The following are excerpted from the minutes and agenda of the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board for its meeting of April 28, 2023.
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ARKANSAS HIGHER EDUCATION COORDINATING BOARD
Regular Quarterly Meeting
April 28, 2023
Minutes of Meeting
The April 28, 2023, regular meeting of the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating
Board (AHECB) was held at Henderson State University (HSU) in Arkadelphia. Chair
Graycen Bigger called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m., with a quorum present.
...
Agenda Item No. 3
Report on Academic Program Viability
Mason Campbell reported that 452 programs were initially identified as non-viable
during the AY2022 viability process. Of the 452 programs, 16 were recommended for
deletion. ADHE staff will monitor the process made by the institutions and the 16 non-
viable programs will be removed from active status on the approved programs list
effective May 1, 2023.
There were no questions.
Al Brodell moved to approve Agenda Item No. 3. Dr. Jim Carr seconded the motion
and the Board unanimously approved.
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From Agenda
Agenda Item No. 3
Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board
April 28, 2023
3 - 1
REPORT ON ACADEMIC PROGRAM VIABILITY
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The AHECB adopted new program productivity standards in 2010. ADHE staff annually identify existing certificate and degree programs that do not meet AHECB program viability standards. New certificates and associate degrees will be identified for program viability standards after three years, and bachelor’s degrees and above will be identified after five years:
The viability standards, based on a three-year average, are as follows:
• An average of four (4) graduates per year for career and technical education certificates (CTE) and career and technical associate degree programs (AAS);
• An average of four (4) graduates per year for bachelor’s degrees in science, mathematics, engineering, foreign languages, middle school education, and secondary education programs for licensure in science and mathematics;
• An average of six (6) graduates per year for transfer associate degrees (AA, AS, and AAT) and bachelor’s programs;
• An average of four (4) graduates per year for master’s, specialist and first- professional programs; and,
An average of two (2) graduates per year for doctoral programs
April 2023 Report of Non-Viable Programs
Background:
Based on the above standards, a list of programs identified as non-viable was presented to the Board in January 2023. After analysis of the programs, it was the opinion of ADHE academic affairs staff that the list included many programs that would likely meet the viability standards but had not received the appropriate attention/justification. Upon presenting these findings to the Board, ADHE staff requested additional time to meet with each institution’s Chief Academic Officer to engage in a more comprehensive discussion of non-viable programs.
Per policy, programs identified as below the viability threshold will have two (2) years to meet the threshold or will be removed from the AHECB approved program inventory. To determine which programs exceeded the two (2) additional years, ADHE Academic Affairs staff, in conjunction with ADHE Information Systems staff, developed a new report that included a total of five (5) years, which would allow for the consideration of three (3) separate three-year averages. The report included graduation counts, individual program averages, and program cognate averages for AY18 through AY22.
Board requested ADHE staff return to the April 2023 board meeting with a list of programs that exceed the two (2) additional years after initially being identified as non-viable.
The following list provides details of the 452 programs initially identified as non-viable during the AY2022 viability process:
• 88 programs will be deleted by the institutions. These changes require a Letter of
Notification (LON) from each institution.
• 81 programs are considered non-viable yet are recently approved (created in AY19 for associate and below and created in AY17 for bachelor and above) and are not yet past the additional two (2) year window.
• 78 programs are considered non-viable in the most recent three-year average (AY20|AY21|AY22) but were viable in a previous three-year average and are not yet past the additional two (2) year window. It is possible these programs could be justifiably removed from the non-viable list for various reasons within policy, but these programs are not the focus of this particular viability report.
• 56 programs were removed due to coursework being supported primarily by courses existing in and for other programs. Often, these programs are embedded but have appropriately different CIP Codes and require manual cognate consideration.
• 28 programs will be moved to inactive status by the institution. These changes require a letter of notification (LON) from each institution.
• 23 programs were determined to be essential feeder programs for other (viable) programs. This category includes programs such as Bachelor of Art/Science in Physics, which heavily contributes and supports both engineering majors and general education coursework. ADHE staff determined the deletion of programs such as this would result in no discernible benefit to the institution or the state.
• 22 programs were removed due to substantive restructuring, which would result in the program either no longer existing in its current form, or fundamentally changing the purpose of the program. These changes require a letter of notification (LON).
• 22 programs share all or the majority of faculty and instructional resources with a (viable) department or program. This justification is often paired with cognate programs based on shared coursework.
• 21 programs were removed due to accreditor requirements, state-wide consortium agreements, and ADHE exemptions.
• 20 programs were removed due to state-level agreements, which are exempt from viability standards (e.g., Associate of Science in Business and Associate of Science in General Technology). Programs such as Associate of Arts in Teaching and Criminal Justice programs are included in this category but were removed prior to the January 2023 Board Report.
• 7 programs are only offered on-demand and are not supported by full-time faculty or institutional resources. These programs are exclusively at the certificate level.
• 3 program(s) met viability standards after updating/resubmitting graduate data files.
• 3 Career and Technical Education (CTE) program(s) were reconsidered based on evidence of high-market demand.
• 0 program(s) requested and were allowed a reduction of viability standards based on the institution’s role, scope, and mission.
Regarding the Letters of Notification (LONs) noted above, ADHE Academic Affairs staff will monitor progress made on these institutional commitments.