Subject to approval by the university’s senior academic officer (e.g. Provost and Vice-President Academic), a university may publicly announce its intention to offer a new undergraduate or graduate program in advance of receiving approval by the Quality Council. When such announcements are made at this stage, they must contain the following statement: “Prospective students are advised that the program is still subject to formal approval.”

2.7.1     University may consult with/request a reconsideration of the Appraisal Committee

When the recommendation is one of b), c), or d) in 2.6.3 above, the proposing university may, within 30 days, request a meeting with and/or reconsideration by the Appraisal Committee. Normally, reconsiderations will only be considered if the university is providing new information, or if there were errors of fact in the Appraisal Committee’s commentary, or there were errors of process. Following such communication, the Appraisal Committee will revisit and may revise its assessment. Its final recommendation will be conveyed to the university and the Quality Council by the Quality Assurance Secretariat.

2.7.2     University may appeal to Council

When the recommendation is one of b), c), or d) in 2.6.3, the proposing university may, within 30 days, submit an appeal to the Quality Council. Having received and considered the Appraisal Committee’s final assessment and recommendation, any additional comments from the university on the assessment, and further, having reviewed any requested appeal from the university on matters of fact, procedure, public policy concerns, or questions of fairness, the Council makes one of the following decisions:

1. Approved to commence;
2. Approved to commence, with report;
3. Deferred for up to one year, affording the university an opportunity to amend and resubmit its Proposal; or
4. Not approved.

Decisions of the Quality Council are final and binding.

If the Quality Council chooses option c), the Appraisal Committee suspends the assessment process until the university has resubmitted its revised Proposal. After this, the Appraisal Committee reactivates its appraisal process (see Section 2.6.3 above). When the Appraisal Committee does not receive a response within the specified period, it considers the Proposal to have been withdrawn.

2.7.3     Council reports decision

The Quality Council conveys its decision to the university through the designated contact, and reports it for information to the Ontario Council of Academic Vice-Presidents (OCAV) and to the Ministry of Colleges and Universities (MCU). The Quality Council and the university post information about decisions on approval to commence new programs on their respective websites, together with a brief description of the program. Only at this point may universities make offers of admission to the program.

2.7.4     Waiting period before resubmission

To allow time for revisions to proposals, any university declined permission to proceed at this stage (2.6.3 c)) of the process, or following a denied appeal of the decision (2.7.2 c)), will normally wait until one year has elapsed from the date of the Quality Council’s decision before resubmitting a revised version of its Proposal. The same waiting period normally applies when a university does not resubmit a deferred New Program Proposal within the specified period.