Florida Board of Governors Review Process

 

The Florida Legislature requires that all academic programs in state universities are reviewed on a seven-year cycle (section 1001.03, Florida Statutes). The Board of Governors prescribes the procedures for these reviews, and requires that each institution prepare and submit summary reports to the Board of Governors (6C-8.015, Florida Administrative Code).

The components of the program review process prescribed by the Florida Board of Governors include the following:

1. Articulate the mission(s) and purpose(s) of the program(s) within the context of the institutional mission and the State Board of Education's and Florida Board of Governors' strategic plans.
2. Identify program goals/objectives, including expected outputs and outcomes. Specifically, identify and publicize expected student learning outcomes.
3. Develop assessment systems to determine how well students are achieving those learning outcomes.
4. Implement and/or modify the program(s) to achieve the articulated goals/objectives.
5. Collect data and information on actual outputs and outcomes.
6. Analyze—and have external expert(s) in the discipline analyze—the data and information to determine how well articulated goals/objectives have been accomplished within the context of the mission.
7. Specifically, analyze—and have external expert(s) in the discipline analyze—how well students are meeting expected learning outcomes, both as articulated by program personnel and as deemed appropriate in the discipline within the context of the individual institution's mission.
8. Assess—and have external expert(s) in the discipline assess—the sufficiency of resources and support services to achieve the goals/objectives.
9. Identify—and have external expert(s) in the discipline identify—strengths, opportunities, and barriers that support or impede achievement of goals.
10. Review—and have external expert(s) in the discipline review—responses to recommendations from previous reviews.
11. Generate—and have external expert(s) in the discipline generate—recommendations based on review findings.
12. Plan for continuous program improvement based on the results of the review.

 

The Florida Board of Governors also requires each institution to prepare and submit a program review summary report for each academic program under review. Each report includes the following components:

• The Classification of Instructional Program (CIP)/degree combinations for the program that is reviewed.
• An electronic copy of the current Academic Learning Compact for each reviewed baccalaureate program.
• An indicator identifying whether or not the program review was conducted in conjunction with any external reviews (e.g., accreditation reviews).
• The date of the last review of the program.
• A brief description of major changes made since the previous program review.
• A summary of the current strengths of the program.
• A summary of the current weaknesses of the program.
• A summary of the recommendations and/or proposed action plans made as a result of the review.
• An official signature of the university provost that will verify that the program review included all of the processes outlined in the BOG regulation and was conducted according to approved university policies and procedures.

The Office of the Vice President for Planning and Programs will use the data and the information found in the program's self-study binder to prepare the program review summary report for each academic program under review.