The CDAG Executive is pleased to announce the recipient of the 2023 Award of Excellence: Velika Kitchen-Janzen, Director, Institutional Quality Management, Conestoga College. The Award of Excellence was presented at the Member Update session at CDAG’s 2023 Virtual Conference in November.
The CDAG Award of Excellence publicly recognizes and celebrates individuals and teams who demonstrate excellence in the ongoing development and sustainability of curriculum expertise in Ontario’s colleges. View other past award recipients and learn more about how you can nominate your colleagues for this award in 2024.
In 2017, Velika initiated a major overhaul of the annual program reflection (APR) process at Conestoga College. Velika applied Human Computer Interface theory to design a cloud-based online application system, which intuitively guides users through a program review, reflection, and action plan process. Leveraging Institutional Research data, the system also provides users with real time program data to support analysis and decision making. Curriculum-related aspects are brought to the forefront, as program teams are prompted to reflect on their program learning outcomes, program design, course modality, evaluations, experiential learning components, and much more.
The APR application has revolutionized the way program reflection is conducted at Conestoga and has strengthened the culture of quality. Review processes are now centrally located, easy to navigate, and provide consistent recordkeeping for audit evidence requirements. A milestone was reached in 2021 when 100% of APRs were completed and submitted before the institutional deadline.
Over the last seven years, Velika has also created and continually refined the Major Program Review (MPR) process so that the focus is on critical thinking, program data analysis, reflection, and the collaborative development of evidence-based program improvements. In addition to sharing her knowledge with peers at regional and national conferences, Velika takes the time to ensure that the entire Conestoga college community is engaged and has a firm understanding of the importance of quality assurance.
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