Program Based Review & Assessment Committee
Agenda / Minutes
Meeting Date:
Scheduled Start Time:
Actual Start Time:
Meeting Location:
Meeting Secretary :
March 26, 2014
12:00 pm
12:03 pm
KC 5779
Laura Ryan
Member Attendance
Committee Member Name
Ruth Sullivan, Dean of Learning
Resources
Denise Yordy
Department/Seat
VPAA Designee
Here
Y/N
Y
William Le Blanc, Director
Academic Program Review
Coordinator
Chair, Program Based Review
& Assessment Committee
Institutional Planning
John Cole, Chair ENGL
vacant
vacant
Arts, Humanities, & Soc Sci
Arts, Humanities, & Soc Sci
Arts, Humanities, & Soc Sci
Michael Kelly, Chair COMI
John Ribezzo, Chair BUSN
Business, Science & Tech
Business, Science & Tech
Y
Y
Kim Roullier, Rehab Health/Physical
Therapy
vacant
Health & Rehab Sciences
Y
Laura Ryan
Anthony Carrion,
Counselor/Coordinator, RIEOC
Rob Giovino, Associate Director of
Admissions
Library representative
Student Affairs
Y
N
Enrollment Services
N
Jeanne Mullaney, Assessment
Coordinator
N
Y
Y
Health & Rehab Sciences
Notes
Guests in Attendance
Title/Department
Robert Howe
Fire Science, Program
Director
Y
Rosemary Costigan
Chair, Nursing
& Fire Science
Y
Agenda
Notes on Discussion
Program Review:
Discuss Fire Science Academic Program
Review Report
See attached
What worked, what didn’t?
Next--Deans and VPAA
Evaluate Program Review Report
Discussion Process
If we followed a standard 5 year cycle with
accommodations for programs that have
established accreditation cycles and include a
provision that any program that makes program
changes successfully through the curriculum
process provide an update to their program
review based on the changes.
Discuss APR cycle
Assessment of Student Learning:
Indirect assessment data for programs
and departments
Bill created prototype of this data.
Meeting End
Meeting Schedule End:
Meeting Adjourned:
1:30 pm
1:50 pm
Next Meeting Date:
Next Meeting Time:
Next Meeting Location:
The following narrative is a recap of the discussion that took place as the committee reread the
Academic Program Review that was prepared and submitted by Robert Howe.
Bob Howe was named interim director of the Fire Science program in 2011, although he
indicated that elements of the Fire Science program date back to the early 1980’s. From the early
1980’s fire science courses were offered sporadically then in 2011 the course offerings were
expanded which offered more flexibility for students.
While the Fire Science program is currently recognized by the National Fire Academy, whom
Bob indicated wants to work more closely with higher education, they are not an accrediting
agency. After completing the six core courses needed for the degree, students are encouraged to
apply for the (optional) certificate offered by the National Fire Academy. Bob is directly
involved with both students and the academy in this regard as he considers this a form of career
preparation. It helps the students to understand that career building is also about networking and
not academics alone.
Completion of FIRE 1130 leads to a Rhode Island EMT license if students apply for and pass the
National certification exam. This option does not seem to be generating any quantifiable
statistics at this time, however, the department is putting together a refresher course to try and
increase the number of students utilizing this option.
The program has an advisory committee which helps them stay current, and they are actively
pursuing Fire and Emergency Services Higher Education (FESHE) accreditation. Bob noted that
there has been a resurgence for education in this field so the accreditation piece will be timely. In
addition to accreditation, the department is also addressing outdated articulation agreements with
other area institutions of higher learning in the hopes of reducing duplication of effort and
redundancy.
Both Bob and Rosemary were very knowledgeable about the review process and when asked for
suggestions with the review process itself, made relevant recommendations. In the future, Bob
would like to see distance learning and hybrid courses become a more accessible option for
students. Speaking from direct experience he related how some of his students were deployed as
active military and this essentially put an end to their coursework. Some of his students
expressed interest in continuing their studies but at present are unable to do so. A discussion of
course outcomes being more general was also suggested because for individual courses there are
currently too many outcomes to be conveyed meaningfully.