The measured academic quality controls in Ontario universities

The number of faculty available to teach an increasing student population, and the decline in the supports available to faculty, have had a significant impact on the quality of life for academics in Ontario’s university system. [...] Thus, the highest priority in sustaining and enhancing the quality of the university sector is the number and excellence of faculty. [...] A 2003 EKOS poll revealed the Ontario public views teaching “as the elixir of quality”, citing it as “the key factor that resonates most strongly in the minds of Ontarians when thinking about quality and the university.” The results of the EKOS poll also illustrate the complexity inherent in the attempt to define quality, noting Ontarians also see a wide range of factors are important to ensure a [...] Universities free to reflect and challenge the orthodoxies of the day experience a level of intellectual freedom that is not rewarded within the private sector where the requirements of the market prevail. [...] For example, to achieve the rank of Full Professor, a faculty member will need the recognition of a number of external referees, who can attest that the quality of scholarship demonstrated by the professor meets the highest standards of his or her discipline.