Internal Review Committee (IRC)

I. Purpose of the Internal Review

1. The Internal Review serves as a check of the thoroughness and usefulness of the Self-Study. It is conducted by a committee familiar with the overall campus culture. The Internal Review is meant to complement the Self-Study and the External Review. The IRC normally presents broad findings, although details are appropriate when the IRC believes they are not adequately presented in the Self-Study. The IRC should not attempt to solve problems or mediate; it is primarily a fact-finding group. As such, members should try to present as complete and balanced a picture of the unit as possible.

2. The Internal Review Report identifies main themes and issues the IRC believes should be considered by the external reviewers and in the final PRP Report.

1. The IRC is comprised of members from outside the unit: three faculty members (one of whom serves as chair) chosen from cognate disciplines; a graduate student; and an undergraduate student. (Note: Privacy and confidentiality of information about individual faculty members must be protected, thus it may be inappropriate for the students to participate in some aspects of the work of the committee.)

2. Nominations for the IRC are requested from the unit, but may also be solicited from the Boulder Faculty Assembly, United Government of Graduate Students, University of Colorado Student Union, and PRP members.

3. The unit is given an opportunity to review all nominations and may strike names from the nominee list for any reason. The IRC appointments are then finalized by the Panel from the agreed on list.

4. Members of the IRC must be asked to declare themselves free of any personal or professional conflicts of interest relative to the unit they are asked to review.

1. Procedures
   1. The IRC meets with the Program Review Panel Liaison for orientation and to plan its review of the unit.

   2. Each faculty member of the Internal Review Committee receives a copy of the completed Self-Study from the PRP Chair's office.

   3. Each IRC member should review these Procedures, the Self-Study, and the report from the previous cycle. When work is completed, each member should return the current Self-Study Report to the Panel Chair's Office.

2. The Internal Review Committee and Deans

   After the IRC receives and reviews the Self-Study, its members should contact the appropriate dean's office in order to schedule an interview with the dean. Some deans will prefer to meet with the IRC before they conduct their review. Others may wish to meet with the IRC to discuss their draft findings before they submit their report to the Program Review Panel Chair. In some cases the dean may wish to meet at both the beginning and the end of the Internal Review process.

3. The Internal Review Committee and Unit Interviews
   1. The Unit is obligated to assist the IRC, including promptly providing the committee with faculty/staff/student contact information (email, phone numbers, etc.), arranging for meeting space, and announcing meetings, if requested by the IRC to do so.

   2. The IRC schedules interviews with representative groups of the unit’s faculty. In small units, all faculty may be interviewed. One purpose of these interviews is to check the validity and thoroughness of the Self-Study Report and to ensure that dissenting and alternative views are heard. Any faculty member may request to speak with the IRC privately, as such the IRC should extend and appropriate invitation to the faculty at the beginning of their review. The IRC may also seek information from relevant campus groups beyond the unit.

   3. The Internal Review Committee should interview representatives of graduate students and undergraduate majors in the unit. Students enrolled in courses considered to be "service" or non-major courses should also be polled. This has traditionally been a primary responsibility of the student members of the IRC. The IRC should discuss how this aspect of the review will be conducted. Many units have student clubs, organizations, or email listserves that may be solicited by the IRC. The unit under review has an obligation to assist the IRC, particularly the student members of the IRC, in scheduling a thorough review of the student population.

   4. Unit interviews occur while classes are in session during February and March and should be concluded by Spring Break.

1. The Report of the IRC is normally 5-10 pages in length. The primary audiences for the IRC report are the external review team members, and the liaison to the Program Review Panel. The report should consist of the following.

   1. Evaluation of the completeness and adequacy of the Self-Study.

      A general appraisal of the unit.

   2. Brief recommendations that provide the PRP with themes and issues the IRC believes should be considered in the Final Report.

      The final IRC report is to be emailed to the Chair of the Program Review Panel by April 15.

2. Upon receipt of the Internal Review Report, the Panel Chair sends it to the unit, which then has 7 days to make written comments to the Panel, for the correction of factual errors only.