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September 2013

The Provost’s Advisory Task Force on the Student Learning Experience was established in November 2012 and charged with developing evidence-based recommendations that have the potential for a broad and sustained impact on the student learning experience at Queen's. The Task Force has submitted its interim report (PDF, 193 KB) with twelve actionable items, five of which it will plan out in more detail. Among the report’s recommendations are the coordination of learning support services for students and faculty, the development of a strategic teaching enhancement program, and the coordination of technology-enhanced learning supports. The Task Force invites feedback on the interim report. All feedback should be sent to provost@queensu.ca by October 15, 2013.

February 2014

The Provost’s Advisory Task Force on the Student Learning Experience is pleased to announce that the Teaching and Learning Action Plan (PDF, 603 KB) is now complete.

The plan, which was presented at Queen’s Senate on February 25, 2014, is comprised of fifteen recommendations which, as noted above, focus on processes or interventions that are innovative, sustainable, cost-effective, and informed by evidence-based practices in teaching and learning.

Any comments on the plan can be sent to vptl@queensu.ca

Terms of Reference

The mandate of the Student Learning Experience (SLE) task force is to recommend specific sustainable initiatives and processes that would enhance the student learning experience, to make recommendations for academic and learning support units, to support the Queen’s University Quality Assurance Processes, and to propose infrastructure, policy, and resource requirements related to teaching and learning. The SLE task force will create a robust Teaching and Learning Action Plan for the Provost’s consideration; specific recommendations will be sent for approval to governance bodies as appropriate.

This initiative builds upon the university’s recent strategic planning processes, including Principal Woolf’s vision document, Where Next? (2010), the Academic Writing Team’s Imagining the Future (2010), and the Senate Academic Planning Task Force’s Academic Plan (2011). The SLE Task Force will align itself with the Academic Plan, focusing specifically on the Student Learning Experience pillar, and will seek to complement the work of the current Senate Academic Planning Task Force. Where appropriate, the SLE Task Force will also consider the Institutional Vision, Proposed Mandate Statement and Priority Objectives report submitted to the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities in October 2012.

The specific mandates of the Task Force are to:

(i) Recommend specific and clear goals to foster an environment of innovative and effective teaching and learning, including:

• recommendations for academic and learning support units;
• recommended initiatives to support Queen’s University Quality Assurance Processes;
• recommended processes to assess student learning outcomes and use them to improve quality;
• recommendations on how to recognize and reward innovative and effective teaching;

(ii) propose infrastructure, policy, and resource requirements related to teaching and learning;

(iii) identify mechanisms and processes to reach the recommended goals;

(iv) identify key steps, targets, and a timeline for the realization of these goals, and identify ways of measuring progress toward those goals.

The primary aim of the Student Learning Experience task force is not to create a document but to identify specific mechanisms by which to enhance the student learning experience at Queen’s with a particular emphasis initially on undergraduate education. Recent and on-going strategic planning processes have engaged faculty, staff and students in broad consultation, and here the emphasis will be on creating a Teaching and Learning Action Plan that proposes how best to implement recommendations in the Academic Plan. The SLE task force will consult with stakeholders across the university in regard to specific initiatives, but will heavily draw on the recommendations from the broad consultation described in Imagining the Future and the Academic Plan.

Membership

Co-Chairs: B. Frank and J. Scott
Secretary: P. Watkin