Program Management Glossary

Program Management

This category of glossary terms relates most directly to the operation of administrative offices, programs, and in some cases classroom instruction. Additional terms related to program management are contained in the Assessment category. More comprehensive glossaries of terms can be found in the Greenwood Dictionary of Education (Collins & O’Brien, 2011) and the Handbook of Practical Program Evaluation (Newcomer, Hatry, & Wholey, 2015).

academic credential

1. Definition: Certificate stating that instructors or staff members have attended a properly accredited postsecondary institution and completed a curriculum in the academic discipline they are instructing or supervising.

academic rank

1. Definition: Category of an institution’s classification system of professional personnel 2. Examples: Academic professional and administrative employee, assistant/associate/full professor, assistant/senior lecturer, docent, instructor, and teaching specialist.

accreditation

1. Definition: “A voluntary process conducted by peers through nongovernmental agencies to improve educational quality and ensure the public that programs and services meet established standards. In higher education, accreditation is divided into institutional and specialized. Although both are designed to assure minimum levels of quality, the former focuses on the institution as a whole while the latter focuses on specialty professional or preprofessional programs (such as law, business, psychology, or education) or services such as counseling centers within the institution” (Council for the Advancement of Standards, 2019, para. 1).

adjunct faculty

See PART-TIME FACULTY.

ancillary facilities

1. Definition: Postsecondary programs, services, and functions provided to support the educational function of the institution.

2. Examples: COURSE-BASED LEARNING ASSISTANCE, LEARNING ASSISTANCE CENTERS, and TUTORING.

certification

1. Definition: “Official recognition by a governmental or professional body attesting that an individual practitioner demonstrates knowledge and can apply learned skills to meet established standards or criteria. Criteria most often include formal academic preparation in prescribed content areas and a period of supervised practice with successful completion of a standardized test of the practitioner’s knowledge” (Council for the Advancement of Standards, 2020, para. 15).

compliance

1. Definitions: (a) The extent to which a particular ASSESSMENT guideline is followed; and (b) The degree to which a program is judged to meet an ASSESSMENT standard.

2. Example: Legal compliance with Title IX or other federal and state mandates.

contingent faculty

1. Definition: Includes both PART- and FULL-TIME FACULTY who do not have continuing employment contract protection. This portion of the teaching component has increased in recent years since it gives the institution’s administrators flexibility to lay off or add additional personnel depending on budget pressures and new program offerings.

2. Compare with ADJUNCT, FULL-TIME FACULTY, INSTRUCTOR, PART-TIME FACULTY, and TENURE/TENURE-TRACK FACULTY.

cost-effectiveness

1. Definition: Condition achieved when the lowest-cost option is utilized for achieving the greatest benefit or gain (Collins & O’Brien, 2011).

emergency crisis management procedures

1. Definition: Step-by-step directions for dealing with extraordinary events.

2. Examples: students in crisis, health emergencies, active shooter on campus, and student discipline.

ethical standards

1. Definitions: (a) Criter