4.0 Standards of capacity for program quality

Capacity components for
4.1 Curriculum
4.2 Faculty
4.3 Facilities, equipment, and supplies
4.4 Fiscal and administrative
4.5 Student support services
4.6 Recruiting and admissions practices, academic calendars, catalogs, publications
4.7 Student feedback

TEAC defines a quality program as one that has credible evidence that it satisfies the three TEAC quality principles. However, TEAC also requires the program faculty to provide evidence that it has the capacity—curriculum, faculty, resources, facilities, publications, student support services, and policies—to support student learning and program quality. This evidence should be independent of student learning and based on some traditional input features of capacity.

The faculty can make the case that the program has a sufficient capacity for quality in any way that meets scholarly standards of evidence; however, TEAC requires that the faculty cover the following basic points in making its case.

Quality control. The faculty must show that it monitors systematically the quality of the program and that the faculty is disposed to act to continuously improve program quality. This is just another way of saying that the faculty adheres to Quality Principle III. The faculty maintains a system of quality control and inquiry, verified by periodic internal audits, that (1) monitors the quality of the curriculum, faculty, facilities, resources, student support services, publications; and (2) is sensitive and responds to student comment and complaint.

Evidence of commitment. The faculty must also provide evidence that the institution is committed to the program. Commitment is most conveniently seen in the evidence of parity of the program within the institution. The program must at least have the normative capacity of the institution’s academic programs with regard to the quality of the curriculum, faculty, facilities, resources, student support services, publications, and features it shares with the institution’s other programs.

Unique capacity. The faculty must also address whatever unique capacity is needed for program quality in professional education. Teacher education programs, for example, have unique features, such as student teaching and clinical courses. The institution and program must provide resources, administrative direction, and facilities for these unique and distinctive features. The program faculty must make a case that overall it has the capacity to offer a quality program. The program does this by providing evidence in the ways described below.