Appendix C – The Internal Review Team (IRT) Template Report to the Graduate Program Review Committee

Report and Recommendations of the Graduate Program Review Committee (GPRC) for the Review of the Graduate Certificate in __________________. 

This report is a component of the periodic review process overseen by the Dean of the Graduate School. Recommended limit length for this report is 1-3 pages. 

Graduate Program Review Committee (GPRC) Representative 

Name of internal reviewer and department 

Program Representative 

Include the name of the person who you spoke with about the certificate, and their position. 

Summary of Certificate Program 

This is an overall summary of the certificate and can often be take almost exactly from the Program Overview section of the self-study. It is to help someone who does not know the program at all get a general sense of who enrolls, how many credits it is, how the program is overseen, etc. It is helpful for the GPRC. 

Summary of Key Issues 

The certificate program provided a self-study that addressed each of these areas. In your interview of the program, you may have developed questions from the self-study, about each area. You can then use some information from the self-study together with your own observations to provide the text. This can be separated by areas or put into a running narrative, as long as the areas are addressed. 

1. Program 
   • This area generally talks about the need for the certificate, and where those who get the certificate may find work. Does it connect to National or International organizations, certifications? If it is new, what is the potential for it or has the certificate run its course of need since areas change over time? Does the certificate connect to industry in the region, state, nation in a significant way? 
2. Curriculum 
   • The graduate school or the program will often include a chart of the courses that are a part of the certificate how often they are offered and enrollments as well. With changes in depts., faculty lines, etc. how is the curriculum being impacted? Can students get the courses in a timely way? Are they dependent on a specific faculty member? How often can they rotate into sequence? 
     
     Sometimes it helps to keep some of the charted material in the report and other times, summary is sufficient. 
3. Faculty 
   • This has become an area for critical discussion of who are the faculty that make up a certificate program. This can often help to tell the story of the certificate’s stability within the university. It is particularly important to voice how faculty support the certificate if the certificate program crosses programs/dept or is a multi-institutional certificate program.  
4. Students 
   • You are provided with information about how many students have enrolled in the certificate over a period of 10 years, how many have completed, and possibly if students have used the certificate to enter a Masters program. It can help to learn about issues of advising students in the certificate, recruitment efforts, and how the certificate serves students once they finish. 
5. Resources  
   • Certificate programs can often have their own unique resource challenges. The self-study outlines these, but you may find others when you do the interview. 

Internal Reviewer’s Comments 

This area is what gets directly reported back to the GPRC as the most important elements. Should the certificate continue? Is it realistic for it to continue or what would be needed for that to happen? Highlighting the efforts of the program director. Highlighting completion rates as a factor for recommendations. 

Program Response (Optional) 

Recommendation(s) for Action 

Potential outcomes/recommendations of the review include: 

1. Continue the program as is 
2. Continue the program with changes to the curriculum which consider new directions in the field, articulation with other certificates or degrees, or development into a degree program. 
3. Discontinuation 
4. No action, in which case the sunset clause will be invoked. 
5. The next review of the certificate should take place in _____. 
6. Certificate program review should be aligned with graduate program review cycle.