帝王会所

Departmental Program Reviews

帝王会所's Division of Student Affairs comes down to two words 鈥 we care. We exist to educate and empower students, to foster inclusive communities and make OHIO strong. With 12 departments, more than 300 professional and graduate-level staff and 1500+ undergraduate student employees, our team aims to support and challenge you to discover your potential and make a meaningful impact in the world. We offer a wide array of activities, services and opportunities designed to help you get involved and grow as student leaders, both on campus and off.

The purpose of program review is to improve the quality of the departments, division and institution as a whole.

The review provides each department an opportunity to reflect, self-assess and plan for the future. The process facilitates in-depth communication between the department and senior leadership and informs future planning and decision-making. By stimulating department or program planning and encouraging department-based strategic planning, the program review process can advance 帝王会所's overall mission.

For questions, please contact the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs at studentaffairs@ohio.edu

Emphasis

Program review in the Division of Student Affairs emphasizes:

  • Involvement of all department staff to accurately portray the varied experiences of the department across all stages of organizational membership and function.
  • Collaboration within and across the university community to craft a reflective self-study review, including applicable data and information.
  • Conversations about the future of the department with Division leadership, emphasizing improvement, planning, decision-making and resource allocation.

Aims

Program review generates a sense of shared purpose and connection to the university mission and reinforce the need for coordinated planning going forward.

In doing so, the program review process intentionally involves several key stakeholders:

  • Staff, faculty, students, and other stakeholders undergoing review. This provides an opportunity for those directly involved in the department to assess its strengths and areas for improvement.
  • The involvement of the dean, assistant or associate dean of students, the vice president of student affairs, campus leadership, and administrators. This ensures that meaningful and effective follow-up for each review will occur.
  • The involvement of staff or faculty from other units on campus. This promotes campus-wide understanding of the contributions of each department to the mission of the institution.
  • The involvement of program reviewers from the same line of work. This offers peer review and input on strengthening the department鈥檚 purpose, reputation and future direction.

Foundational Priorities

The Division of Student Affairs focuses on Foundational Priorities to support the 帝王会所 community. The Care & Well-Being priority emphasizes the holistic wellness of students, staff, and the community, embedding well-being into daily operations and engaging stakeholders in proactive initiatives to cultivate a thriving culture of care. The Inclusive Excellence priority commits to fostering frameworks of belonging and inclusive excellence, developing initiatives that build community, celebrate cultures, and educate members to create a welcoming environment and dismantle barriers. The Engagement & Leadership priority aims to revitalize the Bobcat student experience by promoting student leadership, engagement, and service, ensuring student-centric functions, and offering opportunities for educational and personal growth. Lastly, the People & Partnerships priority highlights the value of employees, focusing on enhancing all employee lifecycle elements to impact positive culture change, fostering engagement and morale, and facilitating campus and community partnerships to support the university's mission.

Departmental Program Review Process

The departmental program review process empowers departments within the Division of Student Affairs to critically evaluate their work and their effect on the OHIO student experience through a lens of continuous improvement. The review process is an opportunity for departments to take a comprehensive and critical look at the unit, to clearly state and evaluate strengths and weaknesses, and to outline a plan for future action.

Departmental Program Review Steps

  1. Pre-Meeting/Orientation Meeting
  2. Self-Study
  3. Review by Program Review Committee
  4. Departmental Response and Action Plan

Review Timeline

The Division of Student Affairs reviews all departments on a four year cycle.

ActivityTimeframe
Notification of program review3, 6, 12 months
Finalize program review dates12 months
Department orientation meeting6 months
Propose reviewers6 months
Establish self-study protocol5 months
Formal invitations to reviewers5 months
Department conducts self-study4 months
Finalize travel logistics and reviewer catering3 months
Reserve meeting spaces for stakeholder interviews3 months
Draft itinerary for site visit2 months
Check in meeting with Vice President for Student Affairs2 months
Invite stakeholders to interview sessions1 month
Final draft self-study due1 month
Self-study submitted to review committee3 weeks
Send final itinerary to review committee2 weeks
Site visitTBD

Pre-Meeting and Orientation

TimelineMeeting
12 months before review

The Vice President for Student Affairs liaison meets with the departmental director(s) and Vice President Council leader (if applicable) to determine dates for the review, confirm the program review coordinator, and set a date for the orientation meeting. Unless otherwise determined, the director(s) will serve as the program review coordinator. This individual will:

  • Serve as the main contact for the program review committee.
  • Communicate regularly with the liaison to the Office of the Vice President and obtain guidance with any needs for the review
6 months before review

During the orientation meeting, the VPSA, department director, and program review coordinator (if applicable) will review the guidelines, roles and responsibilities, and the self-study protocol. The departmental director will select the appropriate self-study protocol. Begin identifying appropriate Departmental Program Review Committee Members. See information below regarding this committee.

  • Coordinate the site visit including a detailed itinerary, coordinate logistics, and serve as primary host for the program review committee.
  • Work with the Executive Office Assistant for the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs to coordinate travel logistics, room reservations, and material preparation for the program review committee. 

Departmental Program Review Committee

The charge of the program review committee is to evaluate and provide recommendations to improve the quality of a department鈥檚 programs and services. Recommendations will be used to inform short and long-term departmental decision-making. The program review committee will include national or regional experts in the field of the department under review and an 帝王会所 staff/faculty member who is a stakeholder of the department. The program review committee will:

  • Respond to the departmental self-study and on-campus interviews and observations
  • Write a report of their findings within 30 days (4 to 5 weeks) of the on-campus visit

The department will suggest up to three external reviewers and internal reviewer(s), depending on the size and scope of the department, to serve on the program review committee. External reviewers should be experts in the field of the department under review and should be from aspirational institutions (i.e. from departments at other institutions the department aspires to emulate). The internal reviewer should be a key stakeholder of the department but should not be current or past departmental employees. The internal reviewer will provide context on 帝王会所 and the department under review for the external reviewers.

The departmental director and program review coordinator will submit a list of potential reviewers to the Vice President for Student Affairs for review. Upon final confirmation of reviewers, the departmental director will formally invite the reviewers to participate in the review process.

Self-Study

Development of the Self-Study

Each program review should begin with self-study. Data and artifacts help tell the story of the department鈥檚 work. Data may include learning outcomes data, satisfaction data, usage numbers, fiscal data, historical trends, or other sources. Artifacts may include relevant printed publications, reports, departmental strategic or annual plans, awards, etc. Any professional standards associated with the department in review should be incorporated. These should be integrated into the self-study, shared with the program review committee before the site visit.

Self-Study Submission

The departmental director will submit the self-study to the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs no later than one month prior to the site visit. The program review coordinator(s) will share the self-study with program review committee members before the site visit. By reviewing the self-study in advance, the committee members can come prepared with relevant questions and insights, making their on-site visit more productive and effective. This preparatory step ensures that the site visit is focused and that the reviewers can provide informed feedback and recommendations.

Review by Program Review Committee

The reviewers will conduct at least a two-day on-site review. A reviewer鈥檚 role is to provide expert, unbiased, and professionally informed opinions regarding the performance of a particular department. In advance, determine how the department will coordinate funding for committee member travel needs with the planning unit leader. Ensure that funding needs are anticipated and allocated accordingly (e.g., potential honorariums, stipends, reimbursements, etc.).

Site Visit

The site visit should provide opportunities for the program review committee to speak to key stakeholders including:

  • Department staff members
  • Student Employees
  • Campus partners
  • Departmental and Division leadership
  • Community partners
  • Students
  • Customers
  • Alumni

The site visit should also include time for the committee to meet individually with the director, appropriate associate vice president, and Vice President for Student Affairs, begin summary conversations to support report writing, and participate in wrap up meeting with the director, appropriate associate vice president, and the Vice President for Student Affairs.

Program Review Committee Report

Within 30 days of the review committee鈥檚 campus visit, the reviewers will provide a written assessment of the department including areas of excellence and improvement, recommendations for future practice, and any other relevant observations. Issues related to personnel are not within the purview of the program review process. A report outline is included in the appendix.

The report will be submitted to the department director and the Vice President for Student Affairs. They will meet to discuss the report within a week of receipt. The director will share the final report with departmental staff members and stakeholders, as well. 

Departmental Response and Action Plan

The department director will submit an action plan within 30 days responding to Review Committee recommendations to the Vice President for Student Affairs. The plan should include:

  • Proposed goals based on reviewer recommendations 鈥 goals should be planned out within 1 year
  • Potential rejected reviewer recommendations and rationale for rejection
  • Timeline for completion
  • Responsible parties
  • Implementation strategy
  • Metrics to measure progress
  • Assessment and evaluation process based on established metrics

Follow up processes will include:

  • A summary of the program review with department鈥檚 Action Plan shared to stakeholders who participated in review process
  • Director(s) will report updates on the Action Plan and metrics observed during annual budget meetings with planning unit leader
  • Changes made based on review committee recommendations to be highlighted in the Division of Student Affairs Annual Report(s)

Self-Study Guidelines and Report Format

The program review self-study protocol is selected by the director/manager of the department. The following are the three primary choices to choose from with respect to the self-study format:

  1. Any mandated or optional professional accreditation processes:

Program review is intended to provide student affairs departments with an opportunity to evaluate their programs and services to ensure that they are ready and able to meet the needs of an ever-changing student body. However, certain departments are required or encouraged to participate in accreditation procedures specific to their functional area. To reduce unnecessary duplication of effort and help ease the overall workload of preparing for agency accreditation, the self-study or department profile component of an accreditation process may be used to fulfill some or all of the 帝王会所 Division of Student Affairs Departmental Program Review self-study expectations.

  1. Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS):

CAS 鈥渉as been the pre-eminent force for promoting standards in student affairs, student services, and student development programs since its inception in 1979. For the ultimate purpose of fostering and enhancing student learning, development, and achievement and in general to promote good citizenship,鈥 CAS provides a set of industry-approved standards and self-assessment guidelines for 34 functional areas. Those student affairs departments for which CAS standards and guidelines exist may choose to utilize the CAS Self-Assessment Guide as the frame for the self-study review process and report.

Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education: . Student Affairs Program Review Guidelines 7 2.

It is important to note that although the CAS Self-Assessment Guides include worksheets and overview questions intended to facilitate the compilation of reviewer ratings for each of the CAS criterion measures, these completed worksheets and short answer responses do not fulfill the Division of Student Affairs Program Review self-study report expectations. Rather the information and insights gleaned from the CAS self-assessment process should inform the development of a comprehensive and coherent self-study narrative that addresses the thirteen organizational domains outlined in the CAS Standards and Guidelines.

  1. Industry Standards and Guidelines for Self-Study (see Appendix):

If there is a set of standards and/or guidelines that are published by a representative, governing body, or professional association for the department鈥檚 area of student affairs or for the types of services that the office provides, the department may propose them as the protocol for the self-study portion of the department鈥檚 program review process. Please submit the complete description of standards and guidelines for self-study to the appropriate liaison to the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs for consideration.

Report Format

Each department will prepare an in-depth self-study prior to the site visit by the program review committee. The self-study will contain the following:

  1. Table of Contents
  2. Executive Summary 鈥 one-page document highlighting the contents of the self-study. Key data points/strengths/challenges should be addressed in this portion.
  3. An introduction to the department 鈥 departmental history and organizational framework (org charts), departmental strategic plan, constituents served, key data points, learning outcomes, assessment plan and results, etc.
  4. Summary of relevant data 鈥 data related to learning outcomes, program outcomes, usage, access, certifications, memberships, retention, etc.
  5. Overview of the CAS standards (if applicable):
    1. Departmental Mission
    2. Departmental Programs
    3. Organization & Leadership
    4. Human Resources
    5. Ethics
    6. Law, Policy & Governance
    7. Diversity, Equity & Access
    8. Institutional & External Relations
    9. Financial Resources
    10. Technology
    11. Facilities & Equipment
    12. Assessment & Evaluation
  6. Key issues 鈥 any internal or external challenges/concerns facing the department, staff, etc. that the review team should examine further.
  7. Each of these standards is explained in detail within each department鈥檚 Self-Assessment Guide (SAG). Members of the review team will receive the SAG to inform them of their practice. Please utilize the SAG to provide information regarding each of the standards above in the self-study.

Program Review Committee Report Outline

Based on the findings from the self-study and the site visit, the program review committee is asked to assess the department鈥檚 performance and offer suggestions for future improvement through a written report. The suggested outline for the report is located below; however, the review team members are encouraged to include any issues or topics they deem necessary. Review Committee members are encouraged to submit completed Self-Assessment Guides for each standard.

Step One: Executive Summary

Please provide narrative addressing the following:

  1. Areas of Excellence: Describe what the department does well, how the department supports the division鈥檚 mission and priorities, and how the department could be seen as pioneers/leaders in the field (if applicable).
  2. Areas for Improvement: Describe the areas that the department should improve on and the reasons that these areas need improvement.

Step Two: Assessment of Significant Items (CAS Standards used in this example table)

StandardDiscrepanciesStrengthsNeeded Improvements
Mission   
Program   
Organizational and Leadership   
Human Resources   
Ethics   
Law, Policy, and Governance   
Diversity, Equity, and Access   
Institutional and External Relations   
Financial Resources   
Technology   
Facilities and Equipment   
Assessment and Evaluation   

Step Three: Recommended follow up actions

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  10.  

Step Four: Concluding Comments

Please share any additional comments for the good of the department, division, or university. Please note that this written report will be distributed to members of the department.

Departmental Response and Action Plan Outline

Write a brief action plan statement for each standard for which action is required. Example Action Plan template below based on CAS Standards. 

StandardAction Plan Statement
Mission 
Program 
Organizational and Leadership 
Human Resources 
Ethics 
Law, Policy, and Governance 
Diversity, Equity, and Access 
Institutional and External Relations 
Financial Resources 
Technology 
Facilities and Equipment 
Assessment and Evaluation 

Address the following in narrative form:

  • Proposed goals
  • Timeline for completion
  • Responsible parties
  • Implementation strategy
  • Metrics to measure progress and evaluation process