Quality Assurance Process Audit (QAPA) is an external review process based on information provided by the institution to ensure that rigorous, ongoing program and institutional quality assessment processes have been implemented.
All British Columbia public institutions participate in QAPA once every seven to eight years. The audit ensures an institution:
The Quality Assurance Process Audit for North Island College occurs in the 2023 - 2024 year.
QAPA Background
In 2015, the British Columbia Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills tasked the independent advisory Degree Quality Assessment Board (DQAB) to undertake a periodic quality assurance audit of internal review polices and processes at all BC public post-secondary institutions.
DQAB convened a standing committee, the Quality Assurance Audit Committee, to make recommendations on the development and implementation of the review process. The committee developed the process and initiated the Quality Assurance Process Audit (QAPA) pilot in 2016 with five volunteer institutions. The committee endorsed the definition of an audit as:
An evidence-based process undertaken through peer review that investigates the procedures and mechanisms by which an institution ensures its quality assurance and quality enhancement.
(p.21 2011 Review of the Degree Approval Process in British Columbia)
Following the pilot, the committee evaluated the process, made refinements, and then rolled out across the BC post-secondary system. The details are outlined in the QAPA Handbook.
QAPA Process
NIC submitted its QAPA Institutional Report covering key aspects of quality assurance and details about the program review process with the goal to provide evidence of the three goals of the QAPA audit.
NIC also submitted a list of programs which had completed, were currently engaged or were soon to engage in NIC’s program review process. Three programs were selected and interviewed by the external review panel on November 16 and 17, 2023. These program areas were Business Administration, Human Services and Associate of Arts.
The QAPA Panel consisted of three members chosen from other BC institutions.
The panel wrote a final report with commendations, affirmations and recommendations. NIC is responding to that report with details on how it will address the recommendations and areas that need improvement. In Fall of 2024 the Ministry's Summary report will appear on their website under Quality Assurance Process Audit Reports.
