Academic Program Review Process

The faculty is responsible for curriculum; therefore, APR is a faculty responsibility. The AAPRC is composed of faculty from all colleges and is charged to oversee the process of Academic Program Review across the University.

The improvement of overall academic quality is an ongoing objective. The intent of APR is to support each program in developing and maintaining its own continuous system of academic program review. Within such a system, periodic academic program review serves as an opportunity for a global consideration of the program.

Quality is systemic. While APR originates at the individual program level, the analysis expands to incorporate activities and support services at the department or school, college, and university levels.

The review of a particular program aims to situate it in the context of Purdue University Northwest’s unique mission and values statements and its strategic plan. In so doing, APR seeks to enhance learning within a particular unit and across units, and to further the evolution of a university culture characterized by ongoing institutional self-analysis leading to continually improved practices.

To be efficient, APR’s are conducted within a clearly limited time frame. Thus, each unit is asked to identify important issues during the APR planning stage, investigate them along with those required by the process, and report accordingly. The aim is meaningful reflection in areas identified by the program’s faculty.

The APR process seeks to support and sustain conversations among various university constituents that lead to the identification and analysis of a particular program’s strengths and areas for improvement. The inclusion of multiple diverse perspectives is intended to help programs share their strengths as well as facilitate improved university-wide understanding of the varied disciplinary and professional languages and norms that compose the University.

In addition, the self-study stimulates a culture of continuous reflection, internal research, and collegial accountability that is both program-based and university-wide.

The APR process seeks to facilitate the development of plans of action supported by analyzed data. In so doing, APR seeks to support internal research and, through its ongoing activity, continually refine the University’s academic information systems to support decision-making at the program, department or school, college, and university levels.

AAPRC’s review encourages a cross-discipline/cross-profession dialogue and accountability for the University’s curricular programs as a whole. The APR process combines the strengths of internal review, best understood within the context of Purdue University Northwest’s mission and array of programs, with external discipline-specific review, ensuring that academic programs represent current practice within the discipline.

The APR process is dynamic, reflective, and evolving. While the overall purpose of continuous improvement is paramount, specific features of the process may be modified as needed for any individual program to ensure the purpose is met. Ongoing assessment of the process as a whole will result in modifications as indicated by results.

The outcome of the APR process is the identification of sound initiatives for improving quality that are supported by both data and broad-based understanding of a wide- array of PNW stakeholders (e.g., students, faculty, residents of northwest Indiana, etc.).