Program review at Palm Beach State is a process in which every career-oriented program is reviewed annually. Six different types of information are reviewed:
Program Health Indicators and the Perkins Performance Measures are primarily quantitative measures of program performance such as enrollment and completion data. Student Learning Outcomes, Occupational Projections (employment outlook) and the “Other” category of information tend to assess the quality of the program in that they address student learning and whether the program’s curriculum is current and in demand by local business and industry. Following a review of all available data, a recommendation is made regarding program viability and action plans for improvement are designed and implemented.
Program Health Indicators
The Program Health Indicators (PHI) report constitutes the major quantitative portion of program review at Palm Beach State. For Associate in Science degree, College Credit Certificate, vocational certificates, Applied Technical Diploma, Advanced Technical Certificate, and Bachelor’s degree program, the PHI report presents a comprehensive data review. The report contains five-year trend data on program completers (broken out by degrees and certificates nested within the program, if applicable), FTE, headcount, number of sections offered, success and withdrawal rates in core curriculum, average student ratings of the instructors in the core curriculum and other program measures, if applicable. See “Program Review Resources” on the College Effectiveness Web page for a link to the most recent PHI report.
Perkins Performance Measures
For the career and technical programs, the state of Florida provides the College with a set of performance measures used by the federal Perkins grant for accountability purposes. Every program that received funding from the Perkins grant reviews three of these measures: Technical Skill Attainment, Completion, and Student Retention and Transfer. Any program that falls below the state benchmark on more than one of the three measures is required to write an improvement plan or provide an explanation. See “Program Review Resources” on the College Effectiveness Web page for a link to the most recent Perkins Performance report.
Student Learning Outcomes
Learning outcomes represent the knowledge, skills, and abilities students have attained as a result of their involvement in a particular set of educational experiences. By developing educational experiences based on what students should be able to do with their knowledge, the learning outcomes approach helps faculty, staff and students understand the point of the educational activity, be it a program or course.
Learning outcomes are developed at the institutional, program, and course levels. Program outcomes are posted on the College website (see Program Learning Outcomes) and assessed in an ongoing cycle with results being reported annually. See the Assessment Plans and Processes Web page for the most recent assessment reports.
Occupational Projections
The IRE office publishes the projected number of annual openings over the next five years for every career and workforce degree and certificate The data are based on a list of Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes relevant to the training provided by each degree and certificate within the programs; the codes are reviewed every three years by program personnel to ensure that the list of occupations for which the programs are providing training is accurate and current. Based on the program-specific SOC codes, a software package, Economic Modeling Specialist, Inc. (EMSI) derives the employment outlook in Palm Beach, Broward, and Dade counties for graduates with each degree or certificate. See “Program Review Resources” on the College Effectiveness Web page for a link to the most recent Occupational Projections report.
Other Relevant Information
The other types of information available to programs for purposes of program review vary by program and by assessment cycle. Many programs have a business partnership council. The Councils provide qualitative feedback to the programs regarding the performance of program graduates in the workplace and the currency or relevancy of the program curriculum. They may also provide informal feedback as to the current local job market for graduates of the program.
Many programs also have a program-specific accreditation agency. When a program has just completed a reaffirmation or new accreditation process, the feedback from the accreditor is typically included in the program review.
Action Plans for Improvement
In every cycle, the program is required to select at least one learning outcome that is targeted for improvement. Exceptions are made only when every program learning outcome is met, and the program has documented an action plan to improve other outcomes. For programs receiving Perkins funding, falling below more than one benchmark may prompt an additional improvement plan. If any Performance Health Indicator (PHI) measures are deemed unacceptable, the programs also write appropriate improvement plans for these measures.
The review of the occupational projections may have implications for the future viability of the program as a whole or specific certificates embedded within the program. Program review may result in recommendations to revise or eliminate programs based on changing market needs.
The strategies written into improvement plans vary. Strategies might involve changes in a course such as requiring students to practice more on a specific skill or revised instruction of that skill. Other strategies might involve the need for additional equipment, staffing, recruitment, or marketing. Still other plans might include revisions in the program curriculum. If the improvements involve financial resources, the improvements must be approved by the supervising dean and campus provost or vice president who submits the financial request during the College budget process. If the change involves program curriculum, it must undergo the Curriculum Review Process described below.
Curriculum Review Process
When faculty members, with input from program managers, administrators, or business partnership councils, create or update a course or a program, the first step of a continuous flow of information and quality control is initiated. Any curriculum action can potentially affect more than just the discipline proposing the change, so a carefully constructed process ensures that any revisions will benefit the institution and avoid unintended negative consequences.
Any curriculum action to courses or programs must be voted upon first by the faculty cluster. Additionally, if the program works with a Business Partnership Council (BPC), the BPC must also approve. Proposed actions must also be sent to the cluster liaison (associate dean) and academic dean. With all approvals, the action moves forward to the Curriculum Committee for review. If approved at this committee level, the action must then be evaluated by the Academic Deans’ Council and in some cases, the District Board of Trustees (DBOT). This level of review evaluates the impact the curriculum action will have on the College as a whole, such as budget, facilities, need for additional faculty, or accreditation as well as any impact it may have on other programs.
Program additions, deletions, and extensive revisions must be approved by the DBOT, and new programs not currently offered in the State of Florida must be reviewed and approved by the Division of Workforce Education and adhere to the substantive change process with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACSCOC).
For new career programs and when needed for existing programs, an additional process called “Developing a Curriculum” (DACUM) may be required. This process utilizes a focus group of experts in a storyboarding workshop to produce a comprehensive job analysis. The analysis identifies the duties, tasks, knowledge, skills, and traits related to a specific job or occupation in a chart format which provides input for needed curriculum revision or development.