• Information is available on the Program Review Information page.
• Resources are available on the Program Review Resources page.

The self-study is a comprehensive document examining quality, need/demand for the program, cost, relation to the institutional mission, relationship to other programs in the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE), student outcomes, and quality and adequacy of resources such as library materials, equipment, space, and non-academic services.

Units should use the self-study to highlight accomplishments, and to assess how a specific degree program can be improved. The review process serves to illuminate inefficiencies, bottlenecks, and other challenges that need attention, as well as to identify resources that may be necessary to maintain program success.

It is customary for the Chair or Director of the Program (hereafter referred to as Chair) to take the leadership in completing the self-study, while involving the faculty in the process. Chairs must communicate with their Deans to learn and understand the Dean’s expectations of the process.

NSHE requires that each program is reviewed at least once every ten years. UNLV publishes an annual report describing the results of existing program reviews, and a summary of the report is forwarded to the Chancellor’s Office and presented to the Academic and Student Affairs Committee every year.

The report is reviewed by the NSHE Board of Regents at the last meeting of each calendar year.

The Office of Decision Support provides the following program review data for the past 10 years (if applicable):

• Degrees conferred
• Headcount enrollment per semester
• Enrollment count per semester and per course level (100-, 200-, 400-level etc.)
• Undergraduate students graduating in less than six years (only includes first time, full time, freshmen students)
• Graduate students graduating in less than eight years

You can describe in the document how your program tracks graduation rates, include the program’s own graduation data, and explain how and why these data differ from those provided by Decision Support.

If a disciplinary accreditation has taken place within the past two years, the Chair may be able to use an abbreviated form of the self-study document. Consult with SVPAA to determine if that is feasible. The final accreditation report and the evaluation must be included with an abbreviated final self-study document. It is important to understand that the accreditation report cannot replace the self-study document.

Names and full email addresses (because some people do not use @unlv.edu addresses) of all instructors (ladder-rank faculty, FIRs, lecturers, visiting and part time instructors, and anyone else who teaches in the program, excluding the Chair and graduate assistants).

If more than one degree is being reviewed in the same program, please indicate which instructors teach in each of the programs i.e., Master’s and/or Ph.D. programs. B.A./B.S. programs are generally reviewed together and faculty generally teach in both. If your program is different, please discuss with Academic Effectiveness in the Office of the Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs (SVPAA) to determine if any changes need to be made to how the surveys are conducted.

The specific group of students to be surveyed. For example: in undergraduate programs, the Chair may wish to survey students only students with junior and senior status since they have been in the program the longest and may have the most valuable feedback.

Grade levels are:

• First year students
• Sophomores
• Juniors
• Seniors
• Master's level students
• Doctoral level students

Please note that students who have selected the "Do Not Release" flag/indicator will not be surveyed due to strict Family Educational Rights and Privacy (FERPA) federal regulations.

The SVPAA will gather all student data from the Office of the Registrar, and administer the surveys via Qualtrics. Surveys will be active for at least 30 days for both faculty and students; reminders will be sent to participants who have not completed the survey after 15 calendar days.

The survey process is valuable, because it provides the program with anonymous feedback from both faculty and students. This valuable information should be used to determine how to improve the program. The undergraduate and graduate surveys will be summarized by the Faculty Senate Program Review Committee and by the Graduate College Program Review Committee, respectively. Summarized (anonymous) responses will be forwarded to the Chair.

Potential external reviewers:

• Must be active in the same overall academic discipline.
• Must be from a comparable peer or aspirational public research institution.
• Must have current or recent experience in a similarly situated urban institution, i.e., large public, research-high or research-very high institution.
• Should preferably be from institutions in the western or central United States, to minimize their travel costs.
• Must be tenured, at the Professor rank, productive scholars with the appropriate terminal degree.
• It is preferred that the reviewer held an administrative position or performed administrative service (Chair, Director, Associate Dean, Dean, Vice Provost, etc.).
• Should not have close personal or professional ties with a faculty from the program being reviewed (e.g., a collaborator on publications or grant proposals, a former student, a former advisor, UNLV graduate), for those relationships may present a conflict of interest.
• Cannot be from any NSHE institution.
• Cannot be former UNLV or NSHE employees.

Please note that if a reviewer is not a U.S. citizen, payment of the honorarium may be delayed, and the reviewer will have to meet with the Nonresident Alien Tax Specialist during his/her campus visit.

Communicate with all of them, and ensure that each one is willing to serve as external reviewer for the program review. Explain the $2,000.00 (paid by the Office of the Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs) honorarium, how travel expenses will be handled (the program undergoing review pays travel expenses), and that a report written in the UNLV template will be required 30 days after the visit.

The Chair provides the SVPAA with:

• The complete address of the candidates’ current academic/professional affiliations.
• A brief explanation as to why each person would be an appropriate reviewer for the program.
• A complete curriculum vitae of each prospective reviewer.

The SVPAA will rank the candidates and identify any nominees who do not meet the requirements. The Chair will pick the reviewer from the ranked candidates.

The Chair will work with the approved reviewer to select dates for the campus visit.

The Chair will create an itinerary for the visit. A sample itinerary will be provided with the program review documents.

While on campus, the external reviewer must complete the Independent Service Provider Contract and be set up as Supplier/Vendor for payment in Workday. These processes ensure that the reviewer will receive the honorarium immediately after submitting the report.

At a minimum, the external Reviewer must meet with:

• Department Chair
• Program faculty
• Undergraduate and/or Graduate Coordinator
• Undergraduate and/or graduate students, as applicable
• Academic advisors (if applicable).
• Dean
• Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, Dr. Kate Korgan; this should be the last meeting held; please contact Leslie Hunter (leslie.hunter@unlv.edu, 702-895-5950) to schedule this appointment

At least two weeks prior to the meeting day, please provide the SVPAA with:

• Completed self-study
• Recaps of the faculty and student surveys
• The schedule of the visit
• The reviewer’s curriculum vitae

At least four weeks prior to their arrival on campus, the external reviewer must be provided with the:

• Completed self-study
• Recaps of the faculty and student surveys
• External reviewer’s packet (five documents) available at the Program Review Resources page
• Schedule of the campus visit

Following their visit, the external reviewer has 30 working days to submit the report to the Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, Dr. Kate Korgan, kate.korgan@unlv.edu and programreview@unlv.edu.

The department will cover the external reviewer’s hotel, airfare, and other expenses, and coordinate communication about this process.

The SVPAA will provide a $2,000 honorarium to one reviewer, but the department is responsible for ensuring the checks are mailed after the reviewer submits the final report. The department will inform the reviewers that an IRS 1099 form will be sent to them to document the honorarium.

Please address all questions regarding the payment to Brianne Heinle (brianne.heinle@unlv.edu, 702-895-1233).

External reviewers are valued colleagues who are providing an extremely important service to the unit, the College, and to UNLV, and accordingly we must treat them with respect at all times.

The SVPAA sends the report to:

• Chair
• Dean of the College/School
• Dean of the Graduate College (if applicable)

The Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs is committed to engaging programs in a clear and useful program review process. To facilitate continuous improvement, we welcome feedback from programs and departments, external or internal reviewers and any other constituents of the process. Please send your feedback to Academic Effectiveness at programreview@unlv.edu.