Academic Program Review Policy

Purpose

The purpose of the Academic Program Review Policy is to stipulate for NIU faculty, staff, and students, the actions that are mandated by the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) and the Higher Learning Commission for academic program review and to clarify NIU’s processes for complying with these requirements.

Policy Narrative

Per the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) 23 Illinois Administrative Code 1050.50 Review of Existing Units of Instruction, Research and Public Service, academic programs and research and/or public service centers must be reviewed on an eight-year cycle with findings from these reviews reported in a standardized format to the IBHE each year. At NIU, these reviews are conducted locally at the college level (or division level when the program or center is not housed within a college). Results from the reviews are reported annually to the Executive Vice President and Provost (EVPP) and provided by the EVPP to the Academic Planning Council and the Board of Trustees as an information item.

For programs with external disciplinary accreditation, this external accreditation may be substituted for the program review process along with the completion of the findings reported in the standardized IBHE format and submitted to EVPP. Reviews for accredited programs may be aligned to disciplinary accreditation cycles but must not exceed ten years between program reviews.

Materials related to program review, located on the Institutional Effectiveness website, include the Schedule for Review of Academic Programs and Research and Public Service Centers and the Program Review Findings Template which is aligned with the IBHE standardized format.

Revisions based on approval by the Board Of Trustees 05/05/2020