Academic Portfolio and Program Review (APPR)
Academic excellence and innovation for today and tomorrow’s students
Penn State is engaging in a University-wide academic portfolio and program review (APPR) of all undergraduate and graduate programs across our campuses beginning in 2024.
By evaluating the current University academic portfolio, Penn State will be poised to align offerings across locations with student and market demand, create stable enrollments, foster strategic growth, and connect academic offerings with the University’s mission and goals.
This effort will be a fluid process, and plans will evolve based on learnings and feedback. Check back regularly as this website will continue to be updated as this process moves forward.
Last updated: 4/15/2024
Focus Areas
Goals
Penn State will emerge as the top land grant university for academic innovation. Our goal is to build on our strengths as a University and to remain a student-centric institution with a comprehensive and cohesive academic portfolio that meets our educational mission sustainably and aligns with students’ preferences, societal and workforce needs, and Penn State’s research strengths and priorities. Our work will focus on:
Structure and Roles
Academic leaders, faculty, staff, and students will be partners in the APPR effort, serving as members of the steering committee and project teams, and through opportunities to provide guidance and input.
Open Nominations
As part of our plan to engage members of the Penn State community in the process, we had an open call for nominations from February 22 to March 1, 2024 where faculty, staff, and students could nominate members of the community, or themselves, to participate in one of the emerging working groups that will be essential to the project’s success.
The form is now closed. We have received 483 total nominations – thank you to everyone who submitted a nomination! The Steering Committee will begin reviewing the nominations and will be reaching out in the coming weeks to notify candidates if they are selected to participate on a particular team.
APPR Roles, Team Representatives & Structures
RFP Selection Team
Will review the proposals from potential consultants and make recommendations to the Steering Committee.
Co-Leads:
- Liz Wright, Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer; Penn State Hazleton
- Karen Paulson, Coordinator of Online Programs & Teaching Professor of Education (HIED); Education Policies Studies Department
Team Charge:
- Responsible for reviewing the submissions from 5-8 external consultants and narrowing it down to 3 for interviews
- Develop the scorecard for down selection and interview process
- Engage Senate Council in the interview process
Communications and Engagement Team
Will work to engage Penn State community in APPR processes and provide timely updates on APPR progress.
Co-Leads:
- Kerry Newman, Director of Strategic Communications, Undergraduate Education
- Juliet Pinto, Administrative Fellow; Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications
Team Charge
- Responsible for working with co-leads and University communication partners to strategize and execute plans to communicate APPR project updates.
- Responsible for strategizing ways to engage the University community about APPR project.
- Responsible for co-planning content for website, newsletter, emails, stories, and other marketing communications channels, as needed.
Process Development Team
Develop the process for how we will engage in data gathering and validation in collaboration with our consultants specific to programs and portfolios.
Co-Leads:
- Renata Engel, Vice Provost for Online Education, World Campus
- Mary Shenk, Graduate Council Chair-Elect, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Demography, and Asian Studies
Team Charge:
- Develop the process for how we will engage in data gathering and validation in collaboration with our consultants specific to programs and portfolio
- Create a decision-making process map that leads to the identification of program/portfolio strengths, shortcomings, opportunities and recommendations for academic leaders
- Create a process for academic leaders to respond to the APPR recommendations
- Create a continuous review process for programs and portfolios
Systematic Analysis Tool Development Team
Develop the tools used to systematically assess and analyze data gathered by consultant.
Co-Leads:
- Jonna Belanger, College of Health and Human Development; Faculty Senate Committee Curricular Affairs
- Maggie Slattery, Assistant Dean for General Education; Undergraduate Education
Team Charge:
- Develop systematic tools to collect and analyze metrics to inform evaluation of programs. These metrics will not be assessing academic quality of programs or academic credibility of programs, as this is already established in the current curriculum processes.
- Share tools with our consultant to begin collaboration with their work.
- Work closely with the Process Development Team and Data & Information teams to increase coherence.
Data and Information Team
Develop oversight for how we collect and work with data.
Co-Leads:
- Rick Brazier, Interim Dean of University College
- Bill Clark, Associate Dean of the Graduate School
Team Charge:
- Provide oversight on how data is collected, delivered to and from OPAIR, the consultant, and various committees
- Collaborate with the Systematic Analysis Tool Development Team to determine Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to be used in the portfolio and program reviews
- Consultant Engagement
- Academic Analytics
Project Support Team
Work closely with the consultant to ensure they are getting the support, data, and information they need to do their scope of work.
APPR Steering Committee
Responsible for developing and overseeing the steps involved in the APPR.
Role of Consulting Partner in APPR
Penn State will engage a consultant to offer guidance and recommendations throughout the process. The consultant will not have decision-making responsibilities. Their role will be to:
- Provide expertise and bandwidth to objectively and efficiently deliver the review processes
- Provide market data and peer benchmarking
- Support the development of measurements and metrics to assess existing (including newly started) and future programs
- Take a University-wide approach to assessing current and future offerings to maximize Penn State’s impact and mission
The University is currently in the RFP process to request proposals and expects to engage a consultant in spring 2024. Proposals will be evaluated by the University Faculty Senate Council and the project team that will engage with the consultant throughout the process. Recommendations will be shared with the Steering Committee to select the consultant.
APPR Process Progression and Draft Timeline
Committee and Team Membership
Executive Sponsors
Tracy Langkilde, Interim Executive Vice President and Provost; the Verne M. Willaman Dean of the Eberly College of Science
Margo DelliCarpini, Vice President for Commonwealth Campuses and Executive Chancellor
Shelli Stine, Chair, Faculty Senate; College of Health and Human Development
Steering Committee
A core steering committee is being formed and will include faculty, staff, and student representatives from across the University.
Jeremy Bean, Assistant Vice President; Office of Enterprise Change and Transformation
Jonna Belanger, College of Health and Human Development; Faculty Senate Committee Curricular Affairs
Kathy Bieschke, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs
Victor Brunsden, Associate Professor of Mathematics; Penn State Altoona
Rick Brazier, Interim Dean of University College
B. Stephen Carpenter II, Michael J. and Aimee Rusinko Kakos Dean; College of Arts and Architecture
Bill Clark, Associate Dean of the Graduate School
Margo DelliCarpini, Vice President for Commonwealth Campuses and Executive Chancellor
Lindsey Droz, Senior Director, Office of Enterprise Change and Transformation
Renata Engel, Vice Provost for Online Education; World Campus
Janet Hughes, Biological Sciences Librarian; STEM Libraries
Terra Ingram, Past Chair, USAC; Business Manager, SAFES Institute
Daniel Jackson, Associate Teaching Professor of Physics; Penn State Lehigh
Tracy Langkilde, Interim Executive Vice President and Provost; the Verne M. Willaman Dean of the Eberly College of Science
Matt Melvin, Vice President for Enrollment Management
Scarlett Miller, Administrative Fellow; College of Engineering
Kerry Newman, Director of Strategic Communications, Undergraduate Education
Karen Paulson, Coordinator of Online Programs & Teaching Professor of Education (HIED); Education Policies Studies Department
Juliet Pinto, Administrative Fellow; Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications
Denise Potosky, Professor in Management and Organization; Penn State Great Valley
Robert Rabb, ACUE; Associate Dean for Education, College of Engineering
Mary Shenk, Graduate Council Chair-Elect, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Demography, and Asian Studies
Maggie Slattery, Assistant Dean for General Education; Undergraduate Education
Shelli Stine, Chair, Faculty Senate; College of Health and Human Development
Josh Wede, Chair-elect, Faculty Senate; College of the Liberal Arts
Liz Wright, Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer; Penn State Hazleton
Contact
We want to hear from you – community input will be a critical part of this process. Please send questions and ideas to the APPR team at appr@psu.edu.