What are units required to address in the self-study?
The APR guide outlines all expectations and requirements for a unit’s self-study. You are required to address all prompts relevant to your unit.
Who should write the self-study?
The self-study is the product of a collective effort by the unit. It should not be written solely by the unit Chair. Senate and non-senate faculty, staff, postdocs, other academics, and students should be included in the process if and when appropriate.
How can we avoid common mistakes that units could make ahead of the site visit?
- Plan early and align unit faculty/staff/student committees to the needs of the self-assessment.
- Identify and include as appropriated input from key people who may be out at the time of the site visit e.g., sabbatical.
- The APR staff support team is available to help, but you do need to get on their calendars early. Ensure that committee chairs know who is available to support them.
- Adequately include lecturers, staff, postdocs, and students in the process.
- Include appropriate information related to undergraduate experiences, learning outcomes, and curriculum assessments.
- Overlooking concerns within the unit and hoping they will not surface during the site visit is not advisable. To the extent possible, please identify all issues and challenges in your self-study or communicate these verbally to the external reviewers through the Department’s Dean or, for Schools, through the Vice Provost for the Faculty. For confidential support, contact PATH to Care: https://care.berkeley.edu/
Are all the program review documents confidential?
Review documents do not become part of the public record until the review is completed and the outcome letter is sent to the unit.
Do units compensate lecturers for participating in the APR process?
No, units usually make lecturer participation voluntary and state that it is not compensated. Lecturers should be invited and encouraged to participate in the development of the self-study, but should not be required to participate. Lecturers should, however, have the opportunity to meet with the external review committee during the site visit.
What is the role of the Academic Senate Liaison (ASL)?
The ASL is selected by the unit under review. They are not affiliated with the unit. They have two principal functions:
- the first is to provide guidance to the ERC about UC Berkeley, its particular culture and institutions, and the context in which the department operates;
- the second is to act as the Academic Senate's observer in the review, for both its process and its content.
As part of the latter the Senate Liaison is charged with focusing on the general environment in the department (e.g., faculty-student relations, status of women and underrepresented minorities, staff morale, teaching quality and quantity, intra-college/department faculty relations and collegiality). Although the liaison's focus is not on curricular or research issues, their observations about the department’s place within the larger intellectual landscape of the campus are valuable, along with any additional aspects that the Academic Senate wishes to learn more about.
When will we receive the ERC report and do we have a chance to respond to it?
The unit will receive the ERC and ASL reports as soon as they are complete, for the Department's response to the content of these reports. The unit has 6-8 weeks to submit the response. Units should circulate these documents among faculty, staff, postdocs, and graduate students for their response to the substance of the reports, i.e., how well they characterize the Unit, capture the issues it confronts, its climate, etc; how appropriate are proposed solutions; and please report any progress the Unit may have made in addressing these issues since you submitted the self-study. (If no progress, no problem - just want to know if there is any.)
You may forward each stakeholder's response with a comprehensive cover letter from you or you may incorporate the various responses into one letter - with the exception of the "raw" responses of the graduate students. Graduate Council asks that units forward graduate student responses - with names redacted - "as is." You may of course make reference to them or incorporate passages in your letter. The APR guide provides more detailed guidelines on engaging undergraduate students at this level too.
What oversight exists for the APR process?
The Program Review Oversight Committee (PROC) exercises oversight of each review and ensures that all relevant issues are addressed in the final outcome letter. This is followed by a thorough accountability process to ensure the unit addresses these issues by the necessary deadlines. This process includes ongoing check-ins after the review is completed and a crucial mid-cycle check-in five years after the outcome letter is issued. Every academic unit must undergo a review every ten years and a mid-cycle check-in every five years.