I. MANDATE

The Promotions Review Committee (PRC) supports The Michener Institute of Education at UHN’s (“Michener”) commitment to excellence in learning and teaching as embedded in UHN’s Education Strategic Plan and applies Michener policy while carefully considering faculty recommendations regarding student standing and promotion.

II. PURPOSE

The Promotions Review Committee (PRC) is established with the approval of the Executive Vice President, Education, UHN and is responsible for informing the Registrar’s Office regarding matters relating to student grades, academic progress, supplemental and post supplemental activity within their didactic and clinical studies.

The PRC:

• shall have no formal management and/or governance responsibilities at Michener; and
• shall assume responsibility for being an effective communication link between Michener and the affiliated stakeholders (to include affiliated teaching sites, employers, students, etc.).

This Committee adheres to the Purpose, Values, Principles of UHN:

UHN’s Purpose Transforming lives and communities through excellence in care, discovery, and learning

Our Primary Value above all else, the needs of patients come first

Values: Safety, Compassion, Teamwork, Integrity, Stewardship

Safety Safest healthcare for patients and staff

Compassion Kindness and respect in every interaction

Teamwork Collaboration, Cooperation, and Diversity

Integrity Ethics, Respect, and Responsibility

Stewardship Optimize our resources for the greater common good

III. MEMBERSHIP

Voting members:

• Academic Chair (PRC Chair) – ex-officio non-voting member, except as required, as in the event of a tie and only for programs outside of their own program.
• A minimum of three (3) Program Communication Liaison(s) (PCL) or Clinical Liaison Officer(s) (CLO), or faculty designate(s) – voting member(s) for programs outside their own. Each program must designate only one (1) member to vote prior to the presentation;
• One (1) student* from outside of the program areas being considered at each PRC meeting*

*upon the request of any student whose case is under consideration, the student member may be excluded from deliberations

Non-voting members:

• Director, Student Success Network (or designate);
• Academic representative from partner institution (where applicable) programs;
• Registrar (or designate);
• Centre for Learning Innovation and Simulation representative;
• Promotion Review Committee Administrative Assistant.

IV. ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES

The PRC Chair (Academic Chair)

• Participate as a non-voting member with the exception of a tie vote;
• Orient PRC participants to the role;
• Lead the meeting and guides committee participation and discussion, participate in committee discussion; and
• Ensure PRC decisions are accurately recorded.

The Program Communication Liaison(s) or Clinical Liaison Officer(s

• Participate as a voting member, when not representing their own program (only 1 vote per program) and participate in the committee discussion;
• Act as the liaison for their program; present and discuss the students’ grades, progress, promotion, supplemental and post supplemental activity in the program, as well as any recommendations on behalf of the faculty member(s) from the program; and
• Notify students of arrangements for supplemental activity as and if required.

Student representative

• Participate as a voting member and participates in the committee discussion.

Director, Student Success Network (or designate)

• Participate as a non-voting member and participate in the committee discussion;
• Responsible for receiving and presenting any supporting documentation brought forward by the student

Partner representatives:

• Participate as a non-voting member; and participate in the committee discussion.

Registrar (or designate)

• Participate as a non-voting member and participate in the committee discussion;
• Responsible for maintaining academic records, academic standing and academic history;
• Provide guidance on application of policy to individual student cases;
• Responsible for the provision of master list of students for grading and the upload of official grades to the Student Information System (SIS);
• Responsible for notifying students where supplemental activity is not granted and academic standing is negatively affected as a result of PRC decisions.

Centre for Learning Innovation and Simulation representative

• Participate as a non-voting member and participate in the committee discussion; and
• Look for themes within and between programs for the purposes of curricular improvement.

PRC Administrative Assistant

• Schedule the PRC meetings and organize the PRC agenda assigning the appropriate Academic Chair as PRC Chair;
• Record meeting minutes and distributes the minutes to the appropriate members and record the names of the attending PRC Chair and PRC Members as electronic signature of approval; and
• Provide the full minutes and decision of the PRC to the Registrar’s Office for filing in a departmental folder and to the CAQ AA for filing in a central folder, with limited access called Y:\Accreditation with names of students removed for accreditation purposes.

V. DECISION MAKING PROCESS/VOTING

☒ Quorum/voting

• Fifty percent (50%) of the voting members must be in attendance for a meeting to be official.
• Each member in attendance at the meeting, except the non-voting and designate members, will have one vote (See under “Membership”). No proxy votes shall be accepted. The PRC Chair will vote in the event of a tie.

☐ Discussion/consensus

VI. MEETING FREQUENCY

☐ Weekly

☐ Monthly

☐ Annually

☒ Other, please describe

The Promotions Review Committee will meet at least three times per year, at the end of each semester, usually the first Tuesday following the end of exam week. The meeting(s) will take place during a one-day period, where PCLs, CLOs, and clinical coordinator’s/co-op supervisors (or designate) present and discuss the students’ grades and progress in the program. Additional meetings (virtual or face-to-face) may be scheduled, or added to, scheduled meetings, if necessary.

VII. ACCESS TO MEETINGS

☐ Open (add to Michener calendar)

☒ Closed

☐ Partially open, e.g. dependent upon topic

VIII. AGENDAS, MINUTES AND RECORDS

Prior to the PRC meeting each program will complete a Final Grade PRC form as outlined in the process below which will become part of the PRC minutes.

All notes taken during the meeting, with the exception of the Final Grade PRC Form, are collected by the PRC AA and shredded for confidentiality reasons at the end of the PRC meeting.

The PRC Chair will review, confirm and approve the minutes and decisions of the PRC (as recorded on the Final Grade PRC form) with the committee prior to closing the meeting.

The Registrar will receive an electronic copy of the full PRC minutes and decisions regarding final grades on the Final Grade PRC Form from the PRC AA. This will occur immediately following the PRC meeting.

The Registrar will then inform those students who are being denied supplemental activity copying the PCL on the email communication. The PCL will then email only those students granted a supplemental activity with details of the supplemental activity to be provided as well as the date and time.

The Registrar’s Office will post all final grades to the Student Information System (SIS) by the end of the day of the PRC meeting.

The full PRC minutes and decisions recorded on the Final Grade PRC Form will be filed in two places: immediately into a department folder with limited access by the Registrar and to  a central folder, with limited access called Y:\Accreditation* no later than one week after the timeline for the Academic Appeal Hearing date has passed by the CAQ AA.

*Use of this information for accreditation purposes will have all identifying information removed.

IX. DESIRED OUTCOMES

Following each meeting, the Registrar’s Office is informed via the Final Grade PRC Form on final student grades, promotion, supplemental and post supplemental activity. The Registrar determines Academic standing on the basis of decisions made at the PRC.

X. PROCESS

1. 1. The Academic Dates, including the PRC meeting days, for each semester are established by the Senior Director, Academic Operations & Quality in consultation with the Academic Chairs and confirmed by the Education Executive. The dates are published in the Organizational Calendar on the Michener intranet;
   2. The PRC AA will book the meeting for the PRC members; schedule the programs that are attending the PRC meeting. The schedule and the PRC Terms of Reference will be shared with the PRC members at least two weeks in advance of the PRC date;
   3. The Registrar’s Office will prepare the master file of enrolled students in course sections (including their academic standing) a minimum of three (3) weeks prior to the PRC date and will advise the Centre of Academic Quality (CAQ) Office that the file is available.
   4. CAQ The Centre for Academic Quality (CAQ) will create the Final Grade PRC Form templates for each program/year/semester and the PCLs are advised via email when the Final Grade PRC Forms can be copied to a limited access program-specific designated program grades folder accessible to the program faculty members;
   5. Faculty members will:
      1. complete the appropriate course columns on the Final Grade PRC Form (i.e. actual grades, rationale to support or deny supplemental activity and any information a student wishes to be brought forward to PRC on his/her behalf) at least 24 hours prior to the scheduled PRC. Any student with failing and incomplete grades will be highlighted by the faculty member so that they’re easily identifiable for discussion at PRC. The grade required to pass each course must be entered. Each faculty member must also insert their name in the column associated with their course. This will serve as proof of signature. The faculty member will save the form electronically in Y:/shareit under their designated program grades folder;
      2. for all IPE courses, continue to use the Grade Centre in Blackboard to enter final grades. The PRC AA will enter theses grades on the Final Grade PRC Form for each program at least 24 hours prior to the scheduled PRC. Note: All grades posted to a course Blackboard site are unofficial;
      3. contact students with failing grades using the standard template provided by the Registrar’s Office for all grades that will be presented at PRC to see if there is any additional information/ documentation that should be submitted to the Director, Student Success Network to be brought forward on their behalf to the PRC meeting. Students with failing grades will be contacted only after they have undertaken all of their final exams. Students with failing grades should be encouraged as per the standard template to prepare for the possibility of supplemental exams. All communication between faculty and student should be documented by email.
   6. The PCL will:
      1. verify with the Registrar’s Office the GPA, current academic standing, and eligibility for re-admission, for any student with a single, repeat single, or multiple course failures. Eligibility for re-admission must be captured on the Final Grade PRC Form;
      2. review all of the completed Final Grade PRC Forms and any accompanying documentation submitted by program faculty for completeness and accuracy;
      3. determine which students fall into the ‘automatic supplemental’ category;
      4. determine a program recommendation for discussion at PRC for those students with multiple course failures or single course failures that are not a first-time occurrence; and
      5. return the completed Final Grade PRC Form for each program/year/semester to the designated program-specific limited access folder at least 24 hours prior to the PRC meeting and advise the PRC AA of same via email. The email will serve as proof of signature. This form will be used to document/ minute the PRC meeting.
   7. At the start of the PRC meeting, the PRC Chair shall review the PRC Terms of Reference and rules of conduct (e.g. no use of student names, confidentiality, etc.), description of voting and non-voting members, and roles of the PRC members). Any conflicts of interest must be declared by the PRC members at this time. All those present must sign a Confidentiality Agreement. This form will be scanned and stored in a limited access folder centrally located in the Y:Shareit drive by the CAQ AA;
   8. During the PRC meeting, the PCLs or CLOs or designates will present the Students’ grades and any program recommendations. Students will only be referred to by their student ID number;
   9. The Director, Student Success Network (or designate) will present any information received by the student on their behalf;
   10. The PRC members will discuss the Students’ academic grades, progress, and any previous supplemental and post supplemental activity along with the program’s recommendations and rationale for the recommendation. Any time a student is provided or denied a supplemental, and is facing possible suspension and readmission, terms and conditions of readmission MUST be determined at the PRC meeting;
   11. The voting members of the PRC will carefully consider policy and the program faculty’s recommendations and make a decision on the Student’s academic grades, promotion, supplemental and post supplemental activity;
   12. The PRC AA will record the decisions and any recommendations of the PRC including terms and conditions on readmission to the program on the electronic Final Grade PRC Form, submitted by the PCL;
   13. 1The PRC Chair will review the final decisions made and recorded for accuracy with the PRC committee for approval and the PRC AA will record the names of the PRC Chair and Members on the Final Grade PRC Form as an electronic signature;
   14. The PRC AA will gather any other notes taken during the meeting for shredding;
   15. Immediately after the PRC meeting, the Registrar will inform the Student of the PRC’s decision, by email, if a supplemental activity is being denied as well as opportunity to appeal the decision of the PRC. The email will be copied to the PCL, who will then notify students that have been granted supplemental of the date, time and method of supplemental;
   16. The PRC AA will advise the Centre for Academic Quality that all PRC Final Grade Forms are complete and correct. The CAQ will then QA the transfer of all marks from the program-specific PRC Final Marks Forms to the Master List within 2.5 hours of the conclusion of the final PRC session and Advise the PRC AA and the Registrar’s Office that the Master List is complete.
   17. The Registrar will notify students of their academic standing and in the case of a decision for probation, suspension, withdrawal or permanent withdrawal, will record the decision on the student record and will copy this standing information to the Academic Chair, PCL, and the program AA. Terms and conditions for readmission to Michener are determined by the Academic Chair, via an official letter to the student and copied to the Registrar;
   18. The Registrar’s Office will upload all official grades as approved by the PRC into the Student Information System (SIS) before the end of the day of the PRC meeting;
   19. The full PRC meeting minutes and decisions recorded on the Final Grade PRC Form will be filed in two places: immediately into a departmental folder with limited access by the Registrar and to a central folder, with limited access called Y:\Accreditation* no later than one week after the timeline for the Academic Appeal Hearing date has passed by the CAQ AA.

*Any Final Grade PRC Form information used for the purposes of Accreditation will have all student identification removed.

ASSOCIATED DOCUMENTATION

• Academic Service Standards
• Academic Standing Policy
• Academic Standing Procedure
• Borderline Grade Policy
• Confidentiality Agreements – student, member (provided by Centre for Academic Quality)
• Organizational Calendar

REVISION HISTORY

Date	Reviewer	Change(s) made
May 27, 2010	Suzanne Allaire Michele Allsop-Downie Fiona Cherryman Catharine Marie Gray Michelle Gyarmati Nandita Arora Sheena Hewitt Alex Gontar Kathleen Olden-Powell Pinar Peacock Sydney Redpath Susan Weltz Andrea White Markham	Document revised
June 10, 2010	Academic Approval Council	Document approved
March 22, 2011	Pinar Peacock Sydney Redpath	Document revised (minor revision: name change to Promotions Review Committee; formerly known as Program Review Committee)
April 10, 2011	Sydney Redpath	Document revised ( minor revisions to streamline process)
May 2011	Pinar Peacock Sydney Redpath	Document revised (minor revisions to streamline process)
July 2011	Sydney Redpath Meera Narenthiran Kathleen Olden-Powell Catharine Gray Fiona Cherryman Peter Bridge	As above
September 14, 2011	AAC Committee	Document revised (addition: “Communication between faculty and student should be documented by e-mail.”)
September 2013	Chairs, RO, PMO, AP&O, PRC AA	Changes to streamline process and responsibility
May 2014	Academic Approval Council AAC	Clarification regarding virtual meetings Clarification of official and unofficial grades
March 2015	Ronika Srdic	Clarity in language
June 15, 2016	Ronika Srdic	Amendment to cover departmental name change (IAPSS to CAQ), current organizational reporting structure (Pres & CEO to EVP, Education and VP, Academic to Senior Academic Leads) and role of CAQ AA in entering IPE course marks on appropriate PRC Grade Forms.
June 28, 2018	Heather Wood	Amendments to align with current practice
June 2020	Cathy Carson, Sydney Redpath	Added Director, SSN (non-voting), emphasized the consideration of program recommendations, tidied up process language.