| For almost a century, postsecondary institutions have used HEA doctoral degree programs with limited revisions to prepare higher education administrators (Dressel & Mayhew, 1974; Miller & Vacik, 1996). Such revisions are crucial to align HEA programs with societal changes and the resultant complexities of administering institutions. This limited modification is due in part to the absence of accreditation in the field of higher education. Given the increase in the number of HEA programs, the lack of an accrediting body, and the need to prepare skillful administrators for colleges and universities, the value of program review as a means for updating the programs cannot be overstated. Thus, this study has attempted to explore the impact of evaluation on HEA doctoral degree programs.; This project utilized interviews and documentation to collect data from faculty and administrators of two HEA doctoral degree programs. This researcher analyzed the data with chronological, theoretical, and comparative procedures.; The results of these analyses established that faculty and administrators are deeply involved in HEA doctoral degree programs and review them to improve, justify, or reallocate their resources. The findings of this research also indicated that program reviews could save HEA programs from discontinuation as well as protect their resources. The study's outcomes revealed that HEA faculty and administrators use procedures such as guidelines, coordination, and communication to evaluate the programs.; The findings of this study also illustrated that reviews have marked effects on HEA doctoral programs' further development, purpose, mission, structure and organization, curriculum and content, faculty advisement of students, degree options, admissions criteria, and student recruitment. In some cases, reviews may not immediately improve HEA programs' graduation rate, student-faculty ratio, faculty recruitment, and fellowships and assistantships. The outcomes of this research further indicated that certain factors enable faculty and administrators to incorporate evaluation outcomes in HEA program revisions. These factors include communication, participation, student demand, faculty collegiality, institutional size, retirements and deaths, and lack of financial pressure. Other factors limit the ability to integrate review findings in HEA decisions. Such variables include assessing HEA programs as subsidiaries of departments, professional qualifications of evaluators, and dismantling the university unit with program review oversight.; Additionally, this study found that the grounded theory of academic change (Conrad, 1978) provided limited understanding for the processes used to evaluate and implement review outcomes on both HEA doctoral programs examined.; In sum, this study's outcomes are particularly important because they provide a pathway for institutions contemplating HEA doctoral program reviews. By exploring the processes used to evaluate and integrate review outcomes in HEA doctoral curricula, this investigation contributed valuable knowledge to both the literature on program review and research in the field of higher education. |
