In higher educational settings, the academic program review process allows academic units to solicit feedback, make data-driven decisions regarding effectiveness and sustainability, and report to stakeholders. In order to discover trends and best practices in the current state of academic program review in higher education, examined was a sample…

Out of a need for students to find a sense of belonging, Bainbridge College (Georgia) has started a peer-tutoring program, which recruits, trains and retains tutors of quality. The program has been in place for four years and has been very successful. Not only do tutors get the chance to help others with schoolwork, they also achieve personal…

American River College's (ARC's) model for evaluating instructional programs using a mini-accreditation approach is presented in this report. First, a rationale for program evaluation is provided, focusing on its role in future planning, improving existing programs, accounting for expenditures, and self-validation. Next, program evaluation is…

Accepted guidelines for academic program review often clash with the needs of administrators, who require timely and frequent information for monitoring the quality of academic programs. A method is described for developing key indicators that permit annual scanning of all programs. The goal was to develop indicators that would flag programs…

Evaluation systems were designed for the assessment of the instructional and non-instructional programs at Foothill College (California) to determine whether the objectives of the programs were being met and to ascertain the direct and indirect costs of the programs. For the instructional programs, criteria for determining effectiveness, revenue…

In fiscal year 1984, the Illinois Community College Board initiated a statewide program review and evaluation process, through which each of the Illinois public community colleges has implemented a review process to evaluate both instructional programs and student/academic support services. Each college designed a program review process to serve…

Discusses the disadvantages of across-the-board budget cuts, arguing instead for the selective elimination of programs to counter economic deficiencies. Points to factors to consider in determining which programs are economically and academically weak. (AYC)

This report describes economic development programs operated by California Community Colleges during fiscal year 1998-1999. Report highlights include: (1) 60 of 107 community colleges (48 of 72 districts) operated an economic development program; (2) eight economic development programs engaged primarily in delivering training and technical…

The Higher Education Learning Package (HELP) program at Sacramento City--an interdisciplinary approach to basic skill development for high-risk, nontraditional students--has four goals: (1) promotion of student retention at the community college through cognitive and attitudinal development, (2) personal development of students through a…

The paper presents a comprehensive approach to evaluation of programs for postsecondary students with learning disabilities. The evaluation design is suitable for programs in 2-year and 4-year settings, and incorporates both process and product evaluation methods. The approach was used to evaluate learning disability support services at Housatonic…

In 1987-88, Gateway Technical College (GTC) in Racine, Wisconsin developed a model for identifying programs as potential candidates for either an in-depth evaluation or program audit. In order to facilitate program comparisons, the model applies the same evaluation criteria to all programs. The criteria, which were selected to match the concerns…

Thoughtful, well-planned and systematic reviews of both instructional and noninstructional programs provide community colleges with a way of determining whether programs are meeting stated objectives and what standards of performance should be maintained. Programs that need improvement or should be eliminated can be identified, and fiscal…

A collaborative project, called MainFrame, has been developed among local education authority (LEA)-managed Youth Training Schemes (YTS) in Bedfordshire, Haringey, and Sheffield, England, and joined by Liverpool LEA and the Wirral Metropolitan College. Such coordination of training programs can be beneficial for staff and trainees. Some of the…

Guidelines are presented for consideration in the development, review, submission, and approval of all new instructional programs in the Maryland Community Colleges (MCC). The first section of the manual explains: (1) operational definitions for transfer and occupational programs; (2) the five-year state plan listing; (3) letters of intent and…

The guidelines are meant to help two-year institutions provide physics students with the best possible education in the fundamental areas of physics and its relation to other disciplines and to society. General curricular guidelines, rather than specific curricular content, are defined. Implementing these guidelines can help ensure that the…