Welcome to the Centre for Academic Excellence
We serve as a resource to the academic divisions throughout the stages of new program development, program cyclical review, and ongoing program development and renewal. We also serve all of the dedicated, talented, and knowledgeable educators at the college throughout their teaching careers; helping them to enrich teaching and learning at Niagara College through their exploration of research into educational theories and practices, and through their implementation of innovative and engaging approaches to teaching, learning, and assessment.
The staff of the Centre for Academic Excellence invite you to learn about all that we offer and encourage you to get in touch with us to find out how you can get connected to resources, colleagues, services, and events through the CAE.
Mission
The Centre for Academic Excellence (CAE) engages the whole College learning community; connecting people, data, and ideas that guide and inspire excellence, and innovation in academic quality, teaching, and learning. Our scope of work and responsibilities includes:
Teaching and Learning
- Fostering learning communities; designing and facilitating faculty development opportunities.
- Providing educational technology support and instructional design assistance.
- Celebrating and sharing the experimentation and application of new and best practices.
Academic Quality Assurance
- Guiding robust and systematic program lifecycle activities that uphold academic quality and continuous improvement efforts.
- Stewarding curriculum development and modification processes that align with internal/external standards, responsive to industry needs, and informed by best practices.
- Incorporating diverse stakeholder voices with a variety of meaningful data to strengthen the accuracy of our work.
Vision
The CAE will inspire and celebrate innovative, transformative, and evidence-informed approaches to teaching and learning, and academic quality.
Values
The Centre is built on respectful and responsive relationships with a commitment to dialogue, scholarship, growth, and excellence in learner-centered practice/s. We are guided by a set of values and principles that inform our work.
Respect and Advocacy
We respect and embrace diverse lived experiences; identities, ways of engaging in learning, personal and professional aspirations, and advocate for inclusive practices.
Communication
We focus on connection; building meaningful positive relationships is fundamental to strengthening well-being and enhancing all forms of learning and engagement.
Service Excellence
We are committed to quality and excellence; we constantly strive to achieve the highest possible standards in our day-to-day work and in the quality of the services we provide. We place the interests of our community first, respond quickly, and deliver our very best in all we do.
Continuous Improvement and Innovation
We believe everyone contributes to both incremental and radical change improvements that are intentional, impactful, generate multiple forms of value, and lead to better outcomes for people, programs, and processes.