UHH Congress Program Review Advisory Committee Annual Report 2015 – 16
Respectfully submitted by Mitchell Anderson, Chair, 5 May 2016.
Executive Committee
Mitchell Anderson, Chair (Natural Sciences), Seri Luangphinith (Humanities), Doug Mikkleson
(Social Sciences)
Full Committee
2014-15
Ag
CHEM
AJ
Poly Sci
Armando Ortega
Kevin Hopkins
Norbert Furumo
Katherine Young
Todd Belt
2015-16
Art
English
MARE
Hist
Jonathan Goebel
Kirsten Molligaard
Jason Adolf
Doug Mikkleson
2016-17
Econ
Physics & Astr
Sociology
Kinesiology
Geology
M.A. Education
CS
Keisuke Nakao
Marianne Takamiya
Alton Okinaka
Lincoln Gotshalk
Steve Lundblad
Michele Ebersol
Keith Edwards
2017-18
Jap Studies
Geography
M. A. TCEBS
Anth
Math
Comm
Masa Honda
Jonathan Price
Don Price
Peter Mills
Brian Wissman
Miike Yoshitaka
UHH Congress Program Review Advisory Committee Annual Report 2015 – 16
Overview of Committee Activities for 2015 - 16
1. Training: The committee held a single general training session in the Fall 2015 semester.
All members of the full committee were requested to attend or send a representative. The
purpose of the meeting was to provide insight into the program review process, for those
programs coming up for review in the next two years. Those programs benefitted from
the experience of, and input from, those programs that recently completed the program
review process.
2. Program Review Self-Study Support: The executive committee met with most programs
coming up for review, including CAFNRM (2016), ART (2016), PHYS/ASTR (2017),
KES (2017, re-scheduled to 2019-20), GEOL (2017), and ED (2017). During these
initial meetings the committee provided a valuable oversight into the purpose of PR, the
expected schedule of events, and the process for identifying an external reviewer and
arranging for their visit, and the MOU process. The programs indicated that they found
this service to be very useful and appreciated the assistance.
3. Reschedule PR for KES: Upon meeting with KES the executive committee came to
understand that due to insufficient faculty members available to participate in the review,
and pending new hires, it would be best to re-schedule KES review until the new hires
have been secured. The committee chair contacted the VCAA with this suggestion,
resulting in KES being rescheduled until 2019-2020. This type of intervention, based on
PR experience and a good working relationship with the VCAA, allowed PRAC to
intervene on KES' behalf and alleviate an untenable situation. This was an excellent
example of how PRAC fulfills that part of its mission to ensure that programs are treated
fairly in the PR process.
4. Reschedule PR for NS: Due to the primary contact (Dr. Lundblad) being saddled with
program reviews in consecutive years (GEOL is scheduled for 2016-17), the executive
committee requested that the VCAA reschedule NS review from 2017-18 to 2018-19.
The VCAA agreed and made the change. This was another example of PRAC's ability to
serve as a primary liaison between the faculty and the administration for program review
issues.
5. MOU Support: The executive committee attempted to be very pro-active in assisting
programs through the MOU process. The committee provided advice and input to a
number of programs, including CHEM (2015), CFNRM (2015), AJ (2015), POLS
(2015), ENG (2016), HIST(2016), and MARE(2016). The committee kept in close
contact with the programs and their Deans, and were invited to attend a few of the
negotiations (POLS, ENG, CHEM). Assisting with the MOU process is probably the
more important service the committee provides.
6. Update the ongoing PRAC Hand book, to provide continuity of information for future
executive committee members. Included this year is a summary list of examples of
techniques programs use to identify an external reviewer.
UHH Congress Program Review Advisory Committee Annual Report 2015 – 16
Items that need to be addressed in the upcoming year
1. Continuity of Efforts: It is essential that PRAC continue to provide the support it was
able to deliver during the current year. 2016-17 saw PRAC begin to fulfill its intended
mission. It advised a large number of programs in multiple PR-related efforts and was
able to help programs adjust their PR schedule. It greatly assisted in the MOU process as
well. However, it needs to continually "train" the administration in recognizing that
PRAC plays a central role in PR, and should be included in all MOU negotiations.
Similarly, it needs to "train" the faculty in this same realization. This is the only way that
PRAC can fulfill its mission to ensure that all programs are treated "fairly" in the MOU
process. PRAC is the only faculty mechanism common throughout all program review
activities, and as such is the only faculty resource positioned to provide the necessary
information regarding the treatment of different programs (e.g. in terms of resources
admin agrees to provide to each program).
2. Education: Most faculty are still unaware of the role of program review in guiding their
programs' direction. They still view PR as a necessary evil, one that now comes up every
five years, and then is ignored until it again rears its ugly head. Faculty should view the
MOU as the beginning of the next cycle, as opposed to the end of the review. The MOU
should be used to guide program changes and allocation of resources throughout the next
cycle. The subsequent review is then an opportunity to adjust directions, and to identify
or reprioritize their resource needs. The task for PRAC is to educate the faculty and the
administration in this new orientation. Perhaps Professional Development funds could be
used for this purpose.
3. B-Budgets to the IR: When PRAC requests the quantitative data from the IR, the Bbudget needs to be obtained from division or college secretaries. PRAC should consider
instituting a policy to have the various secretaries provide to the IR all B-budgets, rather
than doing them piecemeal.
Current Status of Programs Involved in Program Review
Programs Completed PR (2014 – 2015)
 Chemistry
Status: Complete
 Administration of Justice
Status: Complete
 Political Science
Status: Complete
 Ph.D. Hawaiian Language Culture Revitalization (not sure about this one)
 Ag
Status: MOU negotiations suspended pending re-org
Programs Currently in PR (2015 – 2016)
 Art
Status: External reviewer report submitted. MOU in
progress.
 English
Status: MOU final negotiations
 History
Status: MOU in progress
 Marine Science
Status: MOU final negotiations
UHH Congress Program Review Advisory Committee Annual Report 2015 – 16
Programs Scheduled for PR Next Year (2016 – 2017)
 Economics
Attended PRAC training meeting
 Physics
Met with PRAC for PR overview (Feb 2016)
 Sociology
 Kinesiology
Moved to 2019-2020
 Geology
Met with PRAC for PR overview (Feb 2016)
 M.Ed. Education
Met with PRAC exec (Fall 2015), attended PRAC training
 CS
Attended PRAC training
Programs Scheduled for PR the Following Year (2017 – 2018)
 Japanese Studies
 Geography
 Natural Science
 Environmental Studies
 Biology
 M.A. TCBES
 Anthropology
 M.A. Cultural Heritage