View in EDS HTML Full Text PDF Full Text

The Five-Year External Review Process of Online Collaborative Programs

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: The Five-Year External Review Process of Online Collaborative Programs
Language: English
Authors: Gina M. Londino-Smolar
Source: Assessment Update. 2025 37(3):8-9.
Availability: Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 4
Publication Date: 2025
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education
Postsecondary Education
Descriptors: Program Evaluation, College Programs, Electronic Learning, Cooperative Programs, Multicampus Colleges, Self Evaluation (Groups), Public Colleges
Geographic Terms: Indiana
DOI: 10.1002/au.30442
ISSN: 1041-6099
1536-0725
Abstract: Indiana University (IU) is accredited through the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), which requires accredited institutions to regularly review programs within the institution and act upon the outcomes of the review. There is no single campus-based system for program reviews; therefore, the Office of Collaborative Academic Programs (OCAP) developed a five-year external review process for online collaborative degree programs, bringing together administrator leadership, teaching faculty, and student support services to evaluate programs with student enrollment over five years. This article discusses a review of the process of developing an external review, a timeline of the main steps in the process, documenting the Office of Online Education (OOE) related resources for online programs, and lessons learned.
Abstractor: ERIC
Entry Date: 2025
Accession Number: EJ1473415
Database: ERIC
Full text is not displayed to guests.
FullText Links:
  – Type: pdflink
    Url: https://content.ebscohost.com/cds/retrieve?content=AQICAHj0k_4E0hTGH8RJwT4gCJyBsGNe_WN95AvKlDbXJGqwxwE4tbEplTcb8XSTQme4aBEoAAAA4zCB4AYJKoZIhvcNAQcGoIHSMIHPAgEAMIHJBgkqhkiG9w0BBwEwHgYJYIZIAWUDBAEuMBEEDD9wTjyGgSIZKD6RIAIBEICBm1s3Iu-jtejwgDg7i8GbeAetxc9e_u7ueCWImApuiEuKTAtFLnQeSopa9fLjKxmH08wgbycgruojifMWm6QKUk69EbholkKKy6BRLGCZbywhDz8_w4KJk0lACLFzCi81onRJ3ZGd1KygyrdkKEn0j0HfMC8hXricwm22YuwucAfCb5LV3Uoen4ng_OdD472nA9En_plZBo9h-a30
Text:
  Availability: 1
  Value: <anid>AN0185619029;0yj01may.25;2025Jun04.02:46;v2.2.500</anid> <title id="AN0185619029-1">The Five‐Year External Review Process of Online Collaborative Programs </title> <sbt id="AN0185619029-2">Introduction</sbt> <p>Indiana University (IU) has multiple campuses located throughout the state of Indiana. Bringing together and leveraging resources from multiple campuses allows for opportunities to offer online degrees that would otherwise not be possible. Faculty have come together from various IU campuses to create online degree programs where each campus is able to offer coursework through teaching and enrolling students. The Office of Collaborative Academic Programs (OCAP) facilitates the engagement and coordination among campus partnerships in collaborative online degrees. OCAP is under the Office of Online Education (OOE), which offers a multitude of services to online programs throughout IU.</p> <p>IU is accredited through the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), which requires accredited institutions to regularly review programs within the institution and act upon the outcomes of the review (Higher Learning Commission n.d., Criterion 4.A). Due to the HLC policy, IU's Educational Policies Committee has implemented that all programs are reviewed between five and seven years by a campus‐based system (Indiana University Policies n.d.). Because collaborative online programs are located on multiple campuses, awarding the same degree, there is no single campus‐based system for program reviews. Therefore, as part of the administrative role, OCAP developed a five‐year external review process for online collaborative degree programs, bringing together administrator leadership, teaching faculty, and student support services to evaluate programs with student enrollment over five years. Throughout this article, a review of the process of developing an external review, a timeline of the main steps in the process, documenting OOE related resources for online programs, and lessons learned will be discussed.</p> <hd id="AN0185619029-3">Creation of an Online Collaborative Degree Self‐Study</hd> <p>First, an extensive review of external review procedures, requirements, and criteria was conducted at IU East, IU Kokomo, IU Southeast, IU Northwest, IU South Bend, and IU Indianapolis. Similar sections were represented on the self‐study from all campuses, such as the mission, vision, and values, curriculum and assessment, faculty qualifications, and student resources. Self‐studies also included sections on facilities, budget, learning space, and campus‐specific resources that do not apply to the online collaborative programs. There are also OOE‐ and OCAP‐specific resources that are not applicable for a single campus‐based program that were considered. Creating a self‐study template that all collaborative online programs could use for an external review was key to developing a successful five‐year external review. The final template for the collaborative self‐study includes sections on program description, program curriculum, program evaluation, learning outcomes assessment, faculty, and resources. Topics within each section can be seen in Table 1. Individual sections were then labeled as the responsibility of OCAP or the Faculty Committee of the program being reviewed, with the leadership of the Program Director.</p> <p>1 Table Final self‐study template (italicized sections completed by OCAP administration)</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead><tr><th align="left">Program Description</th><th align="left">Program Curriculum</th><th align="left">Program Evaluation</th><th align="left">Learning Outcomes Assessment</th><th align="left">Faculty</th><th align="left">Resources</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left">Context including strengths and challenges</td><td align="left">Degree maps</td><td align="left">Application and admission data</td><td align="left">Program goals and program learning outcomes</td><td align="left">Name</td><td align="left">Student support</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Mission, vision, and values</td><td align="left">Course scheduling</td><td align="left">Enrollment trends and student demographics</td><td align="left">Assessment schedule</td><td align="left">Campus</td><td align="left">Faculty and Deans' committee support</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Program goals</td><td align="left">High‐impact practices opportunities</td><td align="left">Analysis of retention and degrees awarded</td><td align="left">Measurement tools for assessment</td><td align="left">Full/part time</td><td align="left">Teaching faculty support</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Relate to IU's mission, vision, and values and strategic plan 2030</td><td align="left">Substantive interaction</td><td align="left">Postgraduate data</td><td align="left">Student surveys</td><td align="left">Qualifications (CV)</td><td align="left" /></tr><tr><td align="left">Future of the program</td><td align="left" /><td align="left">Future forecast for program growth</td><td align="left">Assessment reports</td><td align="left">Course(s) taught</td><td align="left" /></tr><tr><td align="left" /><td align="left" /><td align="left">Comparison to peer institutions, if applicable</td><td align="left">Assessment evaluation</td><td align="left" /><td align="left" /></tr><tr><td align="left" /><td align="left" /><td align="left" /><td align="left">Future plans for assessment</td><td align="left" /><td align="left" /></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <hd id="AN0185619029-4">Creating a Timeline of Events</hd> <p>Campuses typically have standard procedures for conducting program reviews. Due to the collaborative nature of the online programs, a separate procedure and timeline needed to be developed to successfully complete an external review.</p> <p>The first step was to share the self‐study template with the Faculty Program Director and determine initial responsibilities of the Faculty Program Director and those of the program faculty committee members. The faculty committee was requested to identify potential external reviewers from three different areas: internal to IU outside of the discipline, external to IU within the discipline, and a community partner that would typically hire graduates of the program. The next step was to identify the stakeholders who needed to be included in the review process for the online program. This included Executive Vice Chancellors of Academic Affairs (EVCAAs), Deans, and teaching faculty (from each campus in the program), and OOE staff. Current students and alumni were also identified to participate in the external review. A schedule was created for each group to meet virtually with the external review team within a week's time. These meetings were scheduled for one hour, not recorded, and run by the external review team, except for the current student and alumni meeting. After the timeline for the external review was created, a due date for the self‐study was set for both the online program and OOE sections. The due date allowed for the faculty committee to review and comment on the self‐study, give the stakeholders an opportunity to review the document, and allow the external review team one month to examine the self‐study. The last step in the timeline was to communicate report expectations to both the external review team and the online faculty committee. Following the virtual external review meetings, the external review team was given one month to complete a report on their findings and recommendations to the program. The external review team was asked to identify top strengths, challenges, issues or opportunities, and overall recommendations for the online program. This was shared with EVCAAs, Deans, and the faculty committee for review. The faculty committee, under the leadership of the Faculty Program Director, was asked to respond to the external reviewer's report and provide action items in response to the recommendations. The faculty committee was asked to provide the following specific areas:</p> <p> <emph>Summary of Self‐Study</emph> </p> <p></p> <ulist> <item> Program strengths and progress.</item> <p></p> <item> Areas for improvement.</item> <p></p> <item> Key issues facing the program.</item> </ulist> <p> <emph>Reflection</emph> </p> <p></p> <ulist> <item> Response to external reviewer's overall report.</item> <p></p> <item> Response to external reviewer's recommendations.</item> </ulist> <p> <emph>Action Plan</emph> </p> <p></p> <ulist> <item> Plan of action for the faculty committee to address recommendations.</item> <p></p> <item> Timeline.</item> <p></p> <item> Reasoning for not addressing recommendations.</item> </ulist> <hd id="AN0185619029-5">Documenting OOE and OCAP Resources</hd> <p>A large portion of the self‐study was completed by OCAP administration, as can be seen in <emph>italics</emph> in Table 1. This includes a majority portion of the program curriculum and learning outcomes assessment as well as the program evaluation and resources. Due to the collaborative nature of the online programs, some of this information can relate to all online collaborative programs—such as the resources. However, much of this material in the self‐study is specific to the online program being reviewed. OOE has resources to track students in online collaborative programs, including applications, admissions, enrollments, retention, and graduates. Program assessment is largely coordinated through OCAP, which guides the program faculty committee through identification of program learning outcomes (PLOs), developing rubrics for PLOs, assisting faculty in aligning course assessments with PLOs, and reporting the outcomes of PLO findings. An administrative contribution of these areas was done outside of the faculty committee and provided the faculty committee an opportunity to reflect on how these resources have impacted the online programs. OOE provides various resources for online students, for example the GoTeam, onboarding, advising, and tutoring. This is highlighted throughout the self‐study, allowing the external review team and online program stakeholders to see benefits to the current students. In partnership with University Information Systems Technology (UITS) eLearning and Design Services (eDS), faculty teaching in the collaborative online program have access to various support services in developing online courses, such as instructional designers, accessibility issues, and emerging learning technologies. OCAP provides program coordination support to collaborative online programs. This includes coordinating faculty from each campus to engage in course scheduling, program requirements, and curriculum needs. OCAP communicates with all stakeholders in the collaborative online program, informing them of the highlights, concerns, marketing, and needs of the program. This information is critical to the success of the online program and must be included in the self‐study, which could not have been completed by the Faculty Program Director alone.</p> <hd id="AN0185619029-6">Lessons Learned</hd> <p>From this experience, lessons were learned that will be taken into consideration as five‐year external reviews are continued in the online collaborative degree programs at IU. These include a longer timeframe from the start of the process to the virtual external review, a need for developing student surveys specific to online degrees, a need for program‐specific questions for the external review team, and the delivery of the self‐study and reference materials to stakeholders and the external review team.</p> <p>Because this was a pilot of the five‐year review process for OCAP, there was a shortened timeframe from when the self‐study was started to the virtual external review (less than five months). Due to the tight timeline, various areas of the review process suffered. One area was only being able to identify two external review team members for the online programs. Reaching out to potential reviewers in the middle of the semester and asking for a one‐week commitment outside of the typical academic year made it difficult for reviewers to be able to serve. There also was no representation of community partners as external reviewers for the online programs. This suggests that the online program stakeholders need to build a better relationship with community members that hire graduates from the online programs. The timing of the virtual external review also made it difficult for current students and alumni to engage with the external review team. In some cases, no students or alumni were available to represent the program. Maybe there needs to be a process in place to track graduates from the online programs, which would lead to another issue—student exit surveys specific to students in collaborative online programs.</p> <p>Survey data are a great way to track graduates and report out to future students' potential career opportunities with the degree. Currently, all student exit surveys are completed at the school or campus level, and it was difficult to find consistent data on students that graduated from online programs. There was some information on graduates; however, this included a poor sample population and missing information. Now that this issue has been identified and OCAP can show a need to have this information, there are efforts to create end‐of‐program surveys specific to students in online collaborative programs.</p> <p>Sharing the self‐study and accompanying documentation with external reviewers was cumbersome. The self‐study and over ten appendices was more than 400 pages for some online programs. The best method to share the materials with the external review team and stakeholders needs to be discussed, to ensure an easily accessible method to review documents. The initial communication with the external review team included the Program Director and the OCAP lead. During this time, key questions or concerns about the online program should be addressed for the external review team to know where to focus their efforts during their review.</p> <hd id="AN0185619029-7">Conclusions</hd> <p>This was a learning experience in how to effectively complete an external review of an online collaborative academic program for IU, encompassing multiple campuses and the OOE. Overall, the external review process was a success in developing a self‐study which reflected all campuses, including leadership and teaching faculty from all campuses involved in the online program, meeting virtually with an external review team, and reflecting on the recommendations and creating an action plan for the collaborative online program. As this process continues for future online collaborative programs, the timeline will be extended over a period of eight months to correct some of the limitations of the pilot process.</p> <p> <emph>Disclaimer: IU Online updated naming conventions in summer 2024. These changes affirm commitment to a single, recognizable unit supporting students, faculty and staff in online education initiatives at Indiana University. Many documents hyperlinked in this self‐study will have legacy naming conventions</emph>.</p> <p> <emph>The terms "Office of Online Education (OOE)" and "Office of Collaborative Academic Programs (OCAP)" have been discontinued. IU Online staff who partner with campuses to support Collaborative Academic Programs (CAPs) are now known as "IU Online." Additionally, the naming convention "IU Online Class Connect (IUOCC)" has been replaced with "Online Course Sharing" to reflect the commitment to scheduling efficiencies and improved student experiences</emph>.</p> <ref id="AN0185619029-8"> <title> References </title> <blist> <bibl id="bib1" type="bt">1</bibl> <bibtext> Higher Learning Commission. n.d. Criteria for Accreditation Policy Number: CRRT.B.10.010. https://bit.ly/4kzMi4A (accessed September 7, 2023).</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib2" type="bt">2</bibl> <bibtext> Indiana University Policies. n.d. Procedures for Program Reviews. https://bit.ly/4iUoAxY (accessed September 7, 2023).</bibtext> </blist> </ref> <aug> <p>By Gina M. Londino‐Smolar</p> <p>Reported by Author</p> <p></p> <p>Gina M. Londino‐Smolar is program director and a teaching professor at Indiana University Indianapolis.</p> </aug>
Header DbId: eric
DbLabel: ERIC
An: EJ1473415
AccessLevel: 3
PubType: Academic Journal
PubTypeId: academicJournal
PreciseRelevancyScore: 0
IllustrationInfo
Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: The Five-Year External Review Process of Online Collaborative Programs
– Name: Language
  Label: Language
  Group: Lang
  Data: English
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Gina+M%2E+Londino-Smolar%22">Gina M. Londino-Smolar</searchLink>
– Name: TitleSource
  Label: Source
  Group: Src
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Assessment+Update%22"><i>Assessment Update</i></searchLink>. 2025 37(3):8-9.
– Name: Avail
  Label: Availability
  Group: Avail
  Data: Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
– Name: PeerReviewed
  Label: Peer Reviewed
  Group: SrcInfo
  Data: Y
– Name: Pages
  Label: Page Count
  Group: Src
  Data: 4
– Name: DatePubCY
  Label: Publication Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 2025
– Name: TypeDocument
  Label: Document Type
  Group: TypDoc
  Data: Journal Articles<br />Reports - Descriptive
– Name: Audience
  Label: Education Level
  Group: Audnce
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Higher+Education%22">Higher Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Postsecondary+Education%22">Postsecondary Education</searchLink>
– Name: Subject
  Label: Descriptors
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Program+Evaluation%22">Program Evaluation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22College+Programs%22">College Programs</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Electronic+Learning%22">Electronic Learning</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cooperative+Programs%22">Cooperative Programs</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Multicampus+Colleges%22">Multicampus Colleges</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Self+Evaluation+%28Groups%29%22">Self Evaluation (Groups)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Public+Colleges%22">Public Colleges</searchLink>
– Name: Subject
  Label: Geographic Terms
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Indiana%22">Indiana</searchLink>
– Name: DOI
  Label: DOI
  Group: ID
  Data: 10.1002/au.30442
– Name: ISSN
  Label: ISSN
  Group: ISSN
  Data: 1041-6099<br />1536-0725
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: Indiana University (IU) is accredited through the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), which requires accredited institutions to regularly review programs within the institution and act upon the outcomes of the review. There is no single campus-based system for program reviews; therefore, the Office of Collaborative Academic Programs (OCAP) developed a five-year external review process for online collaborative degree programs, bringing together administrator leadership, teaching faculty, and student support services to evaluate programs with student enrollment over five years. This article discusses a review of the process of developing an external review, a timeline of the main steps in the process, documenting the Office of Online Education (OOE) related resources for online programs, and lessons learned.
– Name: AbstractInfo
  Label: Abstractor
  Group: Ab
  Data: ERIC
– Name: DateEntry
  Label: Entry Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 2025
– Name: AN
  Label: Accession Number
  Group: ID
  Data: EJ1473415
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=eric&AN=EJ1473415
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1002/au.30442
    Languages:
      – Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 4
        StartPage: 8
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Program Evaluation
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: College Programs
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Electronic Learning
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Cooperative Programs
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Multicampus Colleges
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Self Evaluation (Groups)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Public Colleges
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Indiana
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: The Five-Year External Review Process of Online Collaborative Programs
        Type: main
  BibRelationships:
    HasContributorRelationships:
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Gina M. Londino-Smolar
    IsPartOfRelationships:
      – BibEntity:
          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 05
              Type: published
              Y: 2025
          Identifiers:
            – Type: issn-print
              Value: 1041-6099
            – Type: issn-electronic
              Value: 1536-0725
          Numbering:
            – Type: volume
              Value: 37
            – Type: issue
              Value: 3
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: Assessment Update
              Type: main
ResultId 1