Quality Matters Course Review Faculty Resources

Unofficial Reviews 

Unofficial course reviews are managed by the member institution and do not lead to QM Certification of a course.

• Self-Reviews – A Self-Review conducted to review one’s course. This unofficial review can be done to become familiar with the QM Higher Education Rubric Specific Review Standards or assess a course before an official review. Individuals have the ability to email a copy of the completed Final Report. You can watch a video here on how to use the QM Confidential Unofficial Self-Review Tool.
• Internal Reviews – Unofficial, collaborative course reviews managed by a member institution.  No specific team composition criteria must be met, although it is encouraged that institutions follow the Official Course Review Requirements as closely as possible. Reviewers do not need to be QM Peer Reviewers, but it is highly recommended that they have taken the “Applying the QM Rubric” workshop. Contact CITAL@valpo.edu for more information about the dates for the next sessions to be held at Valpo on campus and online.

Official Reviews

Official QM course reviews are managed by Quality Matters (QM) staff and/or designees or a member institution with a Full or System membership in compliance with QM Course Review Requirements such as Valparaiso University. Official reviews may lead to QM Certification of a course.

The official QM course review process consists of three QM-certified course peer reviewers, one of whom must be a subject matter expert, one member must be external to the institution hosting the review, and one member is the review team chair. Therefore, having your course officially reviewed is similar to having your article reviewed before it can appear in a peer-reviewed journal. Only courses that have been through the official peer review process can be QM certified.

• Full Review – Course review in which a course is reviewed in its entirety against all Specific Review Standards in the Higher Education Rubric.

• QM Peer Review Team Requirements

  Criteria:

  • All reviewers are eligible QM-Certified Peer Reviewers.
  • The Team Chair must be a QM-Certified Master Reviewer
  • At least one review team member must be a Subject Matter Expert (SME).
  • At least one team member must be external to the institution hosting the review. Reviews that only require a single team member must use a Master Reviewer who is external to the institution and also a Subject Matter Expert (SME).
  • Reviewers from affiliate institutions within a System are considered “external.”

• Contact CITAL team members to start the QM evaluation process
• CITAL will review your course using the QM Higher Education Rubric 7th Edition
  • Depending on the point of time in the school year, the review could take approximately 3-4 weeks
• You will receive a Final Report that will document the following for each of the rubric standards:
  • • • Points possible
      • Points awarded
      • Evidence
      • Suggestions for Improvement
      • Decision/Result (Standard Met or Not Met)

• The online Course Review Application is completed and submitted
• Complete  and submit the Course Worksheet 7th Ed (Example Course Worksheet )
• Complete and submit  a Course Alignment Map (Example Course Alignment Map) or visit the Course Mapping Guide Online
• Participate in the Course Review process
  • A Pre-Review Conference Call with the Course Representative and Chair is mandatory
  • The entire review team must hold a mandatory Post-Review Conference Call
  • The review confirms “Met” for all three-point Essential Standards
  • The review resulted in a total overall score of 86 or higher
• No more than 14 weeks between the submission of the Final Report and the final amendment, if needed. Two rounds of amendments may be submitted (Example Course Review Timeline)