Comprehensive Program Review

Comprehensive Program Reviews (CPRs) in Student Affairs serve many purposes. The most important of these is to improve departments and programs and identify opportunities for future development. CPRs provide a systematic mechanism to monitor the status, effectiveness, efficiency and progress of programs in the Student Affairs division and to provide information that allows the Division and the University to:

* Identify future directions, needs, and priorities;
* Recognize and respond to the strengths and weaknesses of the program and identify important directions in the profession;
* Assist in assessing a department’s relationships with and contributions to other programs within the University; and
* Strengthen and improve its programs and services to students.

The primary purpose of the CPR is program improvement as determined by:

* Quality of programs, services and activities;
* Availability of educational and program resources;
* Adequacy of administrative, professional and classified staffing patterns;
* Available facilities; and
* Expert evaluation.

Comprehensive program reviews assist in long-range planning and are valuable in setting priorities for the department, division and the University. CPRs set future goals and directions and assure that co-curricular and service decisions, as well as budgets, are based on real and verifiable data and priorities.

Most importantly, CPRs provide the mechanisms and impetus for change. Programs that are not evaluated tend to cling to the "status quo," making change difficult. By developing a plan for comprehensive program reviews and evaluations, a strategy exists for improvement that is systematic, thoughtful, long-range, and apolitical. CPRs also reduce immediate and short-term solutions made during administrative turnover and budget crises.

From an external perspective, comprehensive program reviews provide a means for the University to show its accountability for programs, services and resources to the State of Texas and society, in general. They enable the University to develop the support of its constituency — the Board of Regents, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, the State legislature, federal government, funding agencies, regulatory agencies, and the people of Texas. As such, comprehensive program reviews are integral to strategic planning, resource allocation, and other decision-making processes at various levels within the University and in regard to our Board of Regents.

Comprehensive program reviews have the following characteristics:

* They occur on a five-year cycle unless accreditation reviews influence the cycle.
* They are evaluative, not just descriptive. They are more than data collection and meeting minimum criteria; program reviews require professional judgments about the department, programs, services, staffing, resources, and future directions.
* They are forward-looking. While assessment of current status is important, improvements are of the greatest concern.
* Departments are evaluated on professional standards and criteria—strengths and weaknesses—rather than financial and political criteria.
* They result in a public and objective process.
* They are independent of any other type of review--although they may precede an accreditation review.
* They result in action. They are the basis for strategic planning and budget process in Student Affairs.

CPRs are coordinated by the Office of the Vice President and conducted on a five-year cycle, with each department in Student Affairs reviewed at least once every five years. The review process includes preparation of a comprehensive self-study report and a site review using a national or regional expert to lead a team of Texas State faculty and staff.