Quality Assurance Coordinator, New Programs and

Overview:
The Quality Assurance Coordinator — New Programs and Research (QAC-NPR) reports to the Director, Academic Quality Assurance and Continuous Improvement (AQACI). The Coordinator plays three primary roles: (1) providing in-depth support during the development of new program proposals; (2) Carry out research that will allow the University to make effective use of information gathered during its various AQACI activities to inform institution-wide initiatives and Advancement efforts; (3) To play a supporting role in the AQACI Cyclical Review processes, especially with regard to Final Assessment Reports and Two-Year Reports. Because of the Coordinator’s central role supporting new program ideas, it is expected that they will often be the QACI office member providing support to the cross-functional teams providing support to initiatives chosen for support by the Teaching Innovation Incubator.

**Responsibilities**:
Communications & Relationship Building
- The QAC-NPR must develop and nurture effective working relationships. Among others, with respect to the primary roles listed above, these relationships will include:

- Relevant personnel involved in the development and approval of new programs from other support units (e.g., Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs (GSPA), Institutional Analysis and Planning (IAP), Space Planning Office, the Centre for Teaching Excellence (CTE), the Centre for Extended Learning (CEL), WatSPEED, Cooperative Education and Experiential Education (CEE), the Library, the Registrar’s Office (particularly MUR), the Teaching Innovation Incubator (TII)) and and academic leaders (Chairs, Associate Chairs, etc., including from the AFIW)
- Relevant personnel in units relevant to the research that support quality assurance and continuous improvement (e.g., IAP, Teaching Assessment Processes (TAP)) and the rest of the AQACI team (the Director, Coordinator — Program Review, the AVPA and the AVP GSPA)

Support New Program Proposals and Approvals, and Major Modifications
- Develop intimate familiarity with the Quality Council Quality Assurance Framework and Waterloo’s IQAP and procedures and Waterloo’s procedures for approval and quality assurance of alternative credentials
- Prepare and regularly update proposal templates for new credit programs. In collaboration with the Director and consultation with other support units as appropriate, prepare materials to facilitate the effective preparation of such proposals
- Act as a first point of contact for those preparing proposals for new programs; acting as a “concierge service”, providing expert advice, connecting them with relevant specialists in other ASUs and in academic faculties at relevant points in the process of preparing proposals and having them approved
- Provide periodically updated environmental scans of labour market trends and analyses to new program proponents for inclusion in the new program proposal. Liaise with IAP about required labour market information for new programs submitted to the Ministry
- Participate as part of the new program team (i.e., IAP, GSPA, AQACI) to review, critique and finalize new program proposals for submission to internal governance committees and externally to the Quality Council
- Provide critical feedback on statements of interest, drafts and final versions of proposal briefs, and facilitate feedback from others on campus as appropriate
- Serve as the AQACI Office representative on cross-functional teams established by the Teaching Innovation Incubator to support particular incubation projects, as assigned by the Director
- When a new program approval process requires external reviewers, research and provide preliminary rankings of potential reviewers recommended by the program developers for approval by the relevant Associate Vice-President (AVP) or designate
- Working with the Administrative Manager and Assistant to the AVPA (AMAA) and new program proponent to coordinate site visits when they are required as part of the new program approval process.
- Coordinate and participate in meetings with academic programs, in collaboration with representatives from IAP, to answer any questions programs may have about the new program approval process
- Review Faculty submissions to Senate Undergraduate Council (SUC) and Senate Graduate and Research Council (SGRC) to ensure accuracy of categorizations of changes as new programs or as Major or Minor modifications of existing programs

Monitoring and reporting on New Program and Major Modification activity
- Update tracking spreadsheets (e.g., Major Modifications) and other tracking documents
- Maintain and update the IQAP internal document sharing websites for new programs (e.g.,,SharePoint, MS Teams);
- Maintain and updated the Academic Program Review website and the Undergraduate Academic Programming Website in general. In particular, update the new program and major modification portions of the Academic Integrity Website and coordina