Purpose
Consistent with institutional Mission, Vision, Values, Strategic Planning Goals, and the expectations of our institutional accrediting agency, USD strategically and positively impacts student learning and success while ensuring institutional sustainability, effectiveness, and accountability. To aid in this, the University has adopted a policy and process for the systematic and continuous review of academic programs to ensure findings are used for program improvement decisions.
Process
Housed in the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, the University’s academic program review process provides a systematic and continuous means of assuring academic excellence in teaching and learning, research, and service. It is designed to encourage accountability and dialogue among members within the program under review as a self-reflective, continuous process within the broader institutional and discipline-based contexts. The process assists programs in understanding their distinctive and collaborative roles within the university community and with relevant external constituents. It provides the foundation for assessing student learning and for making evidence-based plans and decisions to foster improvements at all levels of the institution. Completed program reviews are integral to planning, resource allocation, and other decision-making within the university. USD's Academic Program Review process ensures success for all students while promoting wise stewardship of resources with attention to the health and well-being of faculty and staff.
Academic Program Review (APR) at USD is a six-stage process that takes approximately 7-10 years to complete the full process (depending on when specialized accreditation visits are scheduled). Once one 7-10 year cycle is completed, the process begins again.
Program self-study includes the utilization of data gathered from sources such as IRE, Gray DI, and outcomes-based assessment information from each school/college's assessment management system or the Nuventive Improve Platform. Each School/College also utilizes internal data collection to inform their self-reflection and decision-making processes.
External review team site visit and report
Academic Review Committee (ARC) recommendations
Program's development of a short-term and long-term plan (formerly LTP)/Action Plan and Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
(combined step with step number 5)
Signed administrative Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
(combined step with step number 4)
Annual Report of MOU Implementation Progress (for 5 consecutive years, following signing)
Guidelines, Appendices, and Templates
Each stage of the APR Process is outlined in the APR guidelines. The guidelines (which were updated in Fall 2024 to align with WSCUC 2023 guidelines) refer to appendices and/or templates which are also linked below. [Please NOTE that guidelines and templates are undergoing further changes in Fall 2025 to align with changing federal and accreditation standards.]
To download these to your computer as Microsoft Office documents, click the link and then go to file>download. If you wish to work within Google Suite, click the link and then go to file>make a copy; from there, you will be able to edit a copy of the document in your own Google Drive.
| Document Type | Non-Specialized Accredited Programs (DE and On-Site: Note additional questions for graduate and DE programs to ensure quality and compliance) | Specialized Accredited Programs |
|---|---|---|
| Guidelines | Download | Download |
| I. Self-Study Report Template | Download | Specialized accreditation reports are submitted in place of the APR Self-Study Template. |
| II. Site Visit Guidelines | Download | Specialized accreditation external review visits are utilized in place of the APR site visit. |
| III. Sample Site Visit Schedule with Contact Information | Download | Specialized accreditation external review visits are utilized in place of the APR site visit. |
| IV. External Reviewer Document - Letter of Agreement | Specialized accreditation external review visits are utilized in place of the APR site visit. | |
| V. External Reviewer Required Documents | Specialized accreditation external review visits are utilized in place of the APR site visit. | |
| VI. External Reviewer Report Template | Download | Specialized accreditation external review visits are utilized in place of the APR site visit. |
| VII. ARC Recommendations Template | Download | Same download; see first column |
| VIII. MOU/Action Plan Template | Download | Same download; see first column |
Schedule
Academic Program Review (APR) at USD offers both a fall and spring semester start to provide academic programs optimal flexibility. The schedule for APR is negotiated between IRE and the Deans to ensure alignment with specialized accreditation and department/program capacity.
A detailed academic program review schedule is on file within the IRE office. Associate Deans also have access to the full schedule. A summary of the full schedule can be accessed here. Please contact your academic Dean if you wish to discuss changes to your APR schedule and they will arrange a meeting with IRE to discuss the reasons for the needed change.
Workshops
IRE offers workshops to support program faculty and Deans for successful completion of each step of the comprehensive APR process. Workshops are scheduled at the convenience of the units undergoing each step of APR. Workshop scheduling requests can be made to IRE@sandiego.edu.
Workshop Topics Include:
- Orientation to the APR Process
- Preparing for a Successful Self-Study (includes access to data dashboards and survey results to inform self-reflection)
- Preparing for a Successful External Review
- Preparing for the Internal Review with the Academic Review Committee (ARC)
- Preparing the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)/Action Plan (formerly MOU/LTP)
- Implementing a Successful Action Plan
Annual Reports
- 2023-2024 APR Annual Report Executive Summary
- All previous APR Annual Reports can be accessed by emailing IRE@sandiego.edu
Survey
IRE strives to continuously enhance and improve the APR process at USD. To help us in this endeavor, if you have recently completed an APR, please consider taking this anonymous survey to help us make improvements to the process. Thank you for your participation.