Loyalist College
AC-7: Incentives for Developing Courses

Ontario government legislation requires that public colleges meet six Quality Standards to ensure high levels of academic quality across the province. Loyalist has added a 7th criterion in its Program Quality Assurance (PQA) process focused specifically on integrating sustainability in curriculum and reducing the environmental impacts of academic activities (e.g. phasing out paper course outlines, etc.). Through the PQA process at Loyalist, academic program teams review their programs within the framework of the Quality Standards and present their findings to an internal PQA Committee. The inclusion of sustainability as a distinct criterion therefore acts as an incentive to develop courses with sustainability content. With regard to faculty support, Loyalist’s Office of Teaching & Learning provides guidance during the PQA process to program teams on how to meet the Sustainability Quality Standard if requested. For programs that fall short, the PQA Committee provides recommendations on how to address any identified gaps. The Office of Teaching & Learning also hosts Wellspring each year, providing professional and personal development sessions to Loyalist staff and faculty. In the past, Wellspring has included a workshop on sustainability, tailored specifically for faculty.