Academic Program Assessment Reports (APARs) are the assessment of all academic programs on campus performed each year. The Office of Institutional Effectiveness (IE) oversees the process and maintains an archive of past APARs. IE Staff have been assigned to programs, are familiar with those APARs, and are available to help as needed.

Contact information

Bobbie Koen: Optometry, Architecture, Education, Hilton, Nursing, Pharmacy, Social Work bjkoen@uh.edu 

Amy O’Neal: CLASS, Law, Medicine aoneal@uh.edu 

Peter Weber: NSM, Engineering  pweber@uh.edu 

Christina Williams: Arts, Hobby cawilli5@cougarnet.uh.edu 

Todd Chaykosky: Business tchaykosky@uh.edu 

How does the process work and when does it happen?

Generally, a few weeks after classes start each fall, IE will reach out to program directors, department chairs, and college deans giving them a specific timeline for this academic year as well as information specific to that program’s APAR (last year’s report and its feedback from IE). The reports themselves are due to IE in late November and will analyze data from the previous academic year. There is an expectation that programs are constantly making changes, whether big or small, to continuously improve. Sometimes that improvement includes better assessment, and IE does provide feedback on this process, sending a completed checklist for each APAR in the spring semester. Since we’re implementing a new automated system in Fall 2025, we’ll communicate a different timeline to you for this implementation year of 2025-2026.

Who does this and why?

Faculty in each program own their curriculum and keep an eye on their courses, but we also need to make sure that what is implicit is explicit, what is informal is made formal. The person designated to write their program’s APAR(s) does so with the input of their faculty and staff, guided by the Office of Institutional Effectiveness as needed. Every five years, UH has to report annual data to UH’s accrediting body, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. Many programs use part or all of these reports for their program’s accreditors as well.

What do the reports look like?

While each program is very unique and may approach assessment in very different ways, all APARs at UH use a standard template and include two main sections: student learning outcomes and programs outcomes. Student Learning Outcomes (SLO’s): Each program needs 3-5 SLOs. Then the program explains how each SLO will be assessed, sets a performance standard or goal, analyzes the data for the previous academic year while providing feedback on how things went and what changes might be needed to maintain the program. It is also important to talk about how past changes have worked to close the loop on previous reporting. Program Outcomes (POs): UH has set POs based on whether the program is undergraduate or graduate. Undergraduate programs will have at least 2 POs: 1 based on the 1 Year Retention Rate for FTIC students, and 1 based on the 6 Year Graduation Rate for FTIC students. Programs will be asked to analyze and describe their efforts to meet university-wide performance standards. Graduate programs will all report the number of degrees awarded, setting and analyzing their own performance standards. All programs: If a program has licensure/ board exams, IE will ask them to have a PO for passage rates. Any program can add an additional 2-3 POs if they would like.