The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #48410

Michael Graham, PhD and William H. Wiist, DHSc. School of Health and Human Services, Walden University, 155 Fifth Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55401, 612-338-7224 x1227, mgraham@waldenu.edu

Program review is one mechanism by which a university routinely evaluates its academic programs and associated services to ensure they reflect the quality standards that are imperative for the university’s future. The evaluation provides a basis for revising, strengthening, enhancing, and deleting programs. This session highlights the components of a year-long comprehensive and formative assessment of a public health-health services doctoral program that is delivered via distance education. It also presents a "grounded theoretical model" for evaluating similar programs, which was derived from the assessment process. The model postulates the following key assumptions about academic program evaluation: 1. It is designed to confirm the overall quality of the program and the degree to which it adheres to current standards in the discipline outside the confines of the university; 2. It facilitates accountability to the various constituencies and the communities the program and the university seeks to serve; 3. It helps in long-range planning by providing the basis for future academic plans and resource allocation; and 4. It leads to changes that enhance the program's basic values of quality, integrity, and student centeredness.

Learning Objectives: At the conculusion of this session, participants will be able to

• Link the rationale of academic program evaluation to the mission of the university;
• Describe the developmental stages, faculty and administrator roles and processes, and assessment goals of academic program evaluation;
• Discuss key research design, data collection, and data analysis components of program evaluation;
• Develop an understanding of the unique challenges of developing and implementing a model for the assessment of public health doctoral programs offered at a distance.

Keywords: Public Health Education, Outcomes Research

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: I am employed by the institution in which the research was conducted