming year, using the search field at the upper right of the screen
Step 2: Depending on where you are in the review cycle, access the appropriate portal for program review reporting, and then choose your program(s) from the menu on the left
Remember that access to these portals is linked to your alaska.edu address, and so you will need to be signed in using Google organization login and your alaska.edu email address to use them.
Step 3: If you need additional help in working through the student success data dashboard, use the following available resources
- Videos on using the data dashboard and filters
- Reach out to your school/college data liaison
Step 4: Submit your report by November 21, 2022. If you encounter problems or need additional assistance, check out these additional tools and resources!
Step 5 (optional): Give us your feedback
Review Timeline:
| October | Training for committee members in each college/school |
| November 21 | Departmental reports are due |
| December - February | Committees conduct full program reviews and provide feedback |
| March 1 | Deadline for committee feedback or referral to university-wide review |
Conducting the Reviews:
Committee work will be conducted in a review portal; access to the portal is linked to your alaska.edu address, and so you will need to be signed in using Google organization login and your alaska.edu address to use it.
Help, guidance and feedback:
Data timeline:
| June-July | Training for data liaisons for the upcoming reporting year |
| August | Financial data compiled for programs undergoing full review; student success data updated by Sept. 1 |
| September-October | Departments accessing data, may request consultation or assistance |
| November 21 | Departmental reports are due |
| December - February | College/school review committees meet and discuss programs, may have questions around data |
Definition and duties:
Each college or school has identified at least one person to serve as a data liaison, a trusted resource and "translator" between departments, college review committees, and the Office of Planning, Analysis and Institutional Research (PAIR). Data liaisons will provide data expertise and assistance around the standardized data provided to departments for the purposes of academic program review. This may include student success data utilized for a mid-cycle or full program review, or financial data provided for a full program review. Data liaisons also share observations and concerns around the standardized data with the PAIR or Accreditation and Assessment offices in order to drive future improvements of program review data.
Training materials:
- Data liaison training site
- Videos on using the data dashboard and filters
Data resources and feedback:
- Student success data dashboard - log in using your UA single sign-on username and password
- Financial program review data template
- Weekly office hour with the office of Planning, Analysis and Institutional Research: Thursdays from 1:30-2:30pm via Zoom
- Give us your data feedback
| June - July | Training of data liaisons, portal updates and other maintenance for the upcoming reporting year |
| August-September | Financial data compiled for programs undergoing full review; student success data updated by Sept. 1. Training for departments submitting reports. |
| October | Training for committee members in each college/school |
| November 21 | Departmental reports are due |
| December - February | Committees conduct full reviews of programs in the college/school; as committees complete work, deans or directors conduct reviews. Feedback or referral to university-wide committee due by March 1. |
| March 1 - May 1 | If applicable, university-wide committee conducts reviews of any programs referred to that level. |
Deans' review portal - access the reports submitted for programs under full review, view the college/school committee's feedback, and enter your own feedback for programs. Requires logging in with Google organization login and your alaska.edu account.
Video: Using the dean's review portal
College/school overview dashboard - get a summary overview of where programs in your college/school are in the review cycle, what kinds of recommendations they are getting, and more.
Video: Using the dean's overview dashboard
Direct link to the student success data dashboard, which is also available from the reviewing portal. Log in using your UA username and password. Guidance about browsers and Power BI.
Additional help, guidance, or feedback: