UNC Greensboro is undergoing a long-standing best practice in higher education known as academic portfolio review. Its objective is to ensure the University has the right mix of academic offerings to fulfill student needs, remain competitive, and allocate sufficient support for programs.
UNCG last conducted a comprehensive review more than a decade ago.
The thorough timeline here chronicles the current portfolio review from its beginnings in late 2022 through its planned conclusion in 2024. Please note that some dates in the timeline are subject to change; they reflect the best projections available.
Campus input is a crucial part of the process. Faculty, staff, and students should monitor their University email for announcements of input opportunities, including forums planned for January 2024. Our shared fate, commitment to being proactive and responsive to higher education changes, and campus engagement underpins every step of the review.
Any changes to the University’s academic offerings will be decided early in 2024 and take years to implement. Students in all current programs will be able to finish their studies at UNCG in their chosen majors as long as they maintain satisfactory academic progress.
Detailed Timeline of Actions & Dates
| Action | Time estimate | Date Due Estimate |
|---|---|---|
| Faculty and Staff Senate Open Space Session Proposal for Academic Portfolio Review Submitted to Provost Storrs | 3 days | Open Space Session held on 12/5/2022; proposal submitted to Provost on 12/7/22 |
| Proposal draft submitted from Dean Workgroup to Provost | 1 month | 2/24/2023 |
| Proposal discussed within Academic Council | 1 week | 3/1/2023 |
| Proposal/process refined | 9 days | 3/10/2023 |
| Virtual open forums hosted for discussion and feedback purposes | 10 days | 3/20/2023 |
| Process and timeline shared with other units on campus; feedback sought | 2 weeks | 3/23/2023 |
| PRTF call for nominations | 1 week | 4/4/2023 |
| Feedback considered and incorporated; process document revised and shared | 2 weeks | 4/5/2023 |
| PRTF membership confirmed; membership communicated to University | 1 week | 4/12/2023 |
| PRTF receives “Charge” and meets with rpkGroup to discuss available data; discusses other relevant tasks (e.g. weighting, rubric) | 1 week | 4/20/2023 |
| PRTF hosts two campus wide sessions to invite any recommendations and discussions about rubric, potential weighting, and qualitative considerations | 1 day | 5/3/2023 |
| PRTF develops rubric that includes weighting of data and metrics that will be included in portfolio review | 2.5 months | 7/21/2023 |
| PRTF shares rubric and metrics for feedback with Academic Dean Council; revises based on feedback | 2 weeks | 8/7/2023 |
| PRTF hosts a campuswide session to a share rubric and metrics for feedback; PRTF seeks written feedback from units and campus | 3 weeks | 8/28/23, 8/29/23, 8/20/23 |
| PRTF refines and clarifies rubric and metrics based on campus feedback | 2 weeks | 9/15/2023 |
| PRTF publicizes program rubric and metrics for campus | 1 day | 9/18/2023 |
| Training and workshops on Academic Data Dashboards, Cost & Revenue Analysis, and Rubric | 2 months | 9/1/23: 1pm – Academic Data Dashboard and Cost & Revenue Analysis spreadsheet training 9/7/23: 3pm – Academic Data Dashboard and Cost & Revenue Analysis spreadsheet training 9/18/23: 2pm – Cost & Revenue Analysis spreadsheet training 9/20/23: 10am – Cost & Revenue Analysis spreadsheet training 9/20/23: 4:15pm – Academic Program Review Q&A at Faculty Senate Forum 9/22/23: 2pm – Cost & Revenue Analysis spreadsheet training 9/27/23: 3pm – Rubric Demo/Walkthrough 9/28/23: 4pm – Rubric Demo/Walkthrough 9/29/23: 10am – Cost & Revenue Analysis spreadsheet training 9/29/23: 11am – Academic Data Dashboard training 10/2/23: 12pm – Academic Data Dashboard training 10/2/23: 1pm – Rubric Demo/Walkthrough 10/3/23: 10:30am – Cost & Revenue Analysis spreadsheet training 10/5/23: 11am – Rubric Demo/Walkthrough 10/5/23: 4pm – Cost & Revenue Analysis spreadsheet training 10/6/23: 10am – Academic Data Dashboard training 10/19/23: 10:30am – Academic Program Review Workshop 10/20/23: 1pm – Academic Program Review Workshop 10/24/23: 10:30am – Academic Program Review Workshop 10/25/23: 3pm – Academic Program Review Workshop 11/1/23: 9am – Academic Program Review Workshop 11/2/23: 3pm – Academic Program Review Workshop |
| Data and rubrics released to campus (3 iterations) | 1 month | 10/6/23, 10/9/23, 10/23/2023 |
| Deans and their teams (as determined by each college/school) will review each program using metrics and data and make recommendations; includes phase 2 where programs recommended by deans for discontinuation engage in an additional unit-level review | 3 months | 1/5/2024 |
| Deans make final recommendations to the Provost | 1 week1 | 1/14/2024 |
| Recommended programs for discontinuation shared publicly during this time. Open forums to discuss recommendations. Chancellor and Provost share preliminary considerations with Faculty Senate, Undergraduate Curriculum Committee and Graduate Council. | 11 days | 1/15/2024 – 1/26/2024 Faculty Senate: 3-5 p.m. Jan. 10, EUC Auditorium (forum) 3-5 p.m. Jan. 17, Alumni House (meeting) 3-5 p.m. Jan. 24, Alumni House (*meeting without Chancellor or Provost) 3-5 p.m. Jan. 31, Alumni House (meeting) Student Forum: 10-11:30 a.m. Jan. 19, EUC Auditorium Campus-wide Forum: 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Jan. 23, EUC Auditorium Alumni Forum: 5:30-6:30 pm, Jan. 23, virtual meeting Graduate Council: 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Jan. 26, NIB 510 Undergraduate Curriculum Committee: 2-3:30 p.m., Jan. 26, NIB 510 |
| Provost presents recommendations to the Chancellor; Decisions are made by the Chancellor and communicated to the campus. | 1 week | 2/1/2024 |
| Begin implementation process: no longer accept students to programs slated for discontinuation; remove applications for those programs; follow plan-to-discontinue policy and processes, including communication plan and teach-out plans for students; for programs that need investments for growth, discussions and planning for how to support new investments will occur. | 0 day | 2/1/2024 |
| For each program to be closed, identify student teach-out plan options. | 1 month | 3/1/2024 |
| Although unlikely necessary, UNCG can also negotiate with partner institutions to support teach-out arrangements for specific courses. (Updated Jan. 9, 2024) | 3-12 months2 | 5/1/2024 – 3/1/2025 |
| Complete and submit System Office Request to Discontinue form & SACSCOC request for program discontinuation (Could be sooner; timing is dependent upon length of time needed to complete teach-out agreements cited above, which must be included with request to SACSCOC.) | 1 week | 5/8/2024 – 6/28/2025 |
| Secure approval of the System Office Request to Discontinue form | 5-8 weeks3 | 6/12/2024 – 7/3/2024 |
| Secure approval of SACSCOC for teach-out plans (could be sooner, timing is dependent upon length of time needed to complete teach-out agreements cited above). | 7-12 months4 | 12/8/2024 – 7/28/2026 |
| Provide notice of termination to affected faculty (not retained to provide ongoing coursework or to meet teach-out requirements.) | 3-12 months5 | 12/15/2024 (Earliest estimated date for issuing notices, with employment of affected faculty continuing consistent with the period of notice outlined in Section V and Section VII of the P&T Regulations.) |
| Teach-out the programs | 6-40 months6 | 6/1/2027 (calculated from start of implementation process) |
Notes:
1 Other recommendations for programs will also be considered as a result of the program review. Given various steps needed for discontinuation, this timeline provides more detail on this outcome.
2 No UNCG office has prior experience in securing teach-out agreements with external institutions, and therefore this timeframe is estimated based on the complexity of the process. Note that the external institution must gain approval from SACSCOC if they propose waiving any of their own policies to enroll and award a degree to our students, or propose waiving a SACSCOC policy, such as the requirement for the student to earn a minimum of 25% of the degree credits from the institution awarding the degree.
3 Estimate provided by UNC System contacts.
4 Estimate provided by SACSCOC consultant.
5 Timeframe is dependent upon the terms of service of specific faculty members whose employment is terminated. See Section V and Section VII of the P&T Regulations.
Faculty have a right to request a reconsideration of the termination decision, if they allege the decision was arbitrary or capricious. The affected faculty member must request a hearing within fourteen days of receipt of the notice. If the request qualifies, the hearing, with the Due Process Committee, shall be held within thirty days. The Committee has fourteen days after the conclusion of the hearing to submit its recommendation to the Chancellor. If the recommendation is not favorable to the faculty member, the faculty member has fourteen days to appeal to the Board of Trustees. While not stated, it is reasonable to allow thirty days for the Board’s decision, which is final. (In all cases, “days” refers to business days.).
6 This could take as little as six months (if there are zero or few students enrolled) or as long as forty months, depending on when the decision is made (if mid-year, for example, another four to eight months may need to be added to the cycle).