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The Commission has positioned all of its operations consistently with a view to supporting college-level institutions. For this reason, it has chosen to carry out different elements of its mandate progressively over time, with the goal of allowing these institutions increasingly to become more responsible for evaluations. At the moment, the Commission carries the following evaluations :
Institutional Policies on the Evaluation of Student Achievement
All institutions governed by the College Education Regulations must, after consulting the Academic Council, adopt an Institutional Policy on the Evaluation of Student Achievement (IPESA) and ensure its implementation (section 25). The regulations stipulate certain components that must figure in the policy, including the terms for granting equivalence, substiution, and incomplete, the process of certification of studies, and the program comprehensive assessment for each program leading to a Diploma of Collegial Studies. This policy represents the college’s public engagement in assuming and guaranteeing the responsibility of fair and equitable evaluation of student learning.
The Commission examines the policy’s content and verifies whether it meets the Regulation’s requirements and the Commission’s evaluation criteria.
Institutional Policies for the Evaluation of Academic program
The institutions are also required to adopt, after consulting their Academic Council, an Institutional Policy on Program Evaluation and to ensure that it is properly applied (section 24). This policy is the mechanism intended to ensure the quality of education in colleges. It describes how the college assumes its responsibility in assessing the quality of its programmes and testifying to this quality.
The Commission examines the policy’s content and verifies whether it meets the Regulation’s requirements and the Commission’s evaluation criteria.
Success Plans of Private Subsidized Colleges
Each college indicates in its success plan how it intends to take responsibility for improving and guaranteeing academic success and student graduation rates. Private subsidized colleges are not required to adopt a success plan. They can do so, however, to benefit from financial assistance granted within a budgetary annex.
The Commission evaluates the plans provided, and makes a statement on their thoroughness and potential effectiveness for achieving set targets and the institutional responsibility for student success.
Cegep’s Strategic plans, including Success Plans
Pursuant to articles 16.1 and 16.2 of the General and Vocational Colleges Act, Cegeps must have a strategic plan in place for a number of years, and integrate their student success plan within it. Bearing in mind their own situation as well as strategic ministerial orientations, Cegeps present their goals and the means to achieve them. The plan must be reviewed on an annual basis and updated, if necessary. The strategic plan and its potential update are quality assurance components specific to Cegeps and must be transmitted to the Commission which evaluates them as they are submitted.
The Commission then examines the conformity of this plan to the Act, as well as its potential effectiveness.
Effectiveness of the quality assurance systems of Québec’s colleges
In 2013, the Commission launched the operation for evaluating the effectiveness of quality assurance systems in college-level institutions. The evaluation process, done in the form of an audit performed on a known schedule, stems from the strong desire to improve its own practices, and acknowledging the evaluation expertise developed by colleges. In the context of this exercise, the Commission reviews the effectiveness of quality assurance systems in each college, focusing on the effectiveness of mechanisms relating to the different facets of the colleges’ missions. This way, the Commission evaluates the capacity of the functioning systems and the ways they are managed, to ensure quality in the different aspects of college undertakings.
Preliminary approach to evaluating quality assurance system
The Commission has prepared a document for new colleges presenting the procedures and actions it requires them to put in place and implement, to help the colleges develop institutional quality assurance mechanisms, apply them, and develop evaluation practises. The purpose of this preliminary procedure is to facilitate the assessment of their internal quality assurance system effectiveness, a procedure in which they will be expected to participate for approximately five years following its implementation.
For each of its operation, the Commission has published a guideline and framework, some of which are translated into English and are available upon request.