Virginia Tech® home

Academic Program Review

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

Each academic department 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 by 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 department 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, Strategic Analysis, and other appropriate university units.

Planning

Reporting

Data

Academic Program Review: Peer Review Process

Departments 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. Departmental peer review teams are finalized in consultation with the department chair. Departments may opt for a team of all internal peer reviewers [internal to Virginia Tech], or a mix of internal peer reviewers and external peer reviewers [external to Virginia Tech] at the department or college’s discretion and expense.

Institutional Effectiveness invites interested faculty members and administrators from across Virginia Tech to apply to serve as internal peer reviewers for the Academic Program Review process. Internal peer reviewers provide departments with formative evaluation and feedback designed to guide departments’ continuous improvement efforts. Peer reviewers are compensated $500 per completed review. Internal peer reviewers may serve on a maximum of two review teams per academic year.

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