The Provost’s Office will contact colleges to request completion of program review reporting that is mandated by the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) in the state’s administrative code and statutes. All IBHE-approved certificate and degree programs as well as IBHE-approved permanent centers must complete IBHE program review reports, including an initial third-year progress report and ongoing eight-year cycle reports. Some degree programs will also be asked to complete APEER reviews.

For information on the Annual CourseLeaf Review reports, visit the Guidelines for New or Revised Programs page.

IBHE Third-Year Progress Report and Ongoing IBHE Program Review Reports

To comply with Illinois Administrative Code title 23 section 1050.50, new IBHE-approved programs such as degrees, certificates, certificates of advanced study (CAS), and artist diplomas (AD) must submit a progress report three years after their first enrollment. New IBHE-approved permanent centers and institutes must submit a progress report three years after IBHE approval. After the third-year progress report, programs will be asked to submit their next IBHE program review report when the other ongoing programs in their unit are requested (if applicable) or in eight years.

All ongoing IBHE-approved degrees, certificates, CAS, AD, and permanent centers/institutes will submit an IBHE review report on an eight-year cycle established by the Provost’s Office. For most programs, the eight-year cycle is set to occur the year after the home unit’s external academic program review.

Process

Each March, the Provost’s Office will notify relevant colleges about the list of degrees, certificates, CAS, AD, and permanent centers/institutes that are due for third-year or ongoing review reports that year. The college will notify the relevant units, who are required to use the IBHE template to complete a separate one- to two-page report for each degree, certificate, CAS, AD, and permanent center/institute on that year’s list. Colleges should email all IBHE review reports to the Provost’s Office by the end of May, but colleges may give an earlier internal deadline to allow the college administration time to review the report contents and suggest edits. The Provost’s Office will review the reports and request changes as needed to ensure the university meets IBHE expectations. Once all reports are final, they are compiled into a single report and sent to the System Academic Affairs Office for submission to IBHE.

Report Tips

Units must address each of the four sections on the IBHE report template:

1. Major changes within the discipline or to the context for offering the program since the last IBHE review report (or since the start of the program for third-year progress reports)
2. Findings and recommendations, including evidence of learning outcomes and opportunities for improvement
3. Actions taken to improve the program since the last IBHE review report (or actions taken since the start of the program for third-year progress reports)
4. Actions planned to be taken to improve the program

These resources may be helpful in writing program review reports:

• Academic Program Review self-study, external reviewer report, and response report
• Other curricular or programming reviews
• Annual summaries
• Learning Outcomes Assessment reports/updates
• Feedback or survey results from key stakeholders (e.g., students, alumni, advisory board members, employers, etc.)
• Prior IBHE program review report, if available

Questions about the IBHE program review report process should be directed to Kate Techtow in the Provost’s Office.

APEER

Additionally, some programs may undergo an APEER Review. The Academic Program Efficiency and Effectiveness Report (APEER) process is how the university complies with a part of state statute 110 ILCS 205/7, which mandates that public universities in Illinois report on degree programs with a trend of low enrollment (low majors) and low degree completions.

The university information gathered during the APEER review process is reported to the System Academic Affairs Office and the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE). IBHE combines it with information provided by other Illinois public universities and submits a compiled report to the Illinois General Assembly.

Process

APEER reporting occurs in the fall semester on a two-year cycle comprising one odd-numbered year (e.g., 2023) followed by an even-numbered year (e.g., 2024).

Odd-Numbered Years

In an odd-numbered year, the System Academic Affairs Office provides relevant data to the Provost’s Office, who determines the eligible degree programs that didn’t meet the IBHE thresholds for enrollment and degree completion. These thresholds (see below) are based on the average of the past three years for these two metrics. The Provost’s Office will send a spreadsheet of programs to the relevant colleges. Those colleges should reach out to the departments providing those degree programs to:

1. Determine what the appropriate status of each program is, choosing from IBHE’s list of statuses (see below).
2. Write an explanation of the status choice for each program (minimum of 1-3 sentences).

Colleges should report the statuses and explanatory text to the Provost’s Office. Colleges whose eligible degree programs were above the three-year average for either threshold will not be contacted for an APEER response.

Even-Numbered Years

In the fall of the even-numbered year that follows, only those programs that chose “5-Priority Review” as the status in the prior year will be asked to follow up on their progress and select a new status. The Provost’s Office will contact relevant colleges in that case.

In the next odd-numbered year, the cycle starts over.

Questions about the APEER process should be directed to Kate Techtow in the Provost’s Office.