Action Plan

Dominican University College Mission and Objectives

Appendix B: Multi-Year Action Plan for Universities

The Ministry recognizes and appreciates that each institution has its own unique mission and objectives in the post-secondary education system.

The purpose of this Multi-Year Action Plan (Action Plan) is to provide an outline of how each institution will use their total operating budget, including multi-year funding allocations from the government and increased tuition revenues, to develop and strengthen its unique missions and objectives while contributing to the achievement of the Reaching Higher goals and results for access, quality and accountability identified in Appendix A of the Multi-Year Agreement (MYA).

This Action Plan will set out your institution specific commitments for multi-year strategies, performance indicators and results designed to achieve the system-wide goals and results for access, quality and accountability, developed in consultation with faculty, staff and students.

The release of the full amount of your 2006-07 allocations is conditional on the Ministry approving your completed Multi-Year Action Plan. Thereafter, the Ministry will review your Action Plan annually to discuss progress being made on the commitments outlined in your Action Plan.

The release of the full amount of your 2007-08 and 2008-09 allocations will be conditional on your institution confirming that it is on track for meeting its commitments, or the approval of an improvement plan by the Ministry.

This annual review will also allow for revisions needed to accommodate the input and advice of institutions and the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO) with respect to best way to measure performance and ensure the accountability of colleges and universities.

University Specific Mission and Objectives

The Ministry recognizes that each university has its own unique mission which will impact on the variety of approaches which will be used across the sector to meet the Ministry?s priorities.

Please identify your university?s mission or objectives. This may relate to your programming priorities, institutional culture, or student profile:

The mission of the Dominican is to provide students with a first class, bilingual education in philosophy and theology, in the Dominican tradition of intellectual excellence, free inquiry, and spiritual growth. Our institution seeks to contribute to the advancement of knowledge through a wide range of research activities. It is committed to serve the society and various social organization, by forming students in critical thinking, intelligence of faith, ecumenism, ethics, and aesthetics.

A. ACCESS

Increased Enrolment

As outlined in Section 2.1 of the MYA, your institution will report on the following pursuant to the established reporting protocols, or as requested by the Ministry:

Enrolment growth at the undergraduate level
Achievements of the growth targets agreed to for graduate expansion (if applicable)
Targets agreed to for medical enrolments increases (if applicable)

The Ministry will use these reports to ensure that the system is on track to meet its commitment to increase university and college full-time enrolment, increase graduate enrolment by 12,000 in 2007-08 and 14,000 by 2009-10, and increase medical enrolments by a further 23 per cent by 2009-10.

Increased Participation of Under-Represented Students

The Ministry is committed to working with institutions and HEQCO to develop a system measure that will track the participation of under-represented students in a manner that is sensitive to privacy concerns. This Multi-Year Action Plan will be revised to incorporate this measure and the accountability mechanisms which will be used to ensure that the system is increasing the participation of under-represented students and is affordable and accessible across Ontario including northern and remote, rural and urban areas.

To inform this process, please provide any measurement methodologies your institution currently uses to track the participation of these students, and in particular, any measures to find and track those who are the first in their family to attend postsecondary education (including ?at risk? and low income students):

We ask each student to fill out a questionnaire and indicate the areas he or she comes from and whether he or she is a first generation student. In addition, the chair of each department and the directors of graduate studies meet with each student individually in order to track the participation of the student. Thus department chairs are involved in every admission decision, often following an interview with candidates. Thus, students with difficulties, presenting special circumstances or having special needs are immediately identified and can be given the necessary support to succeed in their program of study. The College also works with parents and school psychologists to facilitate the programs of students with learning disabilities. In such cases, there is a constant communication between the chair and professors, providing the students with the best possible conditions to succeed.

Please provide a description of your institution?s strategies and programs that will support the increased participation of aboriginal, first generation and students with disabilities, as appropriate to your institution?s unique focus:

The strategies and programs comprise the visits of high schools, open house activities, organization of special activities, such as symposia for high school students, and dissemination of information on our programs and services (for persons with disabilities) to cultural, aboriginal, religious and educational centres. We recognize, however, that our two fields of study, philosophy and theology, will appeal only to those students whose concern is not an immediate employment. In addition, we try to attract aboriginal students through the organization of symposia dealing with issues such as identity, environment, dialogue, peace, or religion. The College also maintains close contacts with guidance councillors in high schools and preparatory schools as well as social workers in various communities, in order to direct the students who are interested in gaining a formation in our disciplines or integrate or re-integrate an academic program.

In the table below, identify the institution specific performance indicators you have developed to confirm that these strategies and programs will achieve their intended objectives. This may include the indicator(s) you have identified above. Please provide at least one indicator per strategy / program:

Performance Indicators

Strategy / Program	Indicator
Recruiting activities	Number of students inquiring and registering into our programs of study
Dissemination of information	Number of students inquiring and registering into our programs of study
2005-2006 Honour’s Degree	20 students have received their honour’s degree in philosophy or in theology

Pursuant to these indicators, please outline your institution specific quantitative outcomes and outputs which will be generated by your strategies and programs in 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09. Provide at least one result for each indicator identified in the table above:

Multi-Year Results

Year	Indicator	Result
2006-07	Number of registered student	Enrolment Increase of 5%
2007-08	Number of registered student	Enrolment Increase of 10%
2008-09	Number of registered student	Enrolment Increase of 15%

Official Languages Education Program

French-language and bilingual institutions will report on their strategies for supporting the access to programs for francophone students, and their expected outcomes, as part of the reporting requirements established for the 2005-09 Canada-Ontario Agreement on Minority-Language Education and Second-Language Instruction and the Canada-Ontario Agreement Relative to the Complementary Funds for Minority-Language Education at the Postsecondary Level (2005-06 to 2006-07) under the Official Languages in Education program (OLE).

Student Access Guarantee

Pursuant to Section 2.1 of the Multi-Year Agreements, your institution will participate in the Student Access Guarantee, including a new web-site to allow Ontario students to identify costs and sources of financial aid.

Please indicate below strategies and programs that your institution will use in 2006-07 to support access for qualified Ontario students who face financial barriers, in accordance with the principles expressed through the Student Access Guarantee.

Our institution offers scholarships to students from disadvantaged backgrounds who are committed to complete at least one year of study. In addition, we offer to each student who face financial difficulties a payment plan. Thus we allow them to defer the payment of their tuition fees. We give out eight (1000$ each) bursaries of excellence; eight (1000$) bursairies for newly registered students; ten (2000$) bursairies for Francophone students; 5 boursaries for international students, and numerous (about 15-18) bursaries for students of various programs.

For 2007-08, the Ministry will consult with institutions on how to improve the co-ordination and communication of financial aid from government and institutional sources and, based on these consultations, revisions to this section of your Action Plans may be required in future years.

As noted in Section 1.1 of the MYA, the Ministry is committed to working with institutions and HEQCO to develop an approach for tracking results of the Student Access Guarantee, also to be reflected in 2007-08 revisions.

B. QUALITY

Quality of the Learning Environment

Pursuant to the consultation process on the Multi-Year Agreements, there is stakeholder consensus that a quality postsecondary education system is one that achieves high standards in the quality of the learning environment.

Please provide a description of your strategies that will support the quality of your undergraduate and graduate learning environment as appropriate to your institution’s unique focus. In particular, the Ministry is seeking information on strategies and programs designed to improve student/faculty engagement and learning quality. Examples include but are not limited to: academic and student advising, student centred-learning models, first-year seminars, enhanced computers and technology access, learning commons, and library expansions and enhancements:

The following special strategies will be used to insure quality of our programs of study: creation of centres for the quality of French and English languages, development of a student-centred teaching workshop (following the method used by Carl R. Rogers), purchase of computers and software, enhancement of the access to the library, purchase of research and teaching materials, creation of specific research groups (laboratory for the study of the main currents of ancient and medieval thought, research centre for phenomenology, groupe de recherche interdisciplinaire sur la paix et le dialogue interreligieux). In addition, the Dominican offers students unlimited access to the Faculty. A mentoring program assigns volunteer graduate students to new undergraduate students. We also hold every year an Essay Writing Workshop for all new students, as well as an Integration Seminar for students finishing their program.

In the table below, identify the performance indicators developed by your institution to confirm that these strategies and programs will achieve their intended objectives. Please provide at least one indicator per strategy / program:

Performance Indicators

Strategy / Program	Indicator
Centres for the quality of French and English languages	Improved quality of linguistic expression measured by specific tests
Student-centred teaching workshop	Improvement of academic performance and motivation
Essay Worksop	Improved methodology, argumentation and quality of papers.
Mentoring program	Improved results across the board for students.
Integration seminar	Increased level of knowledge and understanding, measured by the final oral comprehensive examination.

Pursuant to these indicators, please outline the quantitative outcomes and outputs which will be generated by your strategies and programs in 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09. Provide at least one result for each indicator identified in the table above:

Multi-Year Results

Year	Indicator	Result
2006-07	Number of students graduating with honour degree	30 students
2007-08	Number of students graduating with honour degree	35 students
2008-09	Number of students graduating with honour degree	45 students

In addition to the indicators and results you have outlined above, the Ministry is also seeking information on annual net new hires pursuant to the definitions for full time tenured, full time limited term and part time outlined in your 2005-06 Interim Accountability Agreement (IAA). Please outline your planned net new hires for 2006-07 in the table below:

Net New Hires

2006-07	Faculty / Academic			Student Services Staff*		Admin Staff**
	Full Time Tenured	Full Time Limited Term	Part Time (FTE)	Full Time	Part Time (FTE)	Full Time
Hires	1	none	2	1	none	1
Retires/ Departures	none	none	1	none	none	1
Net New Hires	1		1	1

* For student services staff definition, please refer to the student services functional area definition developed by the Council of Finance Officers - Universities of Ontario (COFO-UO) of the Council of Ontario Universities to report on expenses in their annual financial report. Student Services Staff do not include ancillary staff.

**For admin staff definition, please refer to the administration & general functional area definition developed by the Council of Finance Officers - Universities of Ontario (COFO-UO) of the Council of Ontario Universities to report on expenses in their annual financial report.

The Ministry will be asking institutions to update this table as part of the annual review of the Action Plan.

Student Engagement and Satisfaction

Pursuant to Section 2.2 of the MYA, your institution will participate in the National Student Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and if applicable, the Canadian Graduate and Professional Student Survey (CGPSS), and submit results from these surveys in accordance with the MTCU-COU protocol.

As experience with NSSE and the CGPSS grows, and subject to advice from HEQCO, this Action Plan may be revised in future years to incorporate institutional and/or sector-wide targets designed to improve student engagement and satisfaction scores. In the meantime, institutions may wish to use their NSSE and CGPSS results as their indicators of quality in the section above.

Student Success

Retention

Pursuant to Section 2.2 of the MYA, your institution will participate in the Consortium on Student Retention Data Exchange (CSRDE) and submit results from the exchange in accordance with the MTCU-COU protocol.

As experience with the CSRDE grows, and subject to advice from HEQCO, this Action Plan may be revised in future years to incorporate institutional and/or sector-wide targets designed to improve student retention.

Pending the development of targets using the CSRDE, please establish multi-year targets for student retention rates that are appropriate to your institution’s unique focus.

Please use the institution specific definitions and methodologies for measuring retention outlined in your 2005-06 IAA. If you have used a different definition or methodology to establish these rates, please provide the Ministry with your new definition and methodology, and an explanation of why your institution has changed it:

Student Retention Rates

	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09
1st to 2nd Year	16 out of 20 students	16 out of 20 students	16 out of 20 students
2nd to 3rd Year*	18 out of 20 students	18 out of 20 students	18 out of 20 students
3rd to 4th Year*	18 out of 20 students	18 out of 20 students	18 out of 20 students

* The Ministry would prefer to receive information on student retention rates from 2nd to 3rd year and the rate from the 3rd to the 4th year, but will accept the student retention rate after the 2nd year.

Graduation Rates

Pursuant to Section 2.1 of the MYA, your university will continue to participate in the Key Performance Indicator initiative, including the provision of the data needed to determine graduation rates.

The Ministry will use the graduation data to determine whether the graduation rate of 74 per cent for the university system is being maintained or improved, pursuant to the “Reaching Higher” Measurement and Results Schematic located in Appendix A of the MYA.

C. ACCOUNTABILITY

Multi-Year Action Plan

Please provide details on how the institution consulted with faculty, staff and students on the content of this Action Plan:

The president of the Dominican conducted individual consultations. The following faculty and staff members were consulted: academic vice-presidents, chairs of the departments, directors of graduate studies, treasurer, communication director, chief librarian, professors, student representatives. Each academic unit had a Faculty representative to collaborate to the Action Plan. Both the Academic and Departmental Councils have led discussions in order to contribute to the present Action Plan. Some alumni and friends of the College have also been consulted; they are regularly informed of the College’s initiatives and achievements.

As previously noted, the Ministry will review your Action Plan annually to discuss progress being made on the commitments outlined in your plan.

Based on this review, you may be required to submit an improvement plan to the Ministry, developed in consultation with faculty, staff and students.

The release of the full amount of your 2007-08 and 2008-09 allocations will be conditional on the successful completion of the annual review of the Multi-Year Action Plan.