1. Surviving a Program Review
Keith Dickson, Lone Star College
James Smith, Lone Star College
Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

2. Agenda What to do once notified of a program review
How to handle the actual review and research involved
Once the data is gathered, what do I do next?
Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

3. Notification of Program Review
The Department of Education will notify the Chancellor/President and the Executive Director/Director in writing
The letter will detail the specific information that the Department of Education will be reviewing
Don’t freak out
Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

4. Executive Director/Director Will Begin Working with the Team to Determine Who Has What Responsibilities
First determine what areas of responsibilities need to be divided
Who are the subject matter experts on this topic?
Create a broad game plan for moving forward
Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

5. The Department of Education Will Send You a Template of How They Want to Receive the Information
Once received, this will let you determine what data is important
Convert template into working document for the review process for staff
Work with OTS/IT, Business Analysts, and any technical support needed to begin determining how the data will be pulled
Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

6. Begin Reviewing the Samples
Once the data is retrieved, look at samples to test the data
This allows you to determine the number of files to be reviewed
This also allows you to check the data for accuracy
Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

7. How Many Staff Should Help with the Review?
Once you know the volume of files to be reviewed, this will help determine the number of staff needed in the review process
Make sure that they are subject matter experts, or can be trained easily to analyze the data
In our case we utilized over 20 staff members, due to the size of the review and being at our institution
Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

8. Work with the Department of Education
Speak with the program reviewer or reviewers, to let them know what and how you will be processing the files for review
Once the what and how are approved by the reviewer, it will be crucial to create a timeline of when the review can be completed.
The timeline given by the Department of Education
The timeline given by Senior Administration (Yes, this may be different)
Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

9. Begin Training Staff This is the most important part of a review
They need to know the following:
What is being reviewed
How it is to be reviewed
Where they can find the information
What to do when they have questions
Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

10. Reviewing Test Data Select a small sample of the review data
As a part of training, work with the staff to review these files in a group setting
This will show staff the expectation of how they are to review files, and will also help to answer any questions, since many have never been through a program review
Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

11. Total Review of Files
Keep a list of files for the team small so they can see progress
Keep your eye on the timelines
Stay aware of the processing by the team - give deadlines and follow up consistently (daily or weekly basis)
Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

12. Separate Meetings
Schedule weekly meetings with Executive Director/Director to provide progress updates, and notify senior administration of any challenges
Schedule weekly conference calls or meetings with the review team, to make sure that deadlines are met, questions are answered, and issues are being addressed
On a weekly basis, provide the review team with new student files, and issues to be reviewed so that established timelines can be met
Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

13. Once the Data Has Been Reviewed
Select a small representative group from the review team
Spot check the data for quality control purposes
Submit to the Executive Director/Director for a final review
Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

14. Once the Final Review of Data is Complete
Provide the data to Legal and to Senior Administration, so that a final response can be drafted and sent to the Department of Education
Work with Senior Administration on the final response to ensure that the information provided shows an accurate picture of the data found
Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

15. Breathe Remember to breathe…. Now is not the time to panic
The response from the Department of Education will take time (months)
Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

16. Additional items
Tracie N. Hunter, Executive Director of Financial Aid, Lone Star College
Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

17. Questions
Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

18. Thank you! Keith Dickson - Keith.Dickson@lonestar.edu
James R. Smith -