In support of the Illinois Board of Higher Education's statutory responsibility to "review periodically all existing programs of instruction, research, and public service at state universities and to advise the appropriate board of control if the contribution of each program is not educationally and economically justified," EIU is required to review each of its degree programs at least once every eight years. The primary focus of the review process is to improve the quality and productivity of individual academic programs and units of research and public service. Results of the review are expected to provide the basis for planning and budgeting decisions. To encourage broader campus discussions of academic program quality and accountability, reviewers are expected to present their results to the appropriate academic council(s), COTE, CGS, and CAA.
In addition to reviewing each academic program every eight years, EIU also must review any new program by the end of its third year of operation, and it may conduct an interim review of any program experiencing low enrollment (undergraduate, 25; graduate, 10), low degree production (undergraduate, 6; graduate, 5), or other issues of concern.
The review process should provide for broad involvement of faculty and their peers from both within and outside the program and department, as well as students, department chairs, college deans, the provost, and appropriate academic councils. The dean of the graduate school should be involved in the review of graduate programs. Review should begin at least one year in advance of the due date. It is expected to result in specific improvements or plans for improvement in the quality and productivity of the program.
TEMPLATES
IBHE 8-Year Program Template: pdf docx
IBHE 8-Year Center Template: pdf docx
IBHE Short Progress Report: pdf docx