Transcript Document

CREATING AND
SUSTAINING A
QUALITY
CULTURE AT
YORK
UNIVERSITY
INQAAHE March 31-April 2, 2009
Abu-Dhabi
YORK UNIVERSITY
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Over 50,000 students
• 46,000 undergraduate students
• 5,000 graduate students
• 3rd largest university in Canada (second largest English-language)
• 2nd largest university in Ontario
Two campuses (one bilingual)
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The Quality Assurance Context
External appraisal of new and existing graduate programs (OCGS)
External audit of undergraduate program approvals and reviews (UPRAC)
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Graduate Program Appraisal Process
Ontario Council on Graduate Studies (OCGS)
Appraisal of all proposed new Master’s or Doctoral programs since 1965
Periodic appraisal of all existing Master’s and Doctoral programs since 1983
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Seven year cycle
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Undergraduate Program Approval and Review
Audit Process
Undergraduate Program Review Audit Committee (UPRAC) of the Ontario Council of
Academic Vice-Presidents since 1997
Province-wide Guidelines for undergraduate program approvals and reviews
UPRAC audit of institutional policies and implementation practices
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Seven year cycle
Compliance of policies with the UPRAC Guidelines
Compliance of actual approvals and reviews with university policies and UPRAC
Guidelines
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York University Undergraduate Program
Review Process
Ownership of the quality agenda
• UPRAC requirements plus York quality issues (e.g. general education)
Eight Year cycle
Key aspects
• Briefing
• Student Questionnaire
• Self-Appraisal
• Consultants
• Responses
• Senate Committee Meeting
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UPR Briefing
Associate Vice-President Academic meets with Chair, Undergraduate Program Director,
staff, etc.
Cognate Reviews – all units meet together
Briefing on York QA requirements, QA principles and policies in other jurisdictions
• Specific requirements for learning objectives and University Undergraduate Degree
Level Expectations (UUDLES)
Institutional data provided
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UPR Student Questionnaire
Standard questions (e.g. curricular content, teaching and learning styles and
processes, student experiences, demographic data, etc.)
Program-specific questions designed and added by the program
Development and analysis by York Institute for Social Research
On-line questionnaire – over 50% response rate
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UPR Self-Appraisal
Not descriptive or defensive, but analytical, reflective, improvement-focussed
Program retreat – full and part-time faculty, staff, librarians, teaching assistants, students
Address:
• Program vision and mission
• Expected learning outcomes v actual learning outcomes
• Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and tensions
• Solutions for identified problems
• Agenda of concerns – questions for consultants
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UPR Consultants
Two external consultants (arms-length)
One internal consultant
Respond to agendas of concerns (of program, dean, and AVPA generic UPRAC)
Site visit – meet with all stakeholders (including students)
Joint report
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UPR Responses to Consultants’ Report
Program response to consultants’ recommendations
Dean’s response to consultants’ report and program response
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UPR Senate Committee Meeting
Bring closure to the UPR
Senate Committee meets with Chair and Dean
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Review UPR documentation
Determine outcomes
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Centre for the Support of Teaching (CST)
Mandate to improve the quality of teaching and learning
Help instructors and programs with learning objectives and expected learning
outcomes, and University Undergraduate Degree Level Expectations
(UUDLES)
• Workshops, advice, templates, teaching skills programs, etc.
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Retention Council
Created 2007 to improve the educational experience of students
Managerial-level staff, College Masters, librarians, Academic advisers, students
Six committees
• Advising
• Year-to-year transition
• Faculty Participation
• Student Engagement
• Data and Resources
• Peer Mentoring
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Peer Mentoring
Pilot study in Faculty of Fine Arts
• First year students matched with successful upper-year student mentors
Students with peer mentor had higher mean GPA and higher levels of student
engagement (NSSE questions)
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Year-to-Year Transition
Navig8
Interactive website
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Consolidated student information
On-line tools
Links
Etc.
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Advising
York size and structure results in complicated advising pathways
Goal to clarify and improve student advising
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Ensure consistently accurate information
More effective referral process
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Student’s first stop should be their last stop, or second-last stop
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Research at York (RAY)
Enhance research culture
Respond to common perception of opposition between teaching and research
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Integration of teaching and research
Involve undergraduate students in faculty research projects
University subsidizes RAY stipends
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Concluding Observations
Student focus
Continuous improvement
Multiple, reinforcing activities (not single action)
Multiple responsibility – everyone’s responsibility
Beyond compliance to ownership of the quality agenda
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