A new council to oversee program quality assurance at Ontario Universities

TORONTO, July 16 /CNW/ - The Ontario Universities Council on Quality Assurance, a new arms-length body designed to ensure rigorous quality assurance of university undergraduate and graduate programs, will be chaired by Dr. Sam Scully, a distinguished academic leader with more than two decades of experience in quality assurance from coast to coast across Canada. The group, which will be responsible for review and auditing of new undergraduate and graduate programs, also consists of eight senior academics from Ontario and one citizen member (See list below).

"This group of leading academics with long track records in quality assurance will bring to the implementation of Ontario's new quality assurance framework the expertise and credibility to ensure its future success," says Donna Woolcott, Executive Director Quality Assurance, Ontario Universities Council on Quality Assurance.

The Council's Chair, Dr. Scully, has served as a Provost and Vice-President Academic at Dalhousie University and the University of Victoria, and has also served as a member and Vice-Chair of the Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission and Chair of its Quality Assurance Monitoring Committee.

The Council's first item of business will be to review and approve quality assurance processes at each university. It will then be responsible for the review and approval of all new undergraduate and graduate programs as well as for auditing each university on an eight-year cycle.

This process and the guidelines that direct it were developed by a special taskforce, which worked closely over a two-year period with Vice-Presidents Academic and received support from the Executive Heads of Ontario Universities. The Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities was also consulted during the Framework's development.

"The system is designed to support continuous quality improvement, demonstrate that programs at Ontario universities are well developed and meet defined learning outcomes," says Bonnie M. Patterson, President of the Council of Ontario Universities. "With the evolution of the quality assurance system, Ontario universities are positioned on the leading-edge internationally."

The new system also brings together undergraduate and graduate review processes under the same system.

The Council consists of the following members:

• Dr. Sam Scully (Post-Secondary Education Consultant)
• Dr. Cheryl Regehr (Vice-Provost Academic Programs, University of Toronto)
• Dr. Bruce Tucker (Associate Vice-President Academic Affairs, University of Windsor)
• Dr. Sue Horton (Associate Provost, Graduate Studies, University of Waterloo)
• Dr. Moira McPherson (Associate Vice-President, Academic, Lakehead University)
• Dr. Marilyn Rose (Dean, Graduate Studies, Brock University)
• Dr. Alex Wellington (Assistant Professor, Philosophy, Ryerson University)
• Dr. Ron Bond (Chair, Campus Alberta Quality Council)
• Madame Maureen Lacroix (citizen member, Sudbury)
• Dr. Donna Woolcott (Executive Director Quality Assurance, Ontario Universities Council on Quality Assurance)

For further information:

Jennifer Grass
Senior Director, Communications and Public Affairs
416.707.6787
[email protected]