Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines criteria as: A standard on which a judgment or decision may be based; a characterizing mark or trait.

• Is the program/function central to our core mission and future direction?
• “Need to do” vs. “want to do,” i.e., essentiality
• Significant, positive impact on student learning and development
• Demonstrated impact on student recruitment
• Demonstrated impact on student retention and graduation rates
• Program/function provides an essential student support service
• Demonstrated impact on the recruitment/retention of quality faculty and staff
• Demonstrated impacts on faculty/student collaboration
• Contributions of a program to the liberal arts in their broadest sense
• Number of students per full-time faculty in a given program, taking into account the inherent nature of the program
• Contributes to General Education
• Delivery of service courses to other majors
• Graduate program has enough enrollment to be viable (e.g., number of applications and enrollments by program)
• Demonstrated impact on important external relationships
• Is this program/function duplicated on the campus?
• Provides a uniquely valuable service to the region/state
• Program/function has a consistently positive record of performance
• Is outsourcing possible? Would it save money and preserve the quality of service?
• Action results in a net gain of resources, taking the full cost of the program/function into account
• Faculty and OTPS (i.e., Other Than Personnel Service) costs per student
• Demonstrated impact on campus morale
• Demonstrated impact on the physical environment