Revitalizing the Program Portfolio – Aligning Program Performance with Institutional Goals

120 Pages·2012·2.29 MB·English

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Revitalizing the Program Portfolio
Aligning Program Performance with Institutional Goals
© 2012 The Advisory Board Company (cid:129) Washington, DC
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Academic Affairs Forum
Project Director
David Attis
Contributing Consultants
Jim Sirianni
Pat Tiedemann
Executive Director
Chris Miller
Lead Designer
Joy Drakes
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Academic Affairs Forum Publication Information
Revitalizing the Program Portfolio (26156)
Aligning Program Performance with Institutional Goals
© 2012 The Advisory Board Company (cid:129) 26156
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© 2012 The Advisory Board Company (cid:129) 26156
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Table of Contents
Advisors to Our Work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Top Lessons from the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
Understanding Your Current Practice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii
Aligning Program Performance with Institutional Goals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
I. Securing Faculty Trust in Metrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
II. Measuring Performance Against Priorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
III. Setting New Program Viability Hurdles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
IV. Improving Signature Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
V. Maximizing Resource Flexibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
© 2012 The Advisory Board Company (cid:129) 26156
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© 2012 The Advisory Board Company (cid:129) 26156
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Advisors to Our Work
With Special Thanks
We are extremely grateful to those who generously contributed their time, expertise, and insight to our research.
Chaouki Abdallah Ilene Busch-Vishniac Roxanne Gonzales-Walker
Provost Vice-President Academic Academic Dean and Professor,
University of New Mexico McMaster University College for Professional Studies
Regis University
Danny Anderson Bruce Carney
Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Provost Melody Graham
University of Kansas University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Provost and Vice President for Academic
Affairs
John Antel Sarah Carrigan Mt. Mercy University
Provost Director of Institutional Research
University of Houston University of North Carolina at Greensboro Simon Greenwold
Senior Associate Dean, The Graduate School
Bud Baeslack Diane Chase Northwestern University
Provost Director of Academic Resources
Case Western Reserve University Babson College Jose-Marie Griffi ths
Vice President for Academic Affairs
Deb Balogh Marie Cini Bryant University
Provost and Vice President for Academic Vice President and Dean, The Undergraduate
Affairs School Berit Gunderson
University of Indianapolis University of Maryland University College Assistant Provost for Curriculum,
Administration, and Special Programs
Phillip Batty Nigel Clark University of the Pacifi c
Director of Institutional Analysis Associate Vice President for Academic
Grand Valley State University Strategic Planning Prabhat Hajela
West Virginia University Provost
Warwick Bayly Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Provost Matt Cooper
Washington State University Analyst, College of Arts and Sciences Clover Hall
University of North Texas Vice President for Academic Planning and
Dan Bernardo Institutional Research
Dean, College of Agriculture, Human, and Gayle Davis St. John’s University
Natural Resources Sciences Provost
Washington State University Grand Valley State University Liz Hamilton
Accreditation and Planning Offi ce
Chad Berry Janice Deakin West Virginia University
Academic Vice President and Dean of the Provost
Faculty Western University Vernon Harper
Berea College Associate Provost
Robert Dickeson Wilkes University
Roger Blais Consultant
Provost Alan Harrison
University of Tulsa Dan Donaldson Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic)
Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs Queen’s University
Jo-Anne Brady Park University
Vice Provost (Planning & Budget) Nicole Hawkes
Queen’s University Pat Farrell Associate Provost for Strategic Initiatives
Provost Boston University
Shawn Brayton Lehigh University
Director of Academic Programs and Robert Heffernan
Accreditation Liaison Monica Gerlach Director of Institutional Research and
University of North Florida Director of Planning, The Graduate School Planning
Northwestern University Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
Stephanie Browner
Dean, Eugene Lang College Joe Godwin Greg Heileman
The New School for the Liberal Arts Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs Associate Provost for Curriculum
Grand Valley State University University of New Mexico
© 2012 The Advisory Board Company (cid:129) 26156
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Advisors to Our Work (cont.)
Betsy Hoffman Steve Light Rick Miranda
Provost Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs Provost
The Iowa State University University of North Dakota Colorado State University
Patricia Hulsebosch Joan Lorden Michael Monticino
Executive Director, Offi ce of Academic Provost Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
Quality University of North Carolina at Charlotte University of North Texas
Gallaudet University
Peter Maglione Jean Morrison
Kelli Hudson Chief Executive Offi cer University Provost and Chief Academic
Assistant Vice President for Finance and Academic Analytics Offi cer
Controller Boston University
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Jack Mahoney
Director of Institutional Research Rab Mukerjea
David Jackson Offi ce of the Provost Executive Director of Strategic Planning and
Associate Dean, College of Agriculture Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Assessment
University of Nebraska Purdue University
Jennifer Malerich
Larry James Senior Director of Curricular Activities and Kent Neely
Associate Executive Vice President Actions Provost
Washington State University Arizona State University Western Oregon University
Patricia Jefferson Maureen Mancuso Kathleen O’Brien
Dean, School for Adult Learning Provost and Vice-President (Academic) Provost
University of Indianapolis University of Guelph Alverno College
Stephanie Kelly Lawrence Martin Kathy O’Brien
Dean, College of Health Sciences Founder Provost and Vice Principal (Academic)
University of Indianapolis Academic Analytics Queen’s University
Joanne Keselman Rita Martinez-Purson Patricia Okker
Vice-President (Academic) & Provost Dean, Division of Continuing Education Faculty Fellow, Offi ce of the Provost
University of Manitoba University of New Mexico University of Missouri-Columbia
Patricia Killen Richard McCarty Phillip Palladino
Provost Provost Senior Institution Research and Planning
Gonzaga University Vanderbilt University Associate
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
Duane Kilty Donna McDaniel
Vice President for Business Affairs and Chief Provost Jim Pappas
Financial Offi cer Bellevue University Vice President for University Outreach
Indiana Wesleyan University University of Oklahoma
Eileen McLaughlin
Yvonne Kirby Assistant Vice President, Finance and Budget Susan Paraska
Director of Institutional Research and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Director of Program Review and
Assessment Accreditation
Central Connecticut State University Sally McMillan Georgia Institute of Technology
Vice Provost for Academic Affairs
David Kniola University of Tennessee-Knoxville John Pauley
Assistant Director of Assessment and Provost
Evaluation Mark McNamee Marquette University
Virginia Tech Provost
Virginia Tech David Perrin
Roy Koch Provost
Provost Beth Meyerowitz University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Portland State University Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs
University of Southern California Jodi Pettazzoni
Paul LeBel Director, Offi ce of Assessment
Provost and Vice President for Academic Judith Miller University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Affairs Director of Institutional Research and
University of North Dakota Assessment
University of North Florida
© 2012 The Advisory Board Company (cid:129) 26156
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Gary Pike Brian Smith Karan Watson
Director of Institutional Research Professor and Director, School of Life Sciences Provost
Indiana University Purdue University Arizona State University Texas A&M University
Indianapolis
Ken Smith Carolyn Watters
Jason Pontius Associate Provost for Resource Management Vice-President Academic and Provost
Coordinator of Continuous Academic and Planning Dalhousie University
Program Improvement Virginia Tech
The Iowa State University Bill Weber
Robert Smith Chief Business Offi cer
Mary Preece Provost Eastern Illinois University
Provost and Vice President Academic Texas Tech University
Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Stephen Weiner
Advanced Learning Lydia Snover Provost for Academic Affairs
Director of Institutional Research Gallaudet University
Cheryl Regehr Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Vice Provost, Academic Programs Marcia Welsh
University of Toronto Rick Staisloff Interim President
Principal Towson University
Sara Thomas Rosen RPK Group
Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Michaele Whelan
University of Kansas Ed Steinmetz Vice Provost for Academic Affairs
Vice President for Finance, Treasurer Brandeis University
Liz Ross University of Scranton
Vice Provost Jeff Wolf
The New School Paul Stenton Vice President of Fiscal Affairs and
Vice Provost for University Planning Administration
Brent Ruben Ryerson University University of Evansville
Executive Director, Center for Organizational
Development and Leadership Barbara Tansey Lynette Zelezny
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey Vice President for Academic and Student Dean of Continuing and Global Education
Services California State University, Fresno
Lloyd Russow Fayetteville Tech Community College
Associate Provost
Philadelphia University Deb Teeter
Director of Institution Resources and Planning
Harlan Sands University of Kansas
Vice Provost for Administration and Quality
Improvement Dawn Terkla
University of Alabama at Birmingham Associate Provost for Institutional Research
and Evaluation
Bryna Sanger Tufts University
Deputy Provost and Senior Vice President for
Academic Affairs Anne Thomas
The New School Dean, School of Nursing
University of Indianapolis
Jean Schaake
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Martha Umphrey
College of Arts and Sciences Professor of Law, Jurisprudence, and Social
University of North Texas Thought
Amherst College
Charlena Seymour
Provost and Chief Academic Offi cer Kathy van Laningham
Simmons College Vice Provost for Planning
University of Arkansas
Carol Sirney
Special Assistant to the Dean, University Becky Warner
Extension Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs
University of California, Berkeley Oregon State University
© 2012 The Advisory Board Company (cid:129) 26156
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Top Lessons from the Study
Aligning Program Performance with Institutional Goals
1. A growing frustration with traditional program reviews. Academic Affairs Forum conversations
with more than one hundred academic administrators found consensus that academic program review,
as commonly practiced, requires signifi cant time and effort but typically has little positive impact
on resource allocation or performance improvement. Most program review self-studies are simply
check-the-box exercises or based on the premise that the only way to improve performance is to
increase funding.
2. The rising bar for performance assessment. While the “request for resources” approach may have
been effective when college and university budgets were growing, in the current environment of limited
resources, institutions are forced to make diffi cult tradeoffs among competing priorities. At the same
time, pressure to improve institutional performance—on student outcomes, research excellence,
fundraising, student recruiting, and other areas—has intensifi ed dramatically due both to increasing
competition and greater regulatory scrutiny.
3. A political problem, not a mathematical one. Many administrators hope that better data will solve the
problem by allowing them to measure program performance more precisely, identify better benchmarks,
and analyze the underlying causes of performance issues. While most colleges and universities could
certainly do a better job measuring, comparing, and evaluating performance, ultimately we found that
most administrators have a good sense of which programs are strong, and which are weak, and where
resources are most needed. What they lack is a process to build consensus across largely autonomous
departments to support targeted investments in areas of institutional priority.
4. The tension between disciplinary autonomy and institutional priorities. The fundamental reason
that academic program review so often fails is that departments are organized to support disciplinary
objectives and are typically only loosely accountable for broader institutional goals. Faculty are trained,
recruited, tenured, and promoted based primarily on their scholarly contributions to the discipline and
the quality of their teaching within the discipline. The natural desire to excel within their discipline
drives departments to build administrative silos as they attempt to maximize resource levels and
autonomy. The result is often a proliferation of specialized academic units driving higher administrative
costs, lower overall instructional productivity, student success challenges, and barriers to collaborative
research.
5. Adopting a portfolio perspective. To a large extent, institutional performance is the aggregate of
individual academic program performance, and performance (on research, enrollment growth,
graduation rates, etc.) often varies signifi cantly from program to program. Investing in programs with
greater potential to support institutional goals can often be more effective than attempting to enhance
every individual program. The relative autonomy of individual programs, however, makes it diffi cult for
them to subordinate their goals to the institution’s goals.
6. A narrow focus on disciplinary excellence. The traditional approach to academic program reviews
makes a portfolio approach impossible. It focuses on a single academic unit, evaluating its performance
against other peer and aspirant programs at other institutions. By narrowly scrutinizing how the
program contributes to its discipline, it makes it impossible to assess the program’s current or potential
role in the institution’s mix of academic programs.
© 2012 The Advisory Board Company (cid:129) 26156