Policy

1. The Quality Assurance Process (Process) will be implemented by the College President and overseen by the Institutional Intelligence Office.
2. The Process will cover all programs that lead to a Lambton College credential.
3. The Process will be continuous in nature. All programs leading to a Lambton College credential will be subject to quality review on a continuous basis.
4. The Process will be evidence-based, drawing on a broad range of quantitative and qualitative data from a range of sources, including but not limited to:
   1. Student feedback (Ontario College Student Experience Survey, KPI Graduate surveys, etc.
   2. Student Forum and Program Advisory Committee Feedback
   3. Student Performance (for example, Grade Distribution Reports)
   4. Key Enrolment Indicators and Financial Performance Metrics
5. Program Quality Assurance will follow a structured and efficient process.
6. Where an external accreditation process is available and undertaken, the accreditation process may wholly or partially replace internal Quality Assurance Processes where they are deemed to have equivalent scope and rigour. For degree programs, the accreditation review may replace the Program Evaluation Committee (PEC) review, in whole or in part, if the accreditation review is sufficiently similar to that of PEOAB and it covers most areas typically addressed in a PEC review.
7. An annual report on the implementation of the College’s Quality Assurance processes will be made to the Board of Governors.

Appendix A - Program Quality Assurance Processes

Annual Program Scorecard

1. The purpose of the Program Scorecard is to provide an overview of key performance indicators for academic program performance to inform academic planning, program mix, and continuous improvement.
   1. All programs will be reviewed and assessed annually using performance measures and criteria to objectively assess four broad areas:
      1. Enrollment Outcomes
      2. Graduate Outcomes
      3. Student Satisfaction
      4. Financial Sustainability
   2. The current metrics within each performance category, including definitions, are posted on the Institutional Intelligence webpage. These metrics may be modified periodically.
   3. The Institutional Intelligence Office is responsible for preparing the Program Scorecard at the beginning of the Spring term.
   4. Program performance on the Program Scorecard in turn informs the following processes:
      1. Annual Program Reflections
      2. Program Intake Suspension and Program Cancellation

Annual Program Reflections

1. Program reflections are completed annually by program teams by the end of June. Program review team composition is determined by the Program Dean.
2. Annual Program Review templates are provided by Institutional Intelligence by May of each year.
3. Program Review Teams will complete the template and generate recommendations to improve program quality. These recommendations will be reviewed and approved by the Academic Dean.
4. An inventory of recommendations and the status of those recommendations will be maintained within Institutional Intelligence.

Micro-Credential Review

1. All micro-credentials will be subject to quality assurance process comprising three components:
   1. A Pre-Launch Checklist, signed by the Program Area Dean or Director and maintained within the Program Repository, to ensure that a micro-credential ready to open for registration for the first time meets QA requirements. The Pre-Launch Checklist is developed by Institutional Intelligence.
   2. A Student Satisfaction Survey included at the end of each micro-credential to gather student feedback.
   3. An analytic framework for review that includes student outcomes and the results of the Study Satisfaction survey. Any micro-credentials that perform below expectations are flagged for annual review by the responsible Dean or Director.
2. In addition to the above framework, every micro-credential is reviewed by a Subject Matter Expert as delegated by the Dean or Director to ensure the content and the evaluation method are current and appropriate.
3. The Dean of the Academic School has overall responsibility for the micro-credential content and evaluation mechanisms used to assess competency in cases where the micro-credential aligns with academic programming. Corporate training micro-credentials that are not stackable towards traditional post-secondary programming are led by the Director of the unit responsible for training.

Degree Program Comprehensive Reviews

1. The Comprehensive Program Review of degree programs will be undertaken by two review teams: an internal review team that will conduct a comprehensive self-study and the external Program Evaluation Committee that will conduct a thorough review of the program beginning with and building upon the self-study provided by the internal review team.
2. For the review of degree programs:
   1. The internal review team will consist of faculty members, including the coordinator, of the program, students drawn from all years of the program, and program administrator(s).
   2. The external Program Evaluation Committee will consist of members drawn from academic, professional, industrial, and business circles external to the College with the experience, expertise, and credentials to effectively review the program, including both scholars and administrators from the relevant practice community. Lambton College may appoint a member to serve on the PEC, from outside the program under review, with no conflict of interest.
3. If a degree program undergoes a review by a professional accreditation agency and the accreditation review is sufficiently similar to that of PEQAB and covers most of the areas typically addressed in a PEC review, then the accreditation review may replace the PEC review:
   1. In the above instance, the College will supplement and expand the self-study prepared for the accreditation with an additional self-study to ensure that all PEQAB criteria are sufficiently addressed.
4. The review will be completed within four months with the delivery to the Senior Vice President, Academic & Student Success of a report that will include recommendations for quality improvement.
5. The Dean of the program will prepare, on behalf of Lambton College a written response to the PEC report.
6. One year later, the Dean of the program will report to the Senior Vice President, Academic & Student Success on the implementation of the recommendations.
7. Once received and approved by the Senior Vice President, Academic & Student Success, the Implementation Report will be provided to the President and the Board of Governors via the report to the Board, and then forwarded to the Review Team members.
8. The self-study, PEC report, and implementation support will be retained within the Program Repository.

Appendix B - Quality Assurance at Licensee Schools

1. The College Dean responsible for the contractual relationship with a licensee (hereinafter "the College Dean") will be responsible for the Lambton Quality Assurance Process as it applies to the licensee in accordance with this policy.

Quality Assurance Process

1. The College Dean shall establish, document and implement a Quality Assurance Process that defines requirements and expectations, and monitors the licensee's program delivery.
2. For each licensee, the Quality Assurance Process shall:
   1. encompass all programs delivered by the licensee that lead to a Lambton College credential;
   2. encompass all aspects of the Lambton College credential programs, including program structure, curriculum delivery, and all student support services and campus services delivered, or expected to be delivered, to the students in the program;
   3. be consistent with and substantially reflect the operating principles and processes of the Lambton College Quality Assurance program;
   4. establish a process to regularly review measures of program and campus success (e.g. student satisfaction, co-op placement rates, graduation rate, etc.);
   5. monitor the currency and completeness of program documentation, including program curriculum, course outlines, and student records;
   6. require the production, to established standards, and central storage of a course portfolio at the completion of the delivery of each course section and ensure the regular review of the portfolios by a subject matter or pedagogical expert.

Program Reviews

1. The College Dean shall oversee regular comprehensive program reviews and ensure the licensee conducts regular program self-reviews that
   1. meet or exceed the frequency of and expectations for the same reviews at Lambton College;
   2. produce explicit, published recommendations for improvements to the programs and services. 
2. The College Dean shall produce a regular report on the licensee's implementation of the recommendations in the program review reports.
3. The College Dean shall receive and review all program comprehensive and self-review reports for thoroughness and equivalence to the respective reviews conducted at Lambton College.

Institutional Intelligence 

1. Institutional Intelligence will:
   1. Formally review the Quality Assurance Process on an annual basis for each Licensee, and report on such to the Council.
   2. Apply the same Quality Assurance expectations and standards to the Lambton College credential programs delivered at licensee sites as programs delivered at Lambton College.
2. Institutional Intelligence will review all comprehensive program review reports for thoroughness and equivalence to the respective reviews conducted at Lambton College.
   1. If Institutional Intelligence or the College Dean finds the Report or process to be incomplete or unsatisfactory, the Office or the Dean will return the Report to the International Department or the author, respectively, for the identified shortcomings to be addressed and the Report resubmitted; or the Institutional Intelligence may choose to undertake its own review of the licensee-delivered program.
   2. If satisfied with the review process and Report, then the Report will be presented to the Council via Institutional Intelligence for its consideration and acceptance with subsequent forwarding to the President and Board.
3. Institutional Intelligence shall receive and review all reports on the implementation of recommendations contained in a program review reports.
   1. If the report is found to be deficient, it will return the report with the requirement that the deficiencies be addressed for re-submission and re-consideration.
   2. When Institutional Intelligence accepts an implementation report, that report shall then be presented to the Council for approval, filed with the President and Board and included in the annual report to the Board.
4. Site visit audits of licensees shall be the responsibility of the College Dean.
   1. In no case shall the time between site audits of a licensee exceed three years.
   2. During a site audit, the QA auditor will meet with licensee management, to audit the operations for the purpose of gaining an understanding of all aspects of the Lambton College credential programs (e.g. structure, documentation, delivery, student satisfaction, etc.) and an program and campus services that exist or should exist to ensure the quality of the programs and the student experience.
   3. The site audit shall result in a formal written report to the College Dean and Quality Assurance Council describing the audit process undertaken, findings, the auditor's opinion, and recommendations for quality improvement, which shall be forwarded to the Dean for the licensee to undertake.
   4. The site audit report shall be presented to the Council, which shall fill the report with the Office of the President and Board and forward the report to the responsible College Dean for consideration and communication to the licensee for follow-up.
   5. One year after receiving the site audit report from the Council, the licensee shall provide to the College Dean a report on the status of the implementation of the recommendations contained in the site audit report, which the Dean shall forward to the Council.
   6. The recommendation implementation report shall be received and reviewed by the Council, which shall file the report with the Office of the President and the Board. 

Reporting on Quality Assurance at Licensee Site

1. The Council, in its annual report to the President and Board, shall report specifically and separately on QA activities and results pertaining to the licensee's delivery of Lambton College programs.

Associated Supporting Information

• Scorecard Metric Definitions
• Program Scorecard Annual Cycle