CAUT Policy Statement

Assessments of programs should be conducted only by academics for academic reasons. This may include accreditation assessment of professional programs by recognized professional organizations. Reviews of programs undertaken for financial reasons, or as part of priority exercises, should be rejected.

Program assessments must not be used to evaluate performance of academic staff.

Academic staff associations should secure provisions in their collective agreements on the parameters and limits of all program assessments.

These provisions should ensure open and fair procedures that allow full participation by members of the program being assessed, and all other relevant academic staff. The provisions should protect academic diversity, academic freedom, and recognize collegial decision-making as the basis for any assessment.

They should specify the procedures for appointing assessors, the terms of reference, procedures that assessors must follow, provisions for circulating draft and final reports, and the mechanisms and timelines for implementing recommendations.

Approved by the CAUT Council, November 2016.