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The External Review Team

Program review teams consist of at least three external reviewers, selected from a list of nominees provided by the program. One reviewer is designated chair and is responsible for ensuring there is collaborative input from team members. The chair also assumes responsibility for submitting the final report.

External Review Team (ERT) Responsibilities and Tasks

The committee is charged with the following:

• Submission of a written report (of no more than seven pages) to the Provost’s Office within two (2) weeks of the on-site visit.

• The written report should include a candid overall evaluation of program quality and program effectiveness, addressing:
  • program mission alignment, program resources (fiscal, human and physical) and the methods and processes for ensuring quality within these areas;
    
  • the effectiveness of the program in delivering appropriate content, curriculum and program and student level learning outcomes.

• If program faculty identified additional issues to address during the current review process, they should also be addressed in the report.

• The final report should also include a critical and fair appraisal of program strengths and weaknesses and a discussion of issues that constrain program quality or effectiveness, with recommendations for improvements.

In composing their final report, the review team should remain mindful that Spelman’s program review process is meant to support and drive academic excellence, inform decision-making at all levels, promote critical self-assessment and articulate future directions by the faculty and leadership of an academic program.

Each review is conducted in accordance with processes described in the ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Academic Program Review Handbook. The review team is encouraged to review these guidelines as they provide specific details regarding the preparation of the program’s self-study report, the assembly of the external review committee, the onsite visit and the topics for assessment by the committee.