Program Review

Welcome to Houston Institute of Global Health's Program Review Page!

Introduction

The Houston Institute of Global Health utilizes an annual program review process for all departments.

The goal is to achieve ongoing deep reflection of programs and link program planning to program goals, institutional goals, strategic initiatives, student learning outcomes, resource allocation, accreditation, and the educational master plan.

Highly developed program reviews are systematic and institution-wide, with learning assessment findings a major component. Findings are used to improve student learning, program effectiveness, and supporting processes, and close linkages exist between program planning and institution-level planning and budgeting.

Rubric for assessing the integration of student learning assessment into program review includes five major dimensions:

Student experience:

The unique student perspective on a given program of study is collected and incorporated into program review, for example through review of student work, portfolios or projects, and opportunities for students to discuss and evaluate what they learned and how they learned it.

Annual feedback on assessment efforts:

A well-qualified individual or committee provides annual feedback on the quality of outcomes, assessment plans, assessment studies, benchmarking results, and assessment impact. Departments effectively use feedback to improve student learning and follow-up activities enjoy institutional support.

Planning and budgeting:

The campus systematically integrates program reviews into planning and budgeting processes

Self-study review:

Well-qualified internal and external reviewers evaluate the program’s learning outcomes, assessment plan, evidence, benchmarking results, and assessment impact. Reviewers provide feedback and suggestions for improvement, and the department uses the feedback to improve student learning.

Explicit self-study requirements:

Faculty have clear requirements for evaluating program’s student learning outcomes, annual assessment findings, benchmarking results, subsequent changes, and evidence concerning the impact of these changes. Plans are presented for the next cycle of assessment studies.

A highly effective program review is sustainable, continuous quality improvement, with ongoing and systematic processes used to assess and improve student learning and achievement.

Program review processes are disseminated, reviewed, and discussed to undergo ongoing institutional review and refinement to improve institutional effectiveness and program practices, resulting in improvements in student achievement and learning.

Purpose

Program review is an integral part of institutional effectiveness and the strategic and budget planning process. Program Review offers an opportunity to gauge successes and design improvement actions to ensure the quality of academic and student success programs. Annually and every five years, program faculty and staff reflect collaboratively on educational practices and performance outcomes while completing the template forms.

The primary goals for Program Review are to:

· Assess how well we serve our students and how we can improve.

· Demonstrate program effectiveness through continuous improvement.

· Align academic and service program needs, campus resources, and priorities within the planning and budgeting processes.

· Ensure that program priorities are driven by the Institute and District mission and planning documents.

Our Process

The program review process improves the quality of the instructional disciplines and student success programs offered at Houston Institute of Global Health. The process follows a timeline that includes a Comprehensive Program Review every five years and Annual Program Review to track and monitor student success, strategic planning and budget allocation at the program and discipline level, and overall improvement.

Every five years, all programs must engage in the Comprehensive Program Review process. This requires all program stakeholders to participate in a reflective review using the template prompts and performance data provided. The Comprehensive Program Review is designed to encourage a program to look longitudinally at the last five years of performance data in order to identify program strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and potential challenges. The narrative prompts ask the program to reflect on and analyze the data and outline actions for innovation and improvement.

The Comprehensive Program Review process will provide:

· a framework for continuous improvement and excellence

· an opportunity to explore, enhance, and integrate student learning and faculty teaching into the program’s mission and program-level student learning outcomes

· an opportunity for full participation involving faculty, students, staff, administrators, and relevant stakeholders as mutually agreed upon by the faculty and administration

· an opportunity to facilitate and execute short-term and long-term strategic planning

· evidence for the institute to meet the obligations of accreditation and account for its efficient use of the institute’s funds