Terms of Reference for the Audit Committee

Purpose

To make audit-related recommendations to the Ontario Universities Council on Quality Assurance (the Quality Council).

Members

Members of the Audit Committee must be senior academics with experience in the development, delivery and quality assessment of both graduate and undergraduate programs. At least two members will be bilingual. The Executive Director, Quality Assurance will be a non-voting, ex officio member.

A roster of 13 – 15 auditors is recommended as this provides sufficient capacity to distribute the scheduled audits each year, limits the workload per auditor, and helps avoid conflicts of interest when assigning auditors to specific institutions.

Term of Appointment

Members are normally appointed for a three-year term and may be reappointed.

Quorum

Quorum at meetings of the Audit Committee is 50% plus one of the eligible voting members. If a member is not voting because of a conflict of interest, the determination of what constitutes quorum will not include that member. The Chair shall have a vote.

Chair and Vice-Chair of Committee

The Quality Council will appoint a Chair and a Vice-Chair from amongst the members of the Audit Committee. The Vice-Chair will serve as chair when the Chair is unable to serve. Both the Chair and Vice-Chair are members of the Audit Executive Committee (see Terms of Reference for the Audit Executive Committee). The Chair is also an ex-officio member of the Quality Council.

Support for the Audit Committee

The Quality Assurance Secretariat is responsible for organizing meetings, preparing agendas and meeting materials, taking minutes of meetings and communicating decisions of the Audit Committee to the universities and the Quality Council.

Eligibility Criteria

Nominations to the Audit Committee include present and past faculty members, who are not currently holding a senior administrative appointment in an Ontario university but who may have had senior administrative experience at the Faculty or university level. Members of the Committee are selected for their recognized strength and expertise in quality assurance matters. This might include membership in a university’s quality assurance committee and / or the development and operation of undergraduate and/or graduate programs and their experience, typically, in one or more Ontario universities. Fluency in French and senior administrative experience in an academic services area, such as operating student academic support functions are assets. From time to time, one or two auditors may be required to have had senior administrative experience in an academic service area, such as operating student academic support functions.

Duties and Responsibilities:

  1. Auditors typically participate in one, or at most, two Cyclical Audits per year. Each Audit Team will have no fewer than three auditors. Two members of the Secretariat will make up the remainder of each Audit Team.
  2. Auditors are involved in selecting a sample of quality assurance activities for audit (QAF 6.2.4), including a mix of cyclical program reviews, new program approvals, and in progress activities. Specific program reviews may be added to the sample when the most recent prior audit includes documented causes for concern, when in accordance with Framework Section 6.2.4. When the institution so requests, specific programs and / or areas of focus may also be audited. The auditors may consider, in addition to the required documentation, any additional elements and related documentation stipulated by the institution in its IQAP.
  3. Auditors participate in a desk audit of the institution’s quality assurance practices. Using the institution’s records of the sampled cyclical program reviews or new program proposals, together with associated documents, the audit tests whether the institution’s practice conforms to its own IQAP, as ratified by the Quality Council.
  4. The auditors undertake to preserve the confidentiality required for all documentation and communications and meet all applicable requirements of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA).
  5. After completing the desk audit, the Audit Team visits the institution, normally in person, over three days. During the site visit auditors will have the opportunity to answer questions and address information gaps that arose during the desk audit. Ultimately, the purpose of the on-site visit is for the auditors to get a sufficiently complete and accurate understanding of the institution’s application of its IQAP.
  6. In the course of the site visit, the auditors will speak with those identified by the IQAP as participants and in particular those accountable for various steps, responsibilities, and obligations in the process. The institution, in consultation with the auditors, will establish the program and schedule for these meetings prior to the site visit.
  7. Following the Cyclical Audit, the Audit Team prepares a report as described in the Framework (QAF 6.2.7). The report may contain suggestions, recommendations and causes for concern, as well as the identification of commendations / good practices.
  8. The draft audit report is submitted to the Quality Council Audit Committee, which may consult with the Audit Team. The Committee will make a conditional recommendation to the Quality Council, subject to the institution’s fact-checking response. Once approved by the Quality Council, the final audit report is sent to the institution and is posted on its website. The approved report is also posted on the Quality Council website. A summary of audits is included in the Quality Council’s Annual Report, which is circulated to OCAV, COU and the Ministry for information.
  9. When required, the auditors review the institution’s follow-up response and prepare an Auditors’ response which is submitted to the Audit Committee. Once approved, the auditors’ report on the scope and adequacy of the institution’s response is posted on the Quality Council’s website and sent to the institution.
  10. Members of the Audit Committee are eligible to serve on its Executive Committee, once all eligibility criteria have been met (see Terms of Reference for the Audit Executive Committee).
  11. Auditors are the primary reviewers of major IQAP revisions and of new IQAPs and make recommendations to the Quality Council accordingly. For major revisions or new IQAPs, a team of two auditors and a member of the Secretariat is assigned to ensure the IQAP mirrors the minimum requirements of the QAF.
  12. More generally, the Audit Committee considers the audit process itself as well as audit findings to:
  • Develop and review orientation materials and audit activity templates in response to gaps, opportunities to improve clarity, and to decrease the administrative burden on institutions.
  • Develop initiatives in collaboration with institutional key contacts to improve and update guidance provided to support institutional QA activities.
  • Develop initiatives that take stock of how the system is evolving in order to share ideas and changes in the university landscape.

Related document:

Print this page