UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Academic Portfolio and Program Review (APPR) project steering committee has shared updates about the project's timeline, teams and goals.
Among recent changes, Interim Executive Vice President and Provost Tracy Langkilde has refined the group structure to optimize operations. Langkilde and Margo DelliCarpini, vice president for Commonwealth Campuses and executive chancellor, will continue to serve as executive sponsors, and Renata Engel, vice provost for online education, and Elizabeth Wright, chancellor and chief academic officer of Penn State Hazleton, are now serving as project co-chairs to lead the APPR process. The APPR steering committee will act in an advisory capacity to the process. The APPR steering committee is comprised of faculty and staff from across Penn State campuses, colleges and administrative units, and it includes University Faculty Senate leadership, Graduate Council leadership, student leadership and staff representation.
“The APPR project is critical to Penn State’s future success, and I am eager to help advance the initiative, refine our goals, and align with ongoing efforts at the campuses and colleges,” Langkilde said. “I am so pleased Renata and Liz have joined the initiative to offer their critical expertise and leadership, and I look forward to working with each of the APPR teams throughout the assessment to discover new opportunities for Penn State now and into the future.”
In addition to refining the APPR structure, the team has updated internal processes and the overall project timeline.
The APPR team sent out the request for proposal (RFP) at the beginning of May and is starting the process of selecting an external partner, which is being led by the RFP selection team composed of faculty, staff and administrators. The selection process typically takes approximately 60 days. The external partner will be named this summer, and the team anticipates this partner will begin work by the end of July. Data collection will take place through the fall and will include information about Penn State and the community context in which we operate. Suggestions of opportunities and barriers from the external partner are expected by the end of the fall semester, and validation, review and decision-making conversations will begin during the spring 2025 semester. A plan for continued regular review of programs and Penn State’s portfolio of offerings will be developed as part of this process. The APPR initiative will happen in parallel with other ongoing work at Penn State, including the future planning work at the Commonwealth Campuses, and information will be shared out in real-time for campuses, colleges and administrative units to use for planning purposes.
“Aligning the APPR work with the ongoing planning efforts underway to re-imagine the future of the campuses is very important,” said DelliCarpini. “Having access to real-time data and analytics will help inform our decision-making.”
The APPR steering committee is also building out the project teams from the 483 nominations/self-nominations that were submitted this spring. The teams will start working this summer on various aspects of process, data needs and collection, communication, and engagement, in addition to working closely with the external partner.
The following Q&A provides additional insight into top questions from community members, including presentations to Faculty Senate and via feedback from the survey shared this winter. Complete FAQs can be found online.
When will project teams and an external partner be named?
The APPR steering committee is currently working on finalizing the RFP to engage an external partner to assist with the portfolio and program review process. The team does not anticipate having a partner on board to begin the assessment process until late summer.
The partner will not have any decision-making responsibilities; they will provide their industry expertise on workforce and market needs, as well as summaries of internal Penn State program data and the information about relevant community context to the Penn State team. The expectation is to create a fluid process where the APPR team can share out real-time data and recommendations to chancellors and deans on an ongoing basis to help with future planning and coordinate with phases of the campus assessment initiative.
Following a nomination period this spring, individuals from across the University were nominated to serve as project team co-leads. In addition to the RFP, the APPR working teams are assessing the data from the nominations survey submitted in April and will have teams built out this summer. The teams will be working in a fluid manner and may be active at different times while the initiative is underway.
Why did the project name change?
One of the revisions made to the initiative is updating the project name to Academic Portfolio and Program Review. The emphasis on “portfolio” before “program” in the title comes from feedback that the prior name suggested that a goal of the project is to eliminate specific programs. To best position Penn State for success for the future, the goal is to examine Penn State’s overall portfolio of offerings and make sure offerings align with Penn State’s strengths, land-grant mission, and societal and workforce needs.
How does APPR connect to work being done at our Commonwealth Campuses?
Over the coming months, the APPR project will continue in parallel with the ongoing work at the Commonwealth Campuses to reimagine their future state. Data and future recommendations from APPR work will be used to help guide decision-making for this Commonwealth Campus project, too, and provide information that results in an understanding of the best offerings for each location.
How will decisions be made?
All decisions about the project will be made under the provost’s guidance as chief academic officer. The provost will continue to collaborate with senior leadership, including chancellors, deans, Faculty Senate and the Graduate Council, and with the recommendations from the APPR steering committee on decision-making.
For this current review, provost-led conversations, analysis and decision-making will begin in the spring semester, with implementation of agreed upon changes entering existing University process as needed.
Would the University be moving forward with APPR if there wasn’t a need to balance the budget?
As shared during the Campus Conversation at Penn State Altoona this spring, APPR is not an initiative to solve the University’s budget challenges, but rather portfolio and program review is an important practice that all institutions should undertake on a regular basis to be best positioned for success. This is the first step in a recurring process to evaluate our academic portfolio and programs on a regular basis.
The team anticipates using data and insights to develop a process that can be employed in the future to regularly assess programs and the Penn State portfolio of offerings in a consistent manner and on an ongoing basis, at regular intervals of seven to 10 years.
More information and the latest updates can be found at the APPR website, and individuals can sign up for the APPR newsletter online. Email questions to appr@psu.edu.