[draft presented at the 11/17/05 Graduate Council Meeting]

Graduate Program Review

We recommend that each Graduate Department, and the Graduate Office, be reviewed every five years. With twelve departments, this would mean two or three reviews each year.

Before the review, a department needs to collect (or write)

1. Learning outcomes and assessment methods for the graduate program

2. The department’s Faculty Development plan

3. Departmental research program plan

4. Other documents, as needed (such as TA training programs, etc.)

The department then needs to write a self-study. This needs to address

1. Graduate Students

a. Recruitment

b. Results of learning outcome assessment

c. Training as appropriate

d. Mentoring

e. Quality of project reports, theses, and dissertations

f. Post-graduate placement

2. Faculty

a. Recruiting

b. Quality of teaching and work with graduate students

c. Research

3. Facilities

a. Adequacy both for the current program and for future plans

4. Administrative support

a. Student support

b. Equipment matching funds

c. Other

The self-study, along with supporting documents, is given to the Review Committee. The review committee will consist of three people. Two are to be from Tech, not from the department being reviewed. At least one is to be a tenured faculty member; the other may be a faculty member or an appropriate administrator or research staff member. The third member should be an expert in the field under review from outside of Tech.

After the Review Committee has had the opportunity to review the self-study, there will be a one-day campus visit. The committee should meet with

1. The Department Chair

2. The Graduate Dean

3. Faculty, either as a whole or in smaller groups

4. Students, probably in an open forum

There should also be the opportunity to tour the facilities and see whatever else the department wants them to see.

At the end of the day, the Review Committee should meet with the Vice President for Academic Affairs and give a preliminary oral report. Finally a written report is prepared by the committee and sent to the Vice President, the Graduate Dean, and the department.

If problem areas are identified, these should be addressed in subsequent departmental annual reports.