Glossary

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

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, ACBSP, IFSAC, PMI-GAC, HFES, or RAeS

Action Item: the 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.

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

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

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

Human Factors and Ergonomic Society (HFES): a specialized accrediting body for the human factors/ergonomics programs.

International Fire Service Accreditation Congress (IFSAC): a specialized accrediting body for fire and emergency related degree programs at post-secondary higher education institutions and public fire service certifying entities

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.

Project Management Institute - Global Accreditation Center (PMI-GAC): a specialized accrediting body for project management and related degree programs, accrediting programs at the bachelor’s, postgraduate, and doctorate levels offered within accredited institutions of higher education worldwide

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 or Program 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 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 the program. 

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

Program Review Template: the form in the online Program Review application containing 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.

Response: faculty reply to the PRC Recommendations.

Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS): the accrediting body for training programs, or professional development, relevant to scholars planning to gain IEng or CEng and a career in aerospace.

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 resulting from the Program Review and identified on the Memorandum of Understanding:

• Enhanced – action items are significant changes, expenditures 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 and do not require significant changes.
• 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 strengths, 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.