An Analysis of and Commentary on Consultants' Reports on Undergraduate Psychology Programs

Abstract

Content analysis of evaluations of 20 psychology departments written by 10 consultants was used to generate a list of 24 categories of evaluation in three areas: issues, problems, and recommendations. In all three of these areas, the 2 categories most frequently included in the reports were requirements for the major and physical and financial resources. In 20 other categories, there was a discrepancy between the number of department reporting problems and the number of consultants making recommendations, Consultants typically assumed the role of experts in undergraduate education. We describe more specific roles for consultants in program planning and evaluation, and we offer recommendations for the effective use of external consultants.