Undergraduate Program Review Processes: A Case Study in Opportunity for Academic Libraries

Abstract

How can an academic library most effectively participate and expand their contributions to program reviews at the institutional level? By becoming involved in undergraduate reviews, college and university libraries can articulate new and enhanced roles for themselves on campus. Academic libraries have always contributed to a variety of institutional review processes. However, by embracing a more holistic view of its support, the library can expand beyond collection-related metrics to encompass all the ways the library interconnects with the program. Furthermore, by becoming proactively involved with the committee(s) responsible for managing institutional program reviews, libraries can contribute to the governance of this essential activity on campus. This paper describes one academic library's experience and efforts in becoming involved with undergraduate reviews at both the program and institutional levels. It is hoped that sharing our case study and the tools we have created, will benefit other academic libraries.

Towards a more meaningful involvement of librarians in academic program reviews

“…However, instead of the library's visibility being raised, the opposite seems to happen: throughout the academic program review, librarians and libraries gradually move from being mere appendages in the first stage of the process to becoming invisible by the end of it. This situation would seem to support a need to take action in a manner similar to that described by Costella et al (2013) at the University of Western Ontario, where inviting a librarian to sit on the institution's program evaluation committee helped to give librarians a voice, and, in turn, to increase the recognition of their current and potential role in the program review process.…”

“…Overall, there have been few investigations into the nature of librarian participation in program reviews. While Costella et al (2013) state that "library support has always been recognized to some extent in the assessment of academic programs and institutions", they go on to note that "involvement [of librarians] was often inconsistent and not well defined" (Costella et al, 2013, p. 16). Of particular interest are their observations that:…”

“…Finally, a case study by librarians at the University of Western Ontario (UWO) (Costella et al, 2013) summarizes recent efforts made by the UWO library to involve librarians in the undergraduate program review process. The authors report that obtaining a seat for a librarian on the Senate Subcommittee for Undergraduate Program Review and developing a template for use by librarians when preparing material for the self-study have been two recently implemented initiatives.…”

Culture of assessment in academic libraries in Kuwait: investigating the current situation and future prospects

“…De Jager (2007) focused on higher education in South Africa and discussed libraries' role in nationally mandated audits of the quality of higher education. Costella et al (2013) studied the library's role in establishing a senate subcommittee for undergraduate program review at the University of Western Ontario, Canada. As is common practice at many universities, librarians were included in the subcommittee.…”

Organizational Learning for Library Enhancements: A Collaborative, Research-Driven Analysis of Academic Department Needs

“…The library literature has explored academic program reviews in terms of academic libraries playing a meaningful, proactive role in the review process and contributing to campus governance. 13 However, there has been little exploration of how libraries may use the resulting self-study reports for their own strategic advancement.…”