offices are eager to work with departments that want to think more deeply about the meaning of student success. This can lead to substantive discussions about ways the department might address student success more broadly without the fear of being held accountable for commitments made in a university strategic plan.Overall academic unit success is a function of program success, faculty success, and student success.
Program SuccessMost academic departments offer multiple academic programs to their students-a major, concentrations, a minor, graduate degrees, certificates, or other credentials. The success of these programs is a direct contributor to student success. Successful programs are most often defined in terms of how they fare on regular reviews of program quality, such as accreditation visits or program reviews for nonaccreditable programs. Reviewers score programs on a set of criteria believed to be indicative of a successful program. The elements of these review instruments could be the basis for setting department-level goals and objectives, either proactively or in response to a previously scored visit. Similarly, state-or system-level criteria that apply to an institution more broadly might be the basis for developing some sort of departmental analog for those measures. While state-and system-level criteria usually apply to an entire institution, if individual units within the institution aren't paying attention to those criteria in some way, it's unlikely that the institution itself will be effectively addressing such criteria. Lastly, there may be department-or program-specific goals that the department might wish to achieve that could directly contribute to student success. For example, a department might strive to offer a particular program in a fully online format to complement its on-ground offerings. Such an effort could improve student retention and progression by offering students a more flexible path through the major.
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