Cyclical program reviews | Academic Quality Enhancement

Cyclical review process milestones

Arrow diagram showing years 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5-7.

Due in Year 1																																																																Due in Year 2																																																																Due in Year 3																																																																Due in Year 4																																																																Due in Years 5-7
Volume I - Self-study Volume II - Faculty CVs Volume III - List of proposed external reviewers																																																																Site visit & external reviewers report Program response & implementation plan Final Assessment Report (FAR)																																																																Continue to execute implementation plan.																																																																Progress Report (PR) Continue to execute implementation plan.																																																																Continue to execute implementation plan. Prepare for new cyclical review.

Purpose

At the University of Waterloo, the fundamental purposes of the academic cyclical program review process are to:

help each program achieve and maintain the highest possible standards of academic excellence, through systematically reflecting on its strengths and weaknesses, and determining what actions would further enhance the quality of the program;
assess the quality of the program relative to counterpart programs in Ontario, Canada and internationally, and;
meet public accountability expectations through a credible, transparent, and action-oriented review process.

Tips for success

The cyclical review process can seem daunting, but it can help provide your program with insight on what is working well and highlight opportunities to enhance and distinguish your program.

To engage successfully with the cyclical review process, we recommend:

attending the cyclical review workshops facilitated by the AQuE office;
establishing internal committees to handle different aspects of the review process to distribute workload;
setting internal deadlines and planning ahead to ensure no delays;
determining issues/areas that could benefit from insight to be provided by the external reviewers;
reaching out to the AQuE office for any clarification or support needed, and;
responding to comments and feedback in a timely manner.