Brian Tamblyn, President and CEO, Georgian College

While summer signals the end of another school year for many students, here at Georgian College, as soon as one semester ends, another begins.

Many students and faculty will be in class on our seven campuses throughout July and August, whether in full-time programs or part-time Continuing Education courses.

However, summer does mean the year-end for Georgian’s Board of Governors, and an opportune time to look back at the many highlights of the past 12 months.

This year, our full-time enrolment surpassed 10,000 students. We were able to announce major expansions of facilities and programs on several campuses. We launched Vision 2015, our new strategic plan for the next five years. And Georgian was named one of Canada’s Greenest Employers.

One achievement of the past year that I am most proud of is the result of Georgian’s quality audit.

Like many large employers, we practise continuous quality improvement. The Program Quality Assurance Process Audit is a provincial standard for college post-secondary programs. All 24 Ontario colleges undergo this independent quality audit.

When Georgian’s audit was completed earlier this academic year, we received the highest possible marks in all six areas scored – five individual criteria and one overall rating. No college has ever scored higher.

The audit was conducted by a team of accredited auditors who visited our campuses. They measured, among other things, our academic policies, the way we deliver our programs to students, and the resources we commit to supporting student success.

While the overall results were excellent, it was the auditors’ comments that really stood out to me. They wrote, “Georgian College is to be commended on living the quality assurance and continuous improvement processes, as these are clearly imbedded in their culture and reflected in their day-to-day activities.”

The auditors lauded our staff members as, “genuinely and consistently engaged in supporting student success. The culture of the College reflects a consistent commitment to quality.”

Georgian’s Centre for Teaching and Learning, cited for special commendation by the auditors, provides one clear example of this commitment.

The Centre is built on the simple but profound philosophy that creating highly skilled and knowledgeable graduates requires highly skilled teachers.

To that end, the Centre is devoted to teaching and learning excellence. It provides workshops, mentoring, help with technology and curriculum, and many other supports. Whether a faculty member is a brand-new hire, or has taught for 30 years, the Centre helps to ensure they can keep up-to-date on the latest teaching methods, to provide the best possible experience and outcomes for students.

The quality auditors also recognized Georgian’s Learning Centres for students.

If students are having trouble in a particular area, staff members in this Centre are here to help. They provide assistance with writing, computer, math or study skills.  For many students, the extra help has meant the difference between dropping out and succeeding in their program. One student recently credited this Centre with helping to take her 58 per cent average to a much improved 81 per cent.

As one of Ontario’s fastest-growing post-secondary institutions, maintaining and even building on our level of quality at Georgian is an ongoing goal. After all, this is all about continuous quality improvement. We make the commitment in our new strategic plan, in which student access and success, and extraordinary teaching and learning are key priorities.

Our students and their parents know they can come to Georgian for a true quality education. We continue to work hard to keep up our quality assurance grades because our students and community expect nothing less from us.

Brian Tamblyn, President and CEO, Georgian College

For more information on the Program Quality Assurance Process Audit, visit http://www.georgianc.on.ca/president/quality/.