View and download these guidelines in PDF form HERE.

Graduate Council Guidelines for the Evaluation of New Programs

Approved by the Graduate Council on April 1, 2020

1. The Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and the Chair of Graduate Council send the Evaluation for New Program Questionnaire (see A.) and a data set (see B.) to the graduate program director. Unless otherwise stated in the approved program proposal, the timeline for the graduate Council's evaluation of a new graduate program will be (from the first semester of the first matriculating class):
   - 3 years for all certificate programs
   - 5 years for all master's and diploma programs
   - 8 years for all doctoral programs
2. The graduate program director completes the questionnaire. Within two months of receiving the questionnaire, the graduate program director returns their response and supporting documents to the Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and the Chair of Graduate Council.
3. The Dean of Graduate Studies and the Chair of Graduate Council request a letter from the relevant School Dean(s) and Department Chair(s) seeking comment on their perception of the program and its future
4. The Chair of Graduate Council distributes these materials to a dedicated subcommittee for program evaluations consisting of two or three members fo Graduate Council, the Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and relevant staff members for review. The subcommittee may ask additional questions and investigate further, as it deems necessary.
5. The Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and the Chair of Graduate Council write a letter to the graduate program director following the review and investigations conducted by the subcommittee.* This letter focuses on the improvement of the program and may include commendations, guidance for improvement, and/or concrete goals and objectives with specific deadlines for additional follow-up. The letter will be shared with the School Dean(s), relevant Department Chairs, and the Provost.

A. Questionnaire
The baseline questionnaire will be available on the Graduate Council website. Additional questions may be added by the Graduate Council subcommittee for new program evaluation and the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies either at the time of the initial request or after receiving the initial response. Questions are drawn from the original proposal, admissions, enrollment, graduation, placement, financial, and survey data available.

• How has the graduate program met and not met the purpose and goals outlined in the original proposal?
  • What goals and ambitions of the initial program proposal have been successful realized or exceeded expectations?
  • What parts of the initial proposal were not realized?
  • Please provide context and rationale for any elements of the initial proposal that were not realized.
• Describe how the program has been administered and staffed in the last three years.
  • Will the program continue with administration and staffing in this manner, or will changes be occurring?
  • If so, why? What adjustments will be made? How and when will these adjustments be put into place?
• Describe faculty involvement in the program.
  • Which tenure-track faculty have been involved in the program?
  • How have they been involved?
  • Which non-tenure track faculty and staff have been involved in the program?
  • How have the been involved?
  • Will the tenure-track, non-tenure-track, and staff involvement continues as it has been, or will changes be made?
  • If so, why? What adjustments will be made? How and when will these adjustments be put into place.
• ​​​​​​​Provide an overview of student admissions over the first three years.
  • ​​​​​​​Please compare the proposed cohort size to this year's matriculating class. Please identify factors that have helped or hindered the programs admissions intentions.
  • Will the program continue with admissions as they have been, or will adjustments be made to change the students population?
  • If so, why? What adjustments will be made? How and when will these adjustments be put into place?
• ​​​​​​​Provide an overview of student retention
  • ​​​​​​​Do any retention issues need to be addressed?
  • If so, what are the issues? Will adjustments be made to address these issues? What adjustments will be made? How and when will these adjustments be put into place?
• ​​​​​​​Provide evidence of the quality of instruction.
• Provide evidence of student and alumni satisfaction.
• Provide a budget overview for the first three years of operation and a projection for the next five years.
• Provide an overview of any non-course student development programs.
• Provide an overview and reflection on student placement.
• Discuss the program's goals for the next five years.

B. Data Set
The data set, constructed by the Office of Institutional Research will include, at minimum, and will be available graduate programs at all times beginning in Fall 2020.