INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW OF CQAAP
In 2023, Centennial College will be going through an institutional audit called CQAAP, which stands for College Quality Assurance Audit Process. This audit process is conducted every five years at all 24 colleges in Ontario by the Ontario College Quality Assurance Service (OCQAS), who ensure that institutional quality assurance policies and practices are applied consistently. CQAAP involves the regular and cyclical review of each college’s quality assurance mechanisms to ensure they are continuously being improved.
The Centre for Academic Excellence and Program Quality (AEPQ) is responsible for assessing the effectiveness of Centennial College’s quality assurance systems and ensuring the College’s policies, procedures, practices, and protocols are aligned with the standards established by OCQAS:
- Standard 1: Program Quality Management System
- Standard 2: Vocational Learning Outcomes as the Centre of Program Development Throughout the Program Lifecycle
- Standard 3: Conformity with Government Requirements
- Standard 4: Program Delivery and Student Assessment
- Standard 5: Existence, Monitoring and Communication of Policies and Practices that Influence and Impact Academic Quality
- Standard 6: Availability and Allocation of College-Wide Resources
Each standard has a series of requirements that outline extensive, detailed, specific, and comprehensive criteria and provide the framework for the College to assess the extent of our quality assurance mechanisms.
Please watch this brief Introduction to CQAAP video.
Our Commitment
CQAAP will serve as an opportunity for the College to demonstrate our commitment to quality education through our mission to educate students for career success, by reviewing our quality practices and strengthen the areas that need improvement. The entire college community will greatly benefit from this process, as it will assure at Centennial we are doing our best to provide a high level of education, thus positively impacting students, graduates and employers.
The Process
The audit process stages are as follows:
- Self-Evaluation: From 2022 through 2023, the entire College will undergo a comprehensive self-assessment on the effectiveness of our quality assurance systems. Collecting documentation and data that evidence the implementation of quality assurance mechanisms or identifying areas of improvement where corrective actions should be made.
- Self-Study Report: The conclusions from the self-evaluation process will be presented on a self-study report that must be submitted to OQCAS by March 20, 2023. This report will tell the story of how we are meeting the established standards and will include the collected evidence, as well as action plans to be undertaken to make improvements where needed.
- Site Visit: In May 2023, representatives from OCQAS and audit panelists will talk to staff, faculty, students, graduates, and members of the Board of Governors and Program Advisory Committees about our policies, procedures, practices, and protocols that ensure program quality.
FAQ
CQAAP stands for College Quality Assurance Audit Process. It is an institutional level process that involves the regular and cyclical review of the College's quality assurance mechanisms. Its purpose is developmental and its intent is to ensure continual improvement.
OCQAS, or the Ontario College Quality Assurance Service, was established to provide efficient tools that ensure specific quality and consistent standards are met by the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology in Ontario. They are responsible for ensuring quality at both the program level through the Credential Validation Service (CVS) as well as at the institutional level through CQAAP. OCQAS is owned, operated and funded by the 24 public colleges in Ontario. Visit OCQAS website for more information.
CQAAP is undertaken every five years. Centennial College went through our last audit process in 2018, and fully met all standards. You may find Centennial’s 2018 Final Audit Report Executive Summary on the OCQAS website.
All employees play a part in quality no matter what their role is at the College. Meeting the audit standards assures students and the public that Centennial College is doing its best to provide a high level of education, thus positively impacting our graduates and employers.
Contact Us
If you have any questions or wish to receive more information about CQAAP, please email the AEPQ at cqaap@centennialcollege.ca