CREATING AND SUSTAINING A QUALITY CULTURE AT YORK UNIVERSITY

1. CREATING AND SUSTAINING A QUALITY CULTURE AT YORK UNIVERSITY INQAAHE March 31-April 2, 2009 Abu-Dhabi

2. 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)

3. The Quality Assurance Context • External appraisal of new and existing graduate programs (OCGS) • External audit of undergraduate program approvals and reviews (UPRAC)

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. UPR Responses to Consultants’ Report • Program response to consultants’ recommendations • Dean’s response to consultants’ report and program response

12. UPR Senate Committee Meeting • Bring closure to the UPR • Senate Committee meets with Chair and Dean • Review UPR documentation • Determine outcomes

13. 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.

14. 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

15. 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)

16. Year-to-Year Transition • Navig8 • Interactive website • Consolidated student information • On-line tools • Links • Etc.

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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