Dean’s Leadership Series & University of Toronto Quality Assurance Process Review
March 16/2016
Dear DLSPH Community,
As a standalone faculty within the University of Toronto, providing community engagement opportunities and participating in cyclical quality assurance reviews are crucial.
On February 3, 2016, the Faculty hosted the inaugural Dean’s Leadership Series, a community engagement event at which seven opinion leaders shared their views on healthcare innovation with the 350 students, alumni, faculty, staff and partners in attendance. The Dean’s Leadership Series (DLS) is designed to strengthen connections between the Faculty and the University community and beyond through lively discussion on significant issues facing the health of Canadians and stimulating ideas on how society can respond to these challenges.
Click here to read more about the event and watch the full event video.
I’m thrilled with the level of interest in the event, which compelled us to change the location to accommodate additional guests, and I’m keen to continue the conversation on key topics and issues. I encourage everyone who attended the event to complete the survey, which will be distributed to event attendees shortly, and includes a section for your input on future DLS topics and speakers.
Community engagement activities are important vehicles of public discourse that contribute to the Faculty’s future. Equally important is looking back at our progress and the Faculty has initiated a rigorous quality assurance review to which many member of our Faculty can contribute.
The University of Toronto Quality Assurance Process (UTQAP) measures the quality of the scholarship and research of the Faculty, how we compare to international peer institutions and how we support students to meet degree level expectations. These reviews also celebrate successes, identify areas where we can do better and vigorously pursue improvements.
Click here to read more about UTQAP.
As we enter our first UTQAP review as a Faculty, the Dean’s Office will lead a self-study and participate in an external review on all aspects of the Faculty, including academic programs, research, organization and financial structure, resources and infrastructure, academic services, internal and external relationships, previous review recommendations and future directions.
During the UTQAP review, I anticipate defending our decision not to pursue Accreditation, which is a key issue that I would like to proactively address.
The Faculty’s position is that the drawbacks of Accreditation outweigh the benefits. While Accreditation represents peer recognition and can enhance institutional reputation, it simply confirms that minimum standards are met and it doesn’t recognize excellence. Faculty leadership will continue to seek opportunities to discuss quality and consistency of public health graduate education programs, including the role of Accreditation, with our peer institutions and monitor what’s happening overseas with the establishment of the European Accreditation Agency for Public Health Education.
Click here to visit the DLSPH’s UTQAP website for regular review updates.
Sincerely,
Howard Hu