Evaluating Academic Programs: With Applications to U.S. Graduate Decision Science Programs

Operations Research, Vol. 54, No. 5, pp. 813-828, September-October 2006

16 Pages Posted: 23 Oct 2006

See all articles by Ralph L. Keeney

Ralph L. Keeney

Duke University - Decision Sciences

Kelly E. See

University of Colorado at Denver - Business School; New York University - Department of Management and Organizations

Detlof von Winterfeldt

University of Southern California - Sol Price School of Public Policy

Abstract

This paper describes a decision analysis methodology to evaluate academic programs. It avoids the shortcomings of the well-known evaluations of universities and academic programs produced by the public media. In addition to evaluating traditional departments and schools, the methodology is designed to evaluate interdisciplinary programs or fields that typically span many areas of a university, such as operations research, risk analysis, and decision science. We first discuss general principles of using this methodology for the evaluation of disciplinary or interdisciplinary academic programs. Next, we apply this methodology to interdisciplinary graduate decision science programs in United States universities, focusing on both prescriptive decision analysis and descriptive decision research. Finally, we suggest how the methodology might be implemented to evaluate operations research programs.

Keywords: academic program evaluation, academic rankings, decision analysis, education systems, operations

JEL Classification: A23, C44

Suggested Citation

Keeney, Ralph L. and See, Kelly E. and von Winterfeldt, Detlof, Evaluating Academic Programs: With Applications to U.S. Graduate Decision Science Programs. Operations Research, Vol. 54, No. 5, pp. 813-828, September-October 2006, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=939170

Ralph L. Keeney (Contact Author)

Duke University - Decision Sciences ( email )

Durham, NC 27708-0120
United States

Kelly E. See

University of Colorado at Denver - Business School ( email )

1475 Lawrence Street
Suite 5015
Denver, CO 80204
United States

New York University - Department of Management and Organizations ( email )

44 West 4th Street
New York, NY 10012
United States

Detlof Von Winterfeldt

University of Southern California - Sol Price School of Public Policy ( email )

Los Angeles, CA 90089-0626
United States

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
485
Abstract Views
2,500
Rank
94,769
PlumX Metrics