Standard Number 3.4.1: The institution demonstrates that each educational program for which academic credit is awarded

Full Compliance

Standard Number 3.4.1: The institution demonstrates that each educational program for which academic credit is awarded

(a) i s approved by the faculty and the administration,

(a) Full Compliance

Georgia Southern University's Statutes (Article VI, § I) declare that it is the responsibility of the faculty in each college to establish entrance requirements, define courses of study, establish requirements for degrees offered in the college, provide guidance and advisement to the students in the college, and adopt regulations to govern its own procedures for the orderly and efficient administration of the college. Article IV, § 2, of the Statutes further states that the faculty are responsible for regulations affecting academic activities, the general educational policy of the University, the welfare of the faculty, and related matters that maintain and promote the best interests of the faculty and of the University, and specifies the Faculty Senate as the representative and legislative agency of the faculty.

The University publishes general guidelines and policies that govern program curricula in the Faculty Handbook (see § 300, p. 48) and, building upon these policies and guidelines, each college has developed its own set of policies unique to the disciplines represented within that college. These publications denote the college curriculum committee structure as well as the procedures for adding, deleting, or changing courses, curricula, programs, or degrees. Faculty within academic units are the first to recognize the need for new programs and/or changes in existing programs. In most cases, this “bottom-up” process begins as faculty express their needs to the curriculum committee which exists within each academic department/school. While variation exists among the colleges as to their respective internal standing committees and processes, most colleges maintain departmental and college-wide curriculum committees for both undergraduate and graduate levels. The departmental curriculum committee drafts a proposal for a new course or curriculum change then forwards this draft to the appropriate college curriculum committee (either undergraduate or graduate). This initial draft contains not only a description of the desired curriculum change but also a statement of learning outcomes that will result from the change.

It is the responsibility of the college curriculum committees to review and monitor each college's undergraduate and graduate curricula to ensure that programs are consistent with the mission of the college and the availability of resources, that the curricula support programs of strong academic integrity, and that curricula are subject to continuous review and enhancement. These committees make recommendations to their respective college faculties regarding appropriate curriculum and minimum requirements for degrees and admission. If the college-wide committee approves the proposal, it is taken before the college faculty for a vote. If college faculty approve these recommendations, the next level of review occurs at either the University Undergraduate Committee or the University Graduate Committee —both of which are standing committees of the Faculty Senate. These committees are composed of representatives from all of the colleges and the library.

As charged by the Faculty Senate in the Faculty Senate ByLaws , the Undergraduate Committee has responsibility for recommending to the Faculty Senate policy and procedures concerning undergraduate programs and curricula; review and approve all changes in undergraduate courses, major and minor programs, emphases, concentrations, and degrees; and maintain continuous review of all undergraduate academic programs. Similarly, the Graduate Committee's charge is to recommend policy and procedures concerning graduate programs and curricula and maintain continuous review of such programs; review and approve all changes to graduate courses, graduate programs, and degrees; and review and approve policies for the appointment and retention of faculty members to the Graduate Faculty. Pending full Faculty Senate approval, these Committee recommendations are then forwarded to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs for her review and approval, then to the President for his review and approval. All action items of the Faculty Senate are recorded in the meeting Minutes and are available for public inspection on the Senate's web site . The Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs maintains hard copies of the memoranda communicating the President's approval.

Resources:

The following forms document the process units must follow to have curricula changes considered at either the Undergraduate or Graduate Committee level:

“ Georgia Southern University's New Course Form .” This form must be completed and forwarded to either the Undergraduate or Graduate Committee (as appropriate) in order to initiate review and approvals for new courses at the University level.

“ Georgia Southern University's Course Revision Form .” This form must be completed and forwarded to either the Undergraduate or Graduate Committee (as appropriate) in order to initiate review and approvals of course revisions at the University level.

“ Georgia Southern University's Course Deletion Form .” This form must be completed and forwarded to either the Undergraduate or Graduate Committee (as appropriate) in order to initiate review and approvals of course deletions at the University level.

“ Georgia Southern University's Selected Topics Form .” This form must be completed and forwarded to either the Undergraduate or Graduate Committee (as appropriate) in order to initiate review and approvals of selected topics courses at the University level.

“ Georgia Southern University's Proposed New or Revised Programs ” Form. This form must be completed and forwarded to either the Undergraduate or Graduate Committee (as appropriate) in order to initiate review and approvals of new programs or revisions to existing programs at the University level.

Additionally, each Committee publishes specific guidelines for submitting agenda items to that committee for review. See “ Guidelines for Submitting Agenda Items to Undergraduate Committee ” and “ Guidelines for Submitting Agenda Items to Graduate Committee ”

and (b) establishes and evaluates program and learning outcomes.

(b) Full Compliance

Section (a) above documents the process for seeking programmatic and curricula approvals at Georgia Southern University. As indicated, this process includes specifying a statement of programmatic and learning outcomes associated with the proposed change. Georgia Southern University evaluates these outcomes using an annual departmental review process, a comprehensive program review process, and an institutional effectiveness planning process.

Annual Departmental Review

On an annual basis, each academic unit assesses programmatic and student learning outcomes in its regular review of courses and faculty performances and reports these findings in departmental annual reports. These reviews are based on a variety of materials that include syllabi; core class coordination of content; student ratings of instruction; evaluation of teaching in relation to written course objectives; teaching portfolios; grade distributions; credit hour production; number of graduates; average time to graduate; as well as several other indicators.

Comprehensive Program Review

In an 18-month period ending in 2002, Georgia Southern undertook a comprehensive program review of all majors and reporting units on campus. This process has been described in detail in response to Core Requirement § 2.5. Every academic program was assessed by a diverse blue-ribbon panel composed of faculty, staff, and students. The criteria used to assess each program included centrality to the University mission, identification of publics served, viability, and quality. The summary of results for this comprehensive program review are found on the Office of Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs' web site . Results of the 2003 program review are also available. Hard copies of the actual program review reports are maintained on file in the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.

As stipulated in the Board of Regents Academic Affairs Handbook (see § 2.03.05), “the cycle of review for all undergraduate academic programs shall be no longer than seven years and for all graduate programs no longer than ten years.” Georgia Southern has established a schedule for program review and publishes it on the Provost's Office web site.

Institutional Effectiveness Planning

Every reporting unit on campus participates in a self-assessment of unit effectiveness as related to programmatic and student learning outcomes. These assessments use tools, processes, and measures identified in an institution-wide assessment inventory last conducted in 2001 by the Office of Strategic Research and Analysis (formerly the Office of Institutional Research). Each academic department and degree program must:

The most recent institutional effectiveness assessment was conducted for the academic year 2002-2003 as the culmination of the development of the new planning model. Effective in Fall 2004, the creation, refinement, and maintenance of these plans will be coordinated by the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Strategic Planning— a new unit reporting directly to the President.