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UNIVERSITY COUNCIL PLANNING COMMITTEE FOR INFORMATION ONLY

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PRESENTED BY:	Beth Bilson, Chair, Planning Committee
DATE OF MEETING:	April 20, 2006
SUBJECT:	Item for Information: SPR results
COUNCIL ACTION:	For information only

 

When it considers the Systematic Program Review results, the Planning Committee receives the Review Team’s Report, the Program Head’s Response, the Dean’s Response, and a summary of the report and responses.  As well, Planning Committee receives an assessment category recommendation from the review team and the SPR Executive. 

The Committee has now reviewed the following SPR reports and agrees that the following final SPR Executive assessment categories for these programs are consistent with SPR process, the reviewer recommendations, the response of the department and the college, and the criteria for assessment as outlined in the SPR Policies and Procedures.

 

Arts & Science/CGSR – Natural Sciences:
Biology	Undergraduate	B
	Graduate	B
Medicine/CGSR -- Health Sciences:
Anatomy & Cell Biology	Undergraduate	B
	Graduate	C
Physiology	Undergraduate	B
	Graduate	C
Microbiology & Immunology	Undergraduate	B
	Graduate	B
Biochemistry	Undergraduate	B
	Graduate	B
Pharmacology	Graduate	B
Veterinary Medicine/CGSR:
Veterinary Microbiology	Graduate	B
Small Animal Clinical Sciences	Graduate	B
Large Animal Clinical Sciences	Graduate	B
Veterinary Pathology	Graduate	B
Veterinary Biomedical Sciences	Graduate	B

Clinical Medicine graduate programs:
In regard to the clinical medicine graduate programs, the ranking suggested by the review team, the college and the SPR executive differed.   As requested by Council, the Planning Committee is providing the following additional information regarding the differences in these recommendations:

The review team for the clinical graduate programs recommended B rankings for each program although there were some internal contradictions in their report.  The Dean of Medicine recommended C rankings based on the following considerations:  first, while the programs do have some distinguished faculty doing research, many of the department members are not actively engaged in research activity; second, the reviewers noted that the programs need revision; and third, there is only a moderate demand for the programs with fewer than ten students completing these programs in the last five years.

The SPR executive concurred with the C rankings for Surgery and for Pathology.  In the case of the Surgery program, it was noted that the review team itself said the program does not meet all of the criteria to be ranked at the B level.  In the case of the Pathology program, there are concerns about the curriculum containing no true graduate courses and that a small number of faculty are involved in the administration and delivery of the program.  However, in the case of the Psychiatry program, the SPR executive agreed that a B ranking would be appropriate for this program considering that its focus is on neuropsychiatry where there is a significant concentration of research.  A name change for this program has been recommended and is now being considered by CGSR.

The Planning Committee has discussed these rankings and the issues raised.  The Committee had agreed that the following rankings are consistent with SPR process and the criteria for assessment as outlined in the SPR Policies and Procedures.

Presented on behalf of the Planning Committee,

Beth Bilson, chair

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