Virginia Tech® home

Academic Program Review

Virginia Tech’s Academic Program Review process provides a mechanism for ongoing, systematic review of academic units such as departments, schools, and programs with the explicit purpose of fostering continuous improvement. Unlike other reporting and review processes that focus on what units have already accomplished (e.g., annual departmental reports) and/or meeting external standards (e.g., discipline-specific accreditation processes), Academic Program Review provides units with an opportunity to develop a strong vision for where the unit wishes to be in the future and how it will get there. This process is designed to complement existing improvement processes.

Each academic unit at Virginia Tech conducts a comprehensive evaluation of its activities every five to six years, completing a self-study report that is evaluated by a team of peer reviewers. The review schedule is set in conjunction with the college deans and may vary slightly so as not to conflict with other processes such as discipline-specific accreditations.

The focus of this review is the academic unit inclusive of all degree and certificate programs, intercollege programs, and online programs. Results will be archived by Institutional Effectiveness. Administrative support for this process will be provided by Institutional Effectiveness, Analytics & AI, and other appropriate university units.

Planning

Reporting

Data

Academic Program Review: Peer Review Process

Academic units participating in Academic Program Review facilitated by Institutional Effectiveness complete a self-study report that is reviewed and evaluated by a team of peer reviewers. Each unit’s peer review team is finalized in consultation with the unit leader. Peer review teams include individuals with disciplinary expertise similar to the unit being reviewed and expertise distinct from the unit reviewed in order to provide diverse perspectives. Teams typically include four faculty members/administrators plus a professional from Institutional Effectiveness (5 members total).

Peer reviewers are typically internal peer reviewers (i.e., faculty and administrators working at Virginia Tech). However, some units have found including one external peer reviewer from another university/organization to be helpful. Reviewers from other institutions can easily participate in the Academic Program Review process via Zoom meetings. All peer reviewers provide units with formative evaluation and feedback designed to guide units’ continuous improvement efforts. Both internal and external peer reviewers are compensated $500 per completed review.

If you need additional assistance or information, please feel free to contact: