An external peer reviewer was obtained for each of the fifty-two research based doctoral programs as a part of Phase 3. Below is the process the Graduate School followed to identify high-quality external peer reviewers.

 1.  Development of a listing of potential external reviewers:

•  Obtained recommendations from the Graduate Program Faculty
•  Utilized a listing of prior Graduate Program Review external reviewers
•  Research performed by the Graduate School to identify other potential reviewers
  

2. Confirmation with the Graduate Program Directors

• The listing of potential external reviewers was sent to the Graduate Program Directors and School Directors

                    a.        Feedback was received

                    b.        Potential conflicts of interests discussed

• Listing of potential external reviewers was finalized
• In some cases, names of external reviewers were removed/added based on discussion with the graduate program faculty

3. Prioritization of external reviewers was determined based on the following qualifications:

• Peer Institution –  the external reviewer’s University is an AAU institution 
• Program Prominence –  the external reviewer’s program is ranked:

                a.        Top 20% based on Academic Analytics

                b.        Top 15 based on U.S. News and World Report

• Faculty Contribution – the external reviewer is a National Academy Member
• Graduate Education Experience – the external reviewer showed evidence of involvement in Graduate Education (ex:  current or prior involvement in graduate education administration)
• To ensure an independent review process and consistency across programs, priority was given to those qualified external reviewers who had not previously participated as a Graduate Program Reviewer.