2011 marks the beginning of a new quality assurance regime at Carleton which will change the method through which academic programs are audited.
The change means both undergraduate and graduate programs will be reviewed by Carleton’s new Office of Quality Assurance (OQA) for the first time.
Prior to the change, an external body, the Ontario Council for Graduate Studies (OCGS) reviewed graduate programs, while an internal Carleton Undergraduate Program Review Audit Committee assessed undergraduate programs.
John Shepherd, dean of graduate and postdoctoral affairs and associate provost (academic quality assurance), said there are benefits in bringing both processes together within the university.
“We’re a little closer to the action,” he said, adding that it gives the university a better understanding of current academic programs.
“We might be a little more in tune with the criteria that should actually be used to do a realistic, balanced review,” he said.
The consolidated process will likely allow new programs to be introduced “more quickly, more expeditiously,” he said.
Carleton was paying OCGS to conduct the reviews, so additional costs to the university for undertaking internal reviews are likely to be “very modest,” Shepherd said.
Shepherd said he will likely oversee OQA for the next two to three years.