2019 2020 annual report Table of Contents Message from the Board Co-Chairs Francophone and Bilingual Steering Committee Message from the Executive Director Engaging Indigenous Institutes Transfer System Improvements 33 / National and International Scope 12 / Credit Transfer Projects, 2019–2020 ONTransfer.ca Pathway Development Projects 35 / ONTransfer.ca Website Improvements Seamless Transfer Projects 36 / Analytics and Growth Research Projects 37 / Data Enhancement Project 22 / MapIT: Institutional Process Mapping Project Inside ONCAT 24 / Faculty Fellows Funding Stream 39 / Supporting Student Mobility During COVID-19 25 / Transfer Pathways DataPilot 40 / Board Co-Chair Changes Sector Engagement 40 / First Round of Summer Interns 27 / Engaging Students 41 / Upcoming Strategic Plan, 2020–2023 Transfer Student Action Fund (TSAF) Strategic Priorities Student Transfer Expert Panel (STEP) Who We Are 28 / Engaging Transfer Advisors 43 / Board of Directors Transfer Advisory Group (TAG) 44 / ONCAT Staff Heads of Transfer Advising (HOTA) 45 / Our Partners 29 / Relationships and Partnerships Northern Ontario Pathways Steering Committee 46 / Finances (NOSC) Message from the Board Co-Chairs What a year it has been for ONCAT—and for found ourselves working in a transformed Ontario’s transfer system. landscape and will be grappling with the immediate and long-term effects of the pandemic on our We started this fiscal year with an ambitious postsecondary education system for years to come. strategic planning exercise led by the Board of Directors and with support from the ONCAT team. Yet even as we adjust to new ways of working, some With a new provincial Government in place, we things have remained constant. Colleges, became familiar with emerging government universities, and Indigenous Institutes continue to priorities to ensure strong alignment with our own. offer high-quality postsecondary education and We finalized our new Strategic Plan, identified key continue to equip students with the skills needed activities to guide our work over the next three for a rapidly changing world. Students are eager to years, and look forward to providing a snapshot of take control of and chart their own postsecondary the plan, both in this Annual Report and through our learning journey. It’s still too early to surmise how sector networks. the pandemic will affect transfer rates and trends but, if recent traffic to ONTransfer.ca is an indicator, Today, we are excited about our new directions, but it’s clear that students are exploring their options— also cognizant that, by the end of 2019–20, we and that ONCAT will be there to support them. 5 It is also timely that ONCAT’s key priorities, for the next three years, focus on expanding in-demand pathways, improving institutional transfer processes, and building our organization’s capacity to support students and Ontario’s postsecondary education institutions. We cannot achieve our goals alone and will work collaboratively with our partner institutions, engaging senior leaders and those working directly with or supporting prospective or incoming transfer students. We also rely on continued support from the Government and are grateful that they are on board with our Strategic Plan and have committed to ongoing encouragement. On behalf of the Board, we would like to thank our many postsecondary institution partners and the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities for their enduring commitment to Ontario’s transfer system. Especially now, while facing their own fiscal challenges and confronted with other pressing issues, our partners continue to lead and support projects, conduct research and share data, and participate in our committees and pilot projects. Finally, thank you to Yvette Munro, ONCAT’s Executive Director, and the ONCAT team, for their system stewardship and dedication. Thank you for a successful 2019–20 year, and we look forward to the year ahead. Ron Common Deb MacLatchy President, President and Vice-Chancellor, Sault College Wilfrid Laurier University 6 Message from the Executive Director In crafting an annual message, I will often look back on Colleges and Universities. For many of us there at our previous report as a reference point. Doing this Algoma University, it would be our last in-person now is an emphatic reminder of how we find ourselves gathering for quite some time, and our last chance to in such different circumstances. sit side-by-side and share a microphone: small acts that now seem quite daring. Yet, as I reflect upon that Today, in the midst of a global pandemic, the familiar day, I realize we had already been engaged in small rhythms of campus life that often mark the change of (and some larger) acts of daring throughout the year. seasons and academic terms have been muted, and Let me share some of these with you as I look back the ways we work, connect and support each other— upon the past twelve months. and our students—have transformed. At the same time, I am reassured by how Ontario’s postsecondary In 2019–20, ONCAT decided not to hold our annual education sector has stepped forward to meet these Pathways Conference, a beloved tradition that brings new challenges and encouraged to see so many of our together transfer leaders and professionals. It was a sector partners strengthen their commitment to bold decision that we did not take lightly, but it was transfer—both within their institutions and across our required, given the fiscal challenges facing the transfer system. province. Nevertheless, the networking and learning opportunities that the conference afforded us could On March 13, we announced our Northern Business not be abandoned, so we adapted by piloting webinars Fundamentals Co-Registration Initiative along with our and bringing highly informative presentations to our northern college and university partners and were sector meetings and transfer colleagues. joined by the Honourable Ross Romano, Minister of 7 The ONCAT Board of Directors led a planning exercise or collecting transfer data from institutions. As these to help us identify new and focused strategic priorities, projects are completed, we will have a radically deeper and these priorities have resulted in an integrated understanding of how transfer works within different Strategic Plan that will guide ONCAT’s activities for the types of institutions and regions. In turn, this helps next several years. It is also a plan that establishes ONCAT tailor our supports and activities to respond to clear goals for Ontario’s transfer system, is more the needs of our uniquely Ontario-based system. responsive to transfer students, and is a set of goals that we expect to be held accountable for. We are also excited to be improving ONTransfer.ca, the student-facing and public-serving tool that is both the I am also proud that, along with a committed and core service and clear marker of a strong provincial talented staff, we have made great strides to enhance transfer system. Over the past year, our institutional the rigour of our research and transfer-related projects. partners have continued to provide information to be We are currently working with scholars who are at the posted as course equivalencies and transfer pathways, very cutting edge of student mobility research in and we are very pleased that, by the first week of Canada, and who share our passion for mapping April 2020, we had 268,110 course equivalencies and transfer student trajectories and outcomes. Similarly, 1,997 transfer pathways. This is critically important— we have continued to fund transfer pathway and these are the resources that most directly serve seamless transfer projects. We greatly appreciate our students, and those who are supporting students, project leads generating innovative ideas and thank providing them with the information they require to our colleagues across Ontario serving on our RFP make informed choices about their next steps. At the review panels. Over the past year, we have tested out same time, we are ready for version 2.0 and anticipate new ways of collaborating and launched a number of new ways to reduce workload, improve efficiencies for invitational pilots, bringing together small teams of our institutional partners, and ensure students have colleges, universities, and Indigenous Institutes to up-to-date information when they need it most. I hope work, intensely, to tackle tougher areas, whether it’s it is clear from these examples that ONCAT has been reviewing the complexities of transfer processes thinking and working differently for some time. 8 Of course, what we have achieved and initiated would and are facing their own unprecedented challenges. not have happened without the ongoing commitment I am grateful for their unwavering commitment, of our colleagues across Ontario PSE. We also benefit leadership, and guidance. from strong relationships with other sector organizations, whether they are the provincial We look forward to sharing our ambitious and focused networks of registrars, quality assurance bodies, Strategic Plan and working with our sector partners to Colleges Ontario, or the Council of Ontario Universities. make Ontario one of the best transfer systems in the Having the ability to pick up the phone to bounce world. And, as I write this message while we all around an idea or raise an issue has always been continue to work from home, I look forward to the day appreciated, and during this time, even more so. I also when we can come together, sit side-by-side, and want to acknowledge the Government of Ontario and, celebrate our accomplishments once again. Until then, specifically, the Ministry of Colleges and Universities, stay safe. for their ongoing commitment to transfer and their funding support to ONCAT. As a former member of the Together with you, Ontario Public Service, I can only imagine the unrelenting pressures on the Government during this pandemic (and for the years to come), but they have remained supportive and focused on keeping transfer a priority.