What is the IQAP?
The IQAP is RMC's protocol for reviewing its academic programmes. The RMC IQAP specifies the processes that RMC uses to conform to province-wide standards, while reflecting the unique character, mandate and priorities of RMC as the university of the Canadian Armed Forces.
The basic function of the province-wide programme reviews is to ensure that universities identify clear benchmarks of learning and achievement which their students must attain in order to earn a degree, and to ensure that universities verify that these benchmarks are indeed being reached by their students. This quality control process establishes post-secondary educational standards and therefore establishes the quality of university degrees earned in Ontario. Although RMC is Canada's national military university, its degree-granting charter was granted by the province of Ontario, and so the review of RMC programmes falls under the purview of the OUCQA.
RMC's IQAP has been developed to meet both the requirements of the Ontario Universities Council on Quality Assurance (OUCQA or Quality Council), the governing body that oversees and approves the quality of all academic programmes across the province, as well as its own internal standards for academic accountability. The Quality Council requires that each university conduct systematic reviews of both new and existing programmes in accordance with OUCQA specifications. This includes external peer reviews as an integral part of the process at every level, in most cases.
There are three broad categories of reviews that must follow the processes described in the IQAP manual:
- The cyclical review of an existing programme undergoing no major changes
- The development of a new programme, and,
- Major modifications to an approved existing programme.
For information about the role of the Office of Quality Assurance in IQAP-related processes, visit our IQAP support page.
For more information about the governing body for academic quality assurance in Ontario, visit the Ontario Universities Council on Quality Assurance. Note: this link leads to a site belonging to an entity not subject to the Official Languages Act. Information on this site is available in the language of the site.
Manual
The Office of Quality Assurance maintains the official RMC Institutional Quality Assurance Process (IQAP) Manual. QA assists in RMC Cyclical Programme Reviews by providing templates, guidelines, certain reports, and advice. QA is the authority responsible for archiving all documents relating to Programme Reviews, and QA also reports on and monitors Cyclical Programme Reviews for the VP Academic and the Ontario Universities Council on Quality Assurance.
