External Review of Academic Programs

As a matter of policy, the campus conducts periodic external reviews of all academic degree programs.  Among other things, program reviews serve as important evidence to accrediting and public agencies that the university is engaged in a continuous program of critical self-examination and evaluation.

The objective of the external review is to inform the administration, the academic senate, and public agencies of the following:

1. The overall quality and direction of the research, scholarship and creative activity of the faculty, in comparison with other nationally ranked research universities.
2. The overall quality and direction of the department’s graduate programs.
3. The overall quality and direction of the department’s undergraduate programs, including curriculum, teaching, and co-curricular activities.
4. The advisability and efficacy of changes in the short-term and long-term resource allocations to the department.

Program reviews emphasize the department’s plans for growth and improvement of instruction and scholarship, in the context of its current strengths and recent accomplishments.  Program reviews also address any issues of departmental governance that bear upon the department’s ability to conduct its core mission.

Contact information

For assistance or more information, please contact Senior Academic Planning Analyst Mary Laurence at malauren@ucsc.edu.