Glossary

Academic Executive Council (AEC): includes the three campus Executive Vice President/Chief Academic Officers and the Associate Vice President of Academic Assessment and Accreditation.

Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET): an accrediting body for engineering programs at colleges and universities.

Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP): an accrediting body for business programs at colleges and universities.

Accredited Programs: academic degree-granting programs that have been officially recognized as meeting essential requirements of academic excellence as established by accrediting organizations such as AABI, ABET, or ACBSP.

Action Item: end result of the Program Review process, where activity is identified to improve the academic program and recorded in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

Aviation Accreditation Board, International (AABI): an accrediting body for aviation programs at colleges and universities.

Business Plan: a document that details a five year operational plan designed to support fulfillment of or enhancement to the organizational mission / purpose.

Construct: sections of the Program Review Template organized by related criteria.

Learning Outcome (LO): the specific, measurable knowledge, skill or ability that one should be able to demonstrate as a result of one’s studies.

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU): a document describing a bilateral or multilateral agreement between parties, the university administration and the college deans, department chairs and program coordinators. It expresses a convergence of will between the parties, indicating an intended common line of action.

Mission Critical Budget Request (MCBR): a petition to secure funding to address deficiencies identified through assessment of program learning outcomes.

PRC Work Distribution: a document used to outline the Program Review Committee (PRC) members, roles, responsibilities, and Program Review process timelines for deliverables.

Program Learning Outcome: the specific, measurable knowledge, skill or ability that one should be able to demonstrate as a result of one’s studies within a program.

Program Resources: a Program Review construct that pertains to faculty, scholarship, research, and facilities.

Program Review: an in-depth process of reviewing critical aspects of a program, including operational, financial, programmatic, and academic inputs, outputs, and outcomes.  Every degree-granting program at ERAU goes through a peer-critiqued program review at least once every 7-10 years, using feedback to improve the quality and rigor of program. 

Program Review Committee (PRC): a peer group formed to evaluate the reports submitted by the faculty undergoing Program Review.

Program Review Template: the form in the online application that contains the requested Program Review information and is completed by faculty, reviewed by the PRC, and the CAOs. 

Recommendation: a course of action statement suggested by the PRC, occurring after a thorough evaluation of the Program Review Reports.

Relevance: a Program Review construct that pertains to the alignment of the program’s mission to the university and campus mission, and the ability of the program to meet to the administration’s expectations, student demands for the program, and to the currency of the curriculum.

Response: faculty reply to the PRC Recommendations.

Rigor: a Program Review construct that pertains to the robustness of a program’s assessment processes.

Semester Credit Hour (SCH): each program’s semester credit hours relating to class sizes and semester credit hours generated by required courses. A means of measuring course work within a 14-17 week academic calendar.

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC): the regional accrediting body for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Statement of Purpose: a short description illustrating what a program does in the regular course of business (Also called “Program Mission Statement”).

Status: position of a program relative to other program:

• Enhanced – action items are intended to further improve the quality, effectiveness, value and augment a program.
• Maintained – action items are intended to enable the program to continue, preserve and retain the quality and effectiveness of the program.
• Challenged – action items are intended to improve the deficient or lacking areas of quality with the intent to improve weaknesses.
• Phased Out – action items are intended to bring the program to an end, one stage at a time.

SWOT Analysis: a strategic planning method used to evaluate a program’s strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. It involves specifying the objective(s) of the program and identifying the internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieve that objective(s).

• Strength – an extremely valuable or useful ability, asset, or quality.
• Weakness – a point of diminished strength or flaw in something.
• Opportunity – a combination of favorable circumstances or situations.
• Threat - the expression of a deliberate intention to cause harm to an organization.