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Program Review

Enhancing the Quality of Our Academic Programs

Program reviews are a vital process that allow us to continually enhance the quality of academic programs at PPSC and ensure our students receive an exceptional educational experience.

These comprehensive evaluations provide a structured opportunity for faculty, instructors, chairs, staff, and administrators to reflect on Pikes Peak State College’s strengths, identify areas for improvement, and implement data-driven strategies to foster student success. By embracing program reviews with an open and collaborative mindset, we demonstrate our commitment to academic excellence, accountability, and our shared mission of empowering learners to achieve their full potential. This landing page aims to shed light on the importance of program reviews and how they contribute to the ongoing growth and innovation of our institution.

 

welding student in class

What is a Program Review?

The Program Review process is a comprehensive review of the effectiveness of a college program. It is a continuous process involving faculty and college leadership which ascertains instructional goals, and the mission of the college. This process also ensures programs continue to meet certification and accreditation requirements. 

Program review should provide the information needed to make informed decisions regarding program maintenance, enhancement, or restructuring, as well as the allocation of resources. 

How to Complete a Program Review

Definitions: 
  • Program Review Coordinator: member of the division, determined by the Executive Dean, to help coordinate the program review processes. 
  • Lead(s): most often department chair(s). In some cases, the Executive Dean will appoint a faculty from the department to lead the review. 
  • Program Review Team: this team is intentionally assembled to finalize and implement the future 5-year goals. Participants could include division member(s), Student Support Services, Student Experience and Equity, Administrative Services, Instructional Services (High School and Online Learning), Marketing, Foundation, student(s), community partner(s), transfer school member(s) and/or advisory board member(s), etc. 
How to complete program review: 
  1. Use the previous annual program review snapshots as a portfolio to assist in completing this 5-year program review. Programs will complete a comprehensive 5-year program review every 5 years (at a minimum or as program accreditation standards dictate).
  2. The Institutional Effectiveness (IE) office sends the 5-year program review (template) filled with data to the division leadership in early fall. Executive Dean will email template to the designated Program Review Lead(s) in the fall semester. 
  3. The Program Review Lead(s) gather department to review data filled template and answer question prompts to complete the 5-Year Program Review report. The report is developed in the Fall and early Spring semesters. (Upon completion of the 5-Year Program Review report, the Program Review Lead(s) will be paid a stipend (from divisional budget) for 15 hours at the instructional rate.)
  4. The completed 5-Year Program Review report is submitted to Division Executive Dean for preliminary review and feedback to the department in early Spring semester. 
  5. Division leadership assembles and conducts a meeting with a review team (internal and external partners; not department members). The Executive Dean adds the review team feedback to Section VIII: Division Leadership Reflection.
  6. Lead(s) and division leadership discuss feedback and adjust future goals. 
  7. Executive Dean and Lead(s) create an executive summary with the link to the 5-Year Program Review report). Executive Dean emails the summary to College President and Vice President for Instructional Services (VPIS) administrative assistants; also requesting a two-hour meeting to discuss findings, future goals and budget requests for all division program reviews mid spring semester. 
  8. After two-hour meeting with College President and VPIS, the Executive Dean will add resulting action items to Section VIII Division Leadership Reflection of 5-Year Program Review report.
  9. The Executive Dean will submit the final 5-Year Program Review report to the following by the last day of the spring semester on the instructional calendar.
    1. Vice President for Instruction Services
    2. Associate Vice President for Instructional Services and Credit for Prior Learning
    3. Assistant Director of Instructional Support for Perkins
  10. The 5-year action plan will be revisited annually to report progress in the annual program review snapshot. 
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Program Review Expectations

In general, college program review processes should: 

  • Involve faculty and appropriate administrators who are directly responsible for the areas being reviewed as well as faculty, academic support professionals, and administrators from across the campus as appropriate;
  • Employ relevant information such as noteworthy instructional innovations based on assessment results, as well as comparative data on enrollments, completions, and degrees awarded;
  • Be responsive to identified areas of weakness by developing and implementing feasible and measurable action steps in a future set of goals;
  • Assure that the process is well documented and use the results to make quality improvement efforts and budget allocation decisions;
  • Report results and actions resulting from reviews to college leadership and in a peer review;
  • Adhere to a minimum review cycle of once every five years (or earlier) for all programs listed in the Program Review Schedule.
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students smiling during lecture class

How does program review work at PPSC?

  • Coordination and report production is facilitated by each division.
  • At the department level, department chairs (or designated department/division leader) are responsible for coordinating and leading reviews within their departments in collaboration with fellow faculty and instructors.
  • Program reviews are conducted under oversight of the Vice President of Instructional Services each year and submitted no later than the final day of the Spring term.

  • A library of documents and other electronic resources is maintained in the VPIS SharePoint (accessible via the PPSC Employee portal, Employees Quick Links card).

  • The work of self-study is conducted during the academic year of the review, fall and spring. 
  • Report drafting and editing is done in the fall semester and early spring semester.
    • Report template is provided to the programs by institutional effectiveness in early fall semester.
    • A review team of internal and external partners is assembled. This team offers feedback on the strengths of the programs, areas to consider, employment outlook and new course ideas. 
    • An Executive Summary is created and emailed to leadership to prepare for the upcoming dialogue.
    • Dialogue with executive leadership and division dean team takes place in the Spring term.
    • Reports are published on the VPIS Sharepoint Program Review folder in the Division Files. Each division has a folder that houses every department’s reports (previous and current).
Screenshot of VPIS sharepoint site with an arrow pointing to a folder called "Review and Snapshot templates"

Where Can I Find Program Review Reports and Resources?

The signed EP 200 series is located on the PPSC Educational Procedures landing page (via the search feature). The Review and Snapshot templates are also available in the PPSC - VPIS SharePoint site.

 

EMT student practicing skills during class

Annual Program Review Snapshot

The purpose of an annual program review snapshot is to systematically analyze data on a recurring basis to identify trends and inform intentional decision-making as necessary. This annual review serves as a critical platform for departments to submit resource requests, to include budgetary allocations, equipment needs, and personnel requirements as needed. Furthermore, the annual review functions as a reporting mechanism for the progress of departmental or programmatic goals, allowing for documentation of achievements, modifications, and ongoing initiatives. 

The annual program review snapshot also serves as a comprehensive portfolio for each department/program in the reporting of progress on annual departmental goals, allowing for transparent communication and accountability as well as annual data review and resource requests (ie: budget requests with progress as applicable). By consolidating these elements, the program review snapshot enhances strategic planning and fosters continuous improvement across all departments. Together, these snapshots will also serve as a valuable reference for the next five-year program review, ensuring that departments can track their progress and align their goals with institutional priorities.

Procedure: 

The annual snapshots are provided by the Office of Institutional Effectiveness (IE) and are reviewed and completed by all departments every year and submitted to division leadership by spring semester. Every Spring term Institutional Effectiveness emails an excel spreadsheet with a 5-year “snapshot” of data to each division. The excel spreadsheet contains tabs with each department/program in their division. 

Divisions send data and a series of questions prompts (e.g., share budget request progress/status from dialogue with Executive Deans, Vice President for Instructional Services and college President, explanation of data trends, reporting data informed decisions, sharing equity highlights, resource requests, annual goal reporting and professional development as it relates to instructional innovation) to the programs in their divisions. 

Upon completion of the requested information, each department/program submits this report to their division for Executive Dean for review and planning (if needed) to be reported in a division summary to Instructional Leadership 

Each division compiles the responses and submits one report to the following individuals by the last day of the spring semester on the instructional calendar. 

  • Vice President for Instructional Services 
  • Associate Vice President for Instructional Services and Credit for Prior Learning     
  • Assistant Director of Instructional Support for Perkins