Introduction and Purpose of the Program Review
The Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) Policy Number 2-225 requires programs not accredited by
an external accrediting body to conduct a review of each program at least once every 7 years.
Each review is to include a self-study conducted by administrators and faculty within the
program.
The purpose of the academic program review is to assist NAU to improve programs, guide
appropriation of state resources, guide decisions to reduce duplication and eliminate
unproductive programs, assist the Board with addressing budget requests, and identifying
outstanding programs for special recognition. The external review team is selected to provide
an objective appraisal of the programs. This includes a review of the physical and fiscal
resources; quality of the faculty and staff, including scholarly productivity; student
performance; and outcomes of the program, including the level of degree productivity.
As of 2011, programs at Northern Arizona University College of Education (NAU CoE) that lead
to P-12 licensure or certification are accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of
Teacher Education (NCATE). The programs will be submitting mid-cycle reports to NCATE in
March 2014, and a full review will occur in Fall 2017. In the future, these programs will be
reviewed by the Council for Accreditation of Education Programs (CAEP).
The College of Education offers several programs that are not reviewed by NCATE/CAEP. Three
of the programs are in the Department of Educational Psychology (e.g., Ph.D. in Educational
Psychology-emphasis in Counseling Psychology, M.Ed. Counseling-Student Affairs, and M.Ed.
Human Relations). These programs were reviewed under ABOR policy in 2010. The CoE offers
programs that do not lead to certification in the departments of Educational Leadership,
Educational Specialties, and Teaching and Learning. The targeted programs for the current
ABOR review are as follows:
1. B.S. Ed. in Consumer and Technical Education (Educational Specialties department)
2. M.Ed. in Consumer and Technical Education (Educational Specialties department)
3. M.Ed. in Special Education-Non-certification (Educational Specialties department)
4. M.Ed. in Educational Leadership – School Leadership K-12 Emphasis
5. M.Ed. in Educational Leadership - Educational Foundations
6. M.Ed. in Educational Leadership – Community College/Higher Education
7. Ed.D. in Educational Leadership – Community College/Higher Education
8. M. Ed. in Early Childhood (Teaching & Learning department)
9. M. Ed. In Elementary-Continuing (Teaching & Learning department)
10. M. Ed. in Secondary-Continuing (Teaching & Learning department)
11. Ed.D. in Curriculum & Instruction (Teaching & Learning department)
Structure of the Program Reports
This report begins with an overview of Northern Arizona University and the College of Education. This
section includes an update of new developments in the various programs since the self-study reports
were written. It also includes a summary of guiding questions we hope to address with the Reviewers at
the site visit.
Next the Reviewers will find a self-study report for each of the 11 targeted programs. Each self-study
includes program description and brief history. Next, background information is provided, including
admission rates, program enrollment, graduation rates, program diversity data, and other relevant
information. The self-study section provides the program faculty’s response to the following questions:
What is the relationship of the program to the NAU mission and strategic goals?
What is the quality of the program (e.g., evidence of effectiveness and innovation; scholarly
productivity; assessment of student learning outcomes and student success; student mentoring and
research activity; student/alumni survey feedback; coordinator/advisor survey results)?
What does the program contribute to the region, state, or local community?
What are the program’s strategic plans for the future for students, faculty/staff, the program, and the
delivery system?
Finally, each department has provided appendices with details regarding the Cline Library resources,
faculty curriculum vitaes, faculty scholarship summary, and student scholarship summary (if relevant).
The Appendices file includes several subfiles including curriculum vitaes for all faculty involved in these
programs, recent dissertations, grants, library resources, program of studies, and faculty publication and
presentation summaries.