“It is a deliberate self-reflection and assuring (departments) and the rest of campus about their role in the university,” Wilcox said.

Each department will review and analyze every unit within it, whether the unit is accredited or not, he said.

“Two years ago, there were a number of areas in the faculty governance system that were looked at for a possible reform and this was one of the suggested reforms,” said June Youatt, senior associate provost.

Then a set of faculty was assigned to look at the idea of program review and see if there were any appropriate recommendations that could be made, she said.

Academic program review was called for in Faculty Voice Task Force 3. The Faculty Voice Committee called for more faculty involvement in the governance system, and has five task forces.

“Students come to the university because of the quality of our programs, and this is another tool we use to keep high quality programs in place,” Wilcox said.

After the faculty has reviewed a program it will go to the college’s dean and then to the provost’s office — there will be feedback at every level, he said.

At Tuesday’s Executive Committee of Academic Council, the committee decided to elect three members to sit on the University Faculty Program Advisory Committee, which will make sure the program review process is done correctly.

The university might have to provide additional staff so that the process runs more effectively and efficiently, Wilcox said.

Karen Klomparens, graduate school dean, said in an e-mail that a university-wide program review system is a systematic way for administrators, faculty, and students to look at programs and see if any improvements can be made.

“The self-study is the most important step and is set up so faculty and students think about the program and to compare themselves to other programs both on campus and off campus,” she said.

“Program review is an opportunity for faculty from other universities to visit MSU and provide input for the faculty and students. This is also an opportunity for a program to showcase what they do.”