In an effort to assist the Academic Senate in integrating new expectations for documenting effectiveness in undergraduate education with its reviews of academic programs, UCLA’s Undergraduate Council, together with the Graduate Council, has incorporated revised guidelines (beginning in November 2009 for departments scheduled to write their self reviews in 2010) for the eight-year review process. These guidelines have been updated over time to reflect the pertinent expectations for baccalaureate degree-granting programs that are undergoing program review during a particular academic year. When addressing undergraduate programs within the Self Review Report, the current (Revised Fall 2017) guidelines ask programs to:

Undergraduate Programs.
Provide an overview of the goals, rationale, structure, and effectiveness of your undergraduate programs, providing evidence and support as appropriate. What aspects of undergraduate education do you do well, what areas do you feel need to be strengthened, and what changes do you anticipate in the future? How does your program compare to other similar programs, departments, or units within UCLA and in your discipline at other universities? In compliance with federal expectations that colleges and universities document evidence of student learning (beyond grades earned in individual courses), and in keeping with UCLA’s accreditation related commitments, for each of your major degree programs, please be sure to: (a) include the articulated learning objectives for each of your major degree programs, noting any changes introduced since the last program review; (b) describe efforts made to evaluate achievement of those learning objectives; and (c) summarize key findings and describe any changes you have implemented in your major degree program(s) as a result of your evaluation efforts…

Lastly, discuss the evaluative measures regarding “core competencies in your learning outcomes planning. These competencies must include, at least: critical thinking, information literacy, quantitative reasoning, written communication, and oral communication. Describe how each of these competencies is defined within the context of each major program. If the curriculum of one or more of your programs does not enable evaluation of a particular competency, please explain this. More information on core competencies and be found online at: www.learningoutcomes.ucla.edu/framework.htm.

Graduate Programs.
Please describe the learning objectives for each graduate degree program [a sound practice that is required by our accreditors], how they compare with those in similar units in UCLA and in your discipline at other universities, and your successes and failures in achieving them.

Currently, the Undergraduate Council (and Graduate Council) is implementing the second phase of a three-phase, six-year timeline that will ensure (as of academic year 2018-19) all UCLA baccalaureate degree granting programs are addressing learning outcomes assessment processes, findings, and implications for curricular and programmatic practice as part of UCLA’s Program Review process. For more information, please consult the UCLA Timeline for Implementing Outcomes Assessment and the UCLA Academic Senate – Academic Program Reviews  site.

 Closing Remarks