Final Paper

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HEA 540 Final Project Guidelines and Rubric Program Plan

Overview The final project for this course is the creation of a program plan. The project is divided into three milestones, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality final submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Modules Three, Five, and Seven. The final product will be submitted in Module Nine. It is incumbent upon a higher education administrator to possess the skills and abilities to effectively engage in academic program p lanning and evaluation. This is an integral component of internal performance monitoring as well as the external accreditation and review processes. Higher education administrators must obtain and use empirical evidence to identify what academic programs are candidates for improvement opportunity, address changes necessary for academic program success, and evaluate the effects of academic program change. Data-driven decisions are the basis for program planning and analyzing program results. This helps to ensure appropriate continuous improvement ensues according to institutional goals and objectives. In the final project for this course, you will have an opportunity to engage in the academic program planning process. You will create a program plan for stakeholders in which you explain how you would identify, address, and evaluate an opportunity to improve an academic program based on relevant qualitative and quantitative data. You will demonstrate your ability to “see the big picture” in relation to the institution’s mission an d values, and you will translate that vision into the necessary processes, benchmarks, and indicators for achie ving success. In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:

 Determine opportunities for improving the alignment of academic programs with institutional goals using appropriate qualitative and quantitative evidence

 Design targeted methods of communicating program evaluation findings and eliciting stakeholder approval  Develop evidence-based processes for the continual improvement of academic programs that respond to an ever-changing academic environment

 Propose program improvement recommendations that align with appropriate regulatory and accreditation standards

Prompt Using the provided case study (or instructor-approved information of your own—see below), identify an opportunity for improvement within the academic program, plan how you would address the needs of that program to improve it in accordance with institutional values, and then detail how you would evaluate whether the improved program is successful. All of your decisions must be grounded in relevant and accurate qualitative and q uantitative data. In creating your program plan, you will need to use data analytics and program management methods and tools. This includes using tools to generate appropriate visuals ( e.g.,

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flowcharts, planning matrices, Gantt charts for time-sequence implementation, PERT charts, work breakdown structure s [WBS], project critical paths, budget spreadsheets) to support your plan as appropriate. You will include an appendix that presents all the data that you u sed for your program plan.

If you have access to the proper information from an institution of your choice and would like to complete this project using that institution rather than the one presented in the case study, you must first obtain your instructor’s approval so that the instructor can ensure you will be a ble to meet all the critical elements below with the information that you have. All students must show proficiency in the same critical elements, regardless of the source of their information.

Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:

I. Institution Overview A. Describe the institution and the specific program or initiative being addressed. What are the program’s history and role or purpose? What are

the expectations of the program as it currently exists? B. Determine an opportunity for continuous improvement within this program or initiative. Support your response with quantitative and

qualitative data from the program that you have collected. For instance, what data confirms that the program is not performin g as it should? What institutional goals informed your decision?

C. Incorporate relevant data from outside the academic institution to support your determination. For example, what are the institutional/national standards, milestones, benchmarks, and/or trends that the program is not performing well against?

D. Discuss what additional quantitative or qualitative data would be relevant to your evaluation and which assessment tools would you use to collect this additional data.

II. Recommendations: In this section, you will take the identified opportunity for improvement in the program you selected and develop your plan for implementing it.

A. Make recommendations for how you will address the program need that you identified. What, specifically, needs to happen to help the program meet its outcomes and meet institutional goals and objectives? Include a budget sheet to illustrate the costs of your recommendations.

B. Develop strategies to implement the recommendations. Be sure to cite relevant sources to support your strategies. Consider which best practice methodologies exist that support your approach to addressing this type of program .

C. Explain which regulatory and accreditation standards helped drive your recommendations. In other words, how have particular standards informed your decisions regarding the trajectory of this program?

III. Evaluation Plan: In this section, you will determine a plan for evaluating the success of your recommendations once implemented. A. Outline the process by which you will measure the success of your recommendations. In other words, what are the steps you will need to take

to measure the success of your recommendations, and what further information or indicators will you need to find and verify? Be sure to include appropriate visuals (e.g., flowcharts, pie charts) to illustrate the time sequence.

B. Discuss how the evaluation of your recommendations will foster continuous improvement within the academic program. What ongoing processes will be in place? How will adjustments be identified and made?

C. Explain how these continuous improvement processes address institutional challenges. How do they respond to the ever-changing academic environment? Use specific examples to support your explanation.

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IV. Communication Plan: In this section, you will provide a broad outline of how you will communicate your findings with stakeholders.

A. Discuss how your findings from the program evaluation will be communicated to the appropriate stakeholders. Who are the relevant stakeholders and how do you know this information? Which communication methods will be most effective for which sets of stake holders?

B. Explain how you intend your communication methods to elicit support for your recommendations from various sets of stakeholders. How will the messaging you develop create buy-in from these groups?

C. Explain how different technologies and data will assist your communications to different stakeholders. Which sorts of data will be most helpful to which groups, and how will data be represented? Be sure to provide samples of these representations of data.

Milestones Milestone One: Institution Overview In Module Three, you will submit an overview of the institution that houses the academic program under evaluation. This milestone will be graded with the Milestone One Rubric. Milestone Two: Recommendations In Module Five, you will submit the recommendations you developed after reviewing the data about your selected program. This milestone will be graded with the Milestone Two Rubric. Milestone Three: Evaluation Plan In Module Seven, you will submit a plan for evaluating the success of the recommendations you proposed. This milestone will be graded with the Milestone Three Rubric. Final Submission: Program Plan In Module Nine, you will submit your final project. It should be a complete, polished artifact containing all of the critical elements of the final product. It should reflect the incorporation of feedback gained throughout the course. This submission will be graded with the Final Project Rubric.Final

Deliverables Milestone Deliverable Module Due Grading

One Institution Overview 3 Graded separately; Milestone One Rubric

Two Recommendations 5 Graded separately; Milestone Two Rubric

Three Evaluation Plan 7 Graded separately; Milestone Three Rubric

Final Submission: Program Plan 9 Graded separately; Final Project Rubric

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Final Project Rubric Guidelines for Submission: Your program plan should be at least 20 pages in length (including the cover sheet, reference page, and appendix) with 12-point Times New Roman font, double spacing, and adherence to industry-standard guidelines for formatting and citing sources.

Critical Elements Exemplary (100%) Proficient (90%) Needs Improvement (70%) Not Evident (0%) Value

Institution Overview: Institution

Meets “Profi cient” cri teria and l evel of detai l provided demons trates thorough unders tanding of the i ns titution and s pecific program or i nitiative bei ng addressed

Des cri bes the i nstitution and s peci fic program or i nitiative bei ng addres sed, i ncluding the program hi s tory, role or purpose, and current expectati ons

Des cri bes the i nstitution and s peci fic program or i nitiative bei ng addres sed, i ncluding the program hi s tory, role or purpose, and current expectati ons, but des cri ption is cursory or contains i rrel evant detail

Does not des cri be the i ns titution or s peci fic program or i nitiative bei ng addressed

5.9

Institution Overview:

Opportunity

Meets “Profi cient” cri teria and makes cogent connections among the quanti tative and qualitati ve data and an opportunity for conti nuous i mprovement

Determi nes an opportunity for conti nuous i mprovement wi thin the program or i nitiative wi th s upport from quantitative and qual itative data from the program

Determi nes an opportunity for conti nuous i mprovement wi thin the program or i nitiative, but does not s upport res ponse wi th quanti tative or qualitative data from the program

Does not determi ne an opportuni ty for continuous i mprovement wi thi n the program or i ni ti ative

5.9

Institution Overview: Data

From Outside the Academic Institution

Meets “Profi cient” cri teria and makes cogent connections among the data from outs ide the academic i nstitution and an opportuni ty for continuous i mprovement

Incorporates relevant data from outs i de the academic i nstitution to s upport determi nation

Incorporates data from outs ide the academic i nstitution to s upport determi nati on, but not al l data i ncorporated i s relevant

Does not i ncorporate any data from outs i de the academi c i ns ti tution to s upport determi nati on

5.9

Institution Overview:

Additional Data

Meets “Profi cient” cri teria and demons trates a sophisticated unders tanding of quantitative and qual itative data relevant to the opportuni ty for continuous i mprovement

Di s cusses what additional quanti tative and qualitative data woul d be rel evant to the eval uation and what assessment tool s to us e to col l ect thi s addi tional data

Di s cusses what additional quanti tative and qualitative data woul d be rel evant to the eval uation and what assessment tool s to us e to col l ect thi s addi tional data, but di scussion i s curs ory or i llogical

Does not di s cuss what additional quanti tative and qualitative data woul d be rel evant to the eval uation or what assessment tool s to us e to col l ect thi s addi tional data

5.9

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Recommendations: Recommendations

Meets “Profi cient” cri teria and makes cogent connections between the program need i denti fied and relevant recommendati ons

Makes recommendati ons to addres s the program need i denti fied, i ncluding what needs to happen to hel p the program meet outcomes , i ns titutional goals, and objecti ves, i ncluding a budget s heet to i l l ustrate the cos ts of the recommendati ons

Makes recommendati ons to addres s the program need i denti fied, i ncluding what needs to happen to hel p the program meet outcomes , i ns titutional goals, and objecti ves, but not al l recommendati ons are l ogical or rel evant or does not i nclude a budget s heet to i l l ustrate the cos ts of the recommendati ons

Does not make recommendati ons to addres s the program need i denti fied

7.9

Recommendations: Strategies to Implement

Recommendations

Meets “Profi cient” cri teria and s trategi es devel oped demons trate a s ophi sticated understanding of how to s ucces sfully implement the recommendati ons

Devel ops s trategies to i mplement the recommendati ons, us ing rel evant s ources to s upport the s trategi es

Devel ops s trategies to i mplement the recommendati ons, us ing rel evant s ources to s upport the s trategi es, but not al l s trategies are l ogi cal

Does not devel op s trategies to i mpl ement the recommendati ons

7.9

Recommendations: Regulatory and Accreditation

Standards

Meets “Profi cient” cri teria and demons trates a sophisticated unders tanding of regulatory and accreditati on s tandards

Expl ains which regulatory and accreditati on s tandards hel ped dri ve the recommendati ons

Expl ains which regulatory and accreditati on s tandards hel ped dri ve the recommendati ons, but expl anation is cursory or i llogical

Does not expl ain whi ch regulatory or accreditati on s tandards hel ped dri ve the recommendati ons

7.9

Evaluation Plan: Measure the Success

Meets “Profi cient” cri teria and makes cogent connections between the recommendati ons and s teps needed to ens ure s ucces s

Outl i nes the process by whi ch to meas ure the s uccess of the recommendati ons, i ncluding appropriate vi suals

Outl i nes the process by whi ch to meas ure the s uccess of the recommendati ons, i ncluding vi s uals, but outl ine i s cursory or i l l ogical or not all visuals are appropriate

Does not outl i ne the proces s by whi ch to meas ure the s ucces s of the recommendati ons

7.9

Evaluation Plan: Foster Continuous

Improvement

Meets “Profi cient” cri teria and demons trates sophisticated unders tanding of the conti nuous i mprovement process

Di s cusses how the eval uation of the recommendati ons wi ll foster conti nuous i mprovement wi thin the academi c program, the ongoi ng processes that wi ll be i n pl ace, and how adjustments will be i denti fied and made

Di s cusses how the eval uation of the recommendati ons wi ll foster conti nuous i mprovement wi thin the academi c program, the ongoi ng processes that wi ll be i n pl ace, and how adjustments will be i denti fied and made, but di s cussion is cursory or i llogical

Does not di s cuss how the eval uation of the recommendati ons wi ll foster conti nuous i mprovement wi thin the academi c program

7.9

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Evaluation Plan: Address Institutional

Challenges

Meets “Profi cient” cri teria and demons trates a sophisticated unders tanding of the ever- changi ng academi c environment

Expl ains how thes e continuous i mprovement processes addres s i ns ti tutional challenges and how they res pond to the ever-changing academic environment wi th s upport from s pecific examples

Expl ains how thes e continuous i mprovement processes addres s i ns ti tutional challenges and how they res pond to the ever-changing academic environment, but expl anation is cursory or i llogical or i s not s upported wi th s pecific exampl es

Does not expl ain how thes e conti nuous i mprovement proces ses address i nstitutional chal lenges or how they res pond to the ever-changing academic envi ronment

7.9

Communication Plan: Findings Will Be Communicated

Meets “Profi cient” cri teria and makes cogent connections between the needs of di fferent s ets of s takeholders and communi cation methods

Di s cusses how the fi ndings from the program evaluation will be communi cated to appropriate s takehol ders, i ncluding who the rel evant s takeholders are and whi ch methods wi ll be mos t effecti ve for whi ch s ets of s takehol ders

Di s cusses how the fi ndings from the program evaluation will be communi cated to appropriate s takehol ders, i ncluding who the rel evant s takeholders are and whi ch methods wi ll be mos t effecti ve for whi ch s ets of s takehol ders, but di scussion i s curs ory, i llogical, or contains i naccuracies

Does not di s cuss how the fi ndings from the program evaluation wi ll be communi cated to appropriate s takehol ders

7.9

Communication Plan: Elicit Support

Meets “Profi cient” cri teria and demons trates a sophisticated unders tanding of how to us e di fferent communi cation methods to el i cit s upport and create buy-in

Expl ains how the communi cation methods wi l l el icit s upport for the recommendati ons from various s ets of s takeholders and how the mes s aging wi ll create buy-in

Expl ains how the communi cation methods wi l l el icit s upport for the recommendati ons from various s ets of s takeholders and how the mes s aging wi ll create buy-in, but expl anation is cursory or i llogical

Does not expl ain how the communi cation methods wi ll el icit s upport for the recommendations from vari ous s ets of s takeholders or how the mes s agi ng wi ll create buy-i n

7.9

Communication Plan: Technologies

and Data

Meets “Profi cient” cri teria and demons trates sophisticated unders tanding of how to effecti vel y represent data to vari ous s takeholders

Expl ains how di fferent technol ogies and data wi ll assist the communi cations to di fferent s takehol ders and whi ch s orts of data wi l l be mos t hel pful to whi ch groups , i ncluding s amples of thes e repres entations of data

Expl ains how di fferent technol ogies and data wi ll assist the communi cations to di fferent s takehol ders and whi ch s orts of data wi l l be mos t hel pful to whi ch groups , but expl anation i s cursory or i l l ogical or does not i nclude s ampl es of thes e repres entations of data

Does not expl ain how di fferent technol ogies and data wi ll assist the communi cations to di fferent s takehol ders or which s orts of data wi l l be mos t hel pful to whi ch groups

7.9

Articulation of Response

Submi s sion i s free of errors rel ated to ci tati ons, grammar, s pelling, s yntax, and organization and i s pres ented i n a profes sional and eas y-to-read format

Submi s sion has no major errors rel ated to ci tations, grammar, s pel l ing, s yntax, or organization

Submi s sion has major errors rel ated to ci tations, grammar, s pel l ing, s yntax, or organization that negati vel y i mpact readability and arti culation of mai n i deas

Submi s sion has criti cal errors rel ated to ci tations, grammar, s pel l ing, s yntax, or organization that prevent unders tanding of i deas

5.3

Total 100%