January 10, 2008

Final Communiques - What does PQAPA mean to me?

Durham College is participating in the Program Quality Assurance Process Audit ( PQAPA). The purpose of this communication is to begin the campus dialogue around quality concepts, to encourage individual and collective ownership of quality as a priority, and to provide you with an update on our PQAPA initiatives.

PQAPA and Human Resources

• PQAPA to me is a positive process whereby Durham College will formally identify and document its core strengths in the creation of a superior learning environment for students. It is also the opportunity to systematically identify areas for improvement which will further enhance the nature of student life at DC.
• Quality has always been a priority at DC and the PQAPA process is means of measuring our progress in this continuous quest to be better than the rest.
• PQAPA also presents an opportunity for service departments like Human Resources to assess alignment with the academic mission. All college services are supporting the student experience in some way. For instance, Human Resources provides key services in the recruitment, orientation and training of new faculty members. Supporting the development of our new faculty members is a means of ensuring a quality learning experience for our students.
• Training and development for support staff and administrative staff, wellness programs, health and safety initiatives, internal communications and facilitating a constructive labour relations environment are all Human Resource functions which help to maintain and enhance the quality of our institutional environment. In this way, Human Resources and other service departments are contributing to the quality of the student experience. PQAPA is a means of reinforcing that focus.

Ken Robb
Vice-President, Human Resources
x3012 | Ken.Robb@dc-uoit.ca

Ken started his career as Executive Director of the Norfolk Association for Community Living for a three year stint followed by a series of moves in the higher education sector over a total of 26 years. He began his college career as Manager, Training & Development at Confederation College for 6 years, then 12 years as Director, Human Resources at Sault College and 5 years as Director, HR Services & Organizational Development at York University. Ken joined Durham College as VP, Human Resources in 2004. He has taught college and university courses part-time for over 15 years. Ken has several university degrees including graduate degrees in philosophy and business administration as well as holding the CHRP (Certified Human Resources Professional) designation.

PQAPA and Communications and Marketing

To me PQAPA means opportunity:

• To find out what we're doing well and even more importantly, to find out where we can improve.
• To show that the team spirit is alive and well at Durham College as we - students, faculty, staff and administration - pull together to prepare and participate in this audit.
• For Communications and Marketing as a department to help ensure that the campus community is well-informed about PQAPA through a variety of communications vehicles.
• To demonstrate through our response to the audit that the student experience comes first at Durham College, and we will do what it takes to make it the best that it can be.

Carol Beam
Director, Design and Marketing
x3216 | Carol.Beam@dc-uoit.ca

Carol has been working in Communications and Marketing for 15 years.

For 15 years, Carol has put her background in Public Relations to use in the Communications and Marketing office. Carol supports a team of graphic designers and web and marketing specialists to promote Durham College and its brand to the many external markets. The team is committed to providing high quality service and products to support recruitment, retention and beyond.

PQAPA and Planning and Priorities

To feel good about an audit is a bit unnatural. It's a scary undertaking, and you worry about the "findings". So why feel good about PQAPA? Because:

• We have a lot of successes to show off.
• We can honestly demonstrate improvement in areas that need it.
• The PQAPA process involves the college very actively, and it's not just done to us from the outside.
• That very process of getting ready is moving us forward to more successes, a good airing of our weak spots, and solid improvement plans.

If we were doing it internally, for ourselves, we'd say the work being done for PQAPA is part and parcel of good planning and review. So, the actual external audit step at the end of the preparations is, almost, an afterthought. And to the extent that the auditors provide valuable feedback is all the better.

So I'm feeling good about it. And thanks to everyone who is doing the work on this important project.

Martin Hicks
Vice-President. Planning and Priorities
x3314 | Martin.Hicks@durhamcollege.ca

Martin joined Durham College this summer, from a 20 year career with the Ontario government. He served the Ministries of Education and Training, Colleges and Universities in a variety of contexts and roles, which included managing the Colleges Finance Unit in the late 1990s and, most recently, Director of the Universities Branch.

Message from Don Lovisa, Vice-President, Academic

On behalf of the PQAPA Task Group, we hope you enjoyed reading the "What Does PQAPA Mean to Me?" series and are now more familiar with the quality audit process. All future communiqués will be posted on the PQAPA website and will include specific information about each of the major criteria being assessed by PQAPA, along with other related publications and links. Please check it out at www.durhamcollege.ca/pqapa.

On January 21, the PQAPA Task Group and other volunteers from administration, faculty and support will fan out across the Oshawa and Whitby campuses asking colleagues and students questions about PQAPA and our quality assurance processes.

Will you know the answer to their questions?

This event is designed to be a fun way to engage people in a discussion about our best practices and how we support our strategic vision for academic quality. If you are one of the lucky people and/or departments that are chosen, you may have a chance to win a prize. Watch for the PQAPA Task Group with their clipboards and identifying buttons.

The PQAPA Task Group will continue to be very busy in the new year, launching the website, starting a poster campaign, and conducting the mini-audits on January 21. Additional steps in preparation of the audit also include the collection of documents, web-links and related information for a self-study report required 8 weeks prior to the auditors site visit in April. The PQAPA Task Group, Deans, Directors and others will be collecting this information in January. We have assigned a 'quality room' in the H-wing where our evidence will be stored and readily available to the auditors. I would like to thank you in advance for your assistance and cooperation.

Questions or comments? Write to pqapa@durhamcollege.ca.

Don Lovisa
Vice President, Academic