UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Academic Portfolio and Program Review (APPR) committee has released its final summary report, which recommends a University-wide approach to reviewing undergraduate programs and the overall academic portfolio. This report marks the conclusion of the current phase of the APPR initiative.
In 2024, the University initiated APPR to develop a mission-aligned academic portfolio that reflects student needs, societal demands and institutional strengths. During this process, the APPR effort engaged nearly 100 faculty, staff and administrators across the University and was supported by external consultants from Hanover Research.
“I would like to thank the faculty, staff and students from across Penn State who contributed their time, expertise and perspective to the APPR initiative,” said Renata Engel, vice president for Commonwealth Campuses and executive chancellor. “From the outset, we knew it would be a complex undertaking with unique challenges and evolving requirements. Your commitment, creativity and resilience never wavered, and today we have a summary report and recommendations that can help inform the University’s future efforts.”
The final summary report outlines high-level recommendations for establishing a comprehensive undergraduate review process at Penn State. It highlights the need for consistent institutional resources and shared standards for data use, management and curation.
The report has been shared with Engel and Fotis Sotiropoulos, executive vice president and provost, who served as the project’s executive sponsors. The committee also acknowledges the guidance of Tracy Langkilde, the Verne M. Willaman Dean of the Eberly College of Science, who served as interim provost during much of the APPR process.
The report will be presented to the Penn State community during the Faculty Senate Plenary meeting on Oct. 14. While the recommendations provide strategic direction, any next steps and timing around implementation and final scope will be determined by Sotiropoulos after further review.
“The summary report and comprehensive work produced by the APPR committee represent an outstanding collaborative effort,” said Sotiropoulos. “I look forward to further assessing this information and using it to help guide our next steps in creating a sustainable academic portfolio and program review process that best serves our current and future students and best positions Penn State for success in the future.”
The final summary synthesizes the work completed to date and is intended to be read alongside prior workstreams and supporting materials:
APPR reports released
- Workstream 1: Academic Portfolio Optimization: Undergraduate Degree Programs (February 2025)
- Workstream 2: Pennsylvania Workforce Development Assessment (March 2025)
- Workstream 3: Campus and College Programming and Employment Alignment Dashboard (August 2025)
- Workstream 4, Part 1: Background Research: University Program Review Process (March 2025)
- Workstream 4, Part 2: Academic Portfolio Review – Interviews Analysis (June 2025)
- Workstream 5: Academic Portfolio Review – National Alignment (June 2025)
- Workstream 6: Professional Master’s Degrees: National Alignment (July 2025)
Visit the APPR website to access the final summary report and previously released workstreams, dashboards and compendium materials.