CREATING AND SUSTAINING A QUALITY CULTURE AT YORK UNIVERSITY

INQAAHE March 31-April 2, 2009Abu-Dhabi

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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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• Ensure consistently accurate information• More effective referral process

• 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

• 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