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Systematic Program Review Reviewer Nomination Guide

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The number of internal and external reviewers and their areas of focus, if any (e.g. graduate- undergraduate, subject areas) will be determined at the initial organizational meeting of the SPR Executive and representatives of the College under review. Shortly after that meeting, the Academic Director of SPR will send a formal memorandum to the Dean of the College and/or Department Head, requesting nominations of reviewers by a specified date. The following are guidelines for the selection and submission of nominations.

General Guidelines:

• Reviewers will be appointed by the Provost & Vice-President Academic after consultation with the heads of the programs under review.

• Program heads should consult with faculty members regarding nominations (this also ensures that any connections with program faculty are known). Where units outside the college or department make a significant contribution to delivery of the program under review, heads also should consult with those units.

• Information about nominees is not to be solicited directly from the nominees, nor are nominees to be contacted regarding their nomination as reviewers.

• The more information that is provided on each nominee, the more efficient the selection process will be. The SPR Office solicits full CV's for each nominee.

• All connections with the University of Saskatchewan must be declared, whether personal, familial, or professional. This is not intended to disqualify potential reviewers, but rather to ensure that all such connections are identified and acknowledged.

• In order to maintain flexibility, particularly in the case of internal reviewers (where the pool of candidates is limited), no strict definition of conflict of interest has been established. Possible conflicts of interest include: co-supervising a student in the program, graduate of the program.

External reviewers:

• External members of the review team will normally be individuals in the same discipline as the program under review.

• External members of the review team will be well-respected national and international scholars, of senior academic rank, who are capable of rendering a sound judgement on the academic merit of the program(s).

• External reviewers will have a well-established arm's-length relationship with the program, department and college. Possible conflicts of interest include: ongoing collaboration with a faculty member (e.g. shared research grants), graduate of the program, former faculty member in the department/college, thesis supervisor of a faculty member.

• The nominee's institution should have a strong reputation in the discipline under review and should offer programs in the discipline at as advanced a level as the program under review (e.g. if you offer a PhD program or are considering one, do not select reviewers from institutions which only offer a Master's).

• Since SPR is intended to assess program quality in an international as well as national context, please include some nominees from other countries. While finances are a factor, it is important to select the most highly qualified reviewers even if they must travel from distant sites. Resources are available to cover reasonable travel costs from outside Canada.

• Provide the appropriate information each nominee as per template provided.

• Provide 8-10 nominees if there are no special areas of focus, 5 nominees per area of focus if areas have been identified (e.g. undergraduate-graduate, different majors, program strands).

Internal reviewers:

• Internal reviewers are internal to the University but external to the unit(s) responsible for the program(s) under review. They will normally be from a cognate discipline, preferably from a College other than that of the program under review.

• Internal reviewers will normally be distinguished faculty, at the full professor level, who are scholars with at least a national reputation in their discipline.

• Internal reviewers should have an arm's-length relationship with the program. Possible conflicts of interest include: co-supervising a student in the program, graduate of the program.

• Try to avoid nominating candidates who will be involved in a review of their own program at the same time (consider workload).

• Provide the following information for each internal nominee:

  • Name;
  • Department (or College);
  • Brief rationale for nomination

• Provide 5 potential internal reviewers for each review team. Please check with the SPR Office if in doubt of nominee status (i.e. on sabbatical or administrative leave or having served before).

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