External academic reviews
Source: https://academic.ubc.ca/academic-community/external-academic-reviews Parent: https://academic.ubc.ca
External reviews are an important means of promoting accountability and transparency across educational institutions. UBC not only participates in external assessments, but also conducts reviews of faculties, academic units and administrative units in order to continuously improve academic excellence.
Anticipated External Reviews
Open All Accordions
2029/30
Departments, Schools, Centres, Institutes, Programs:
- Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science
- Centre for Disease Control, Faculty of Medicine
- Centre for Health Education Scholarship, Faculty of Medicine
- Edwin S.H. Leong Centre for Healthy Aging, Faculty of Medicine
- International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries, Faculty of Medicine
- Life Sciences Institute, Faculty of Medicine
- Department of Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medicine
- Vancouver Prostate Centre, Faculty of Medicine
2028/29
Departments, Schools, Centres, Institutes, Programs:
- School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Applied Science
- School of Community and Regional Planning, Faculty of Applied Science
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science
- Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine
- W. Maurice Young Centre for Applied Ethics, Faculty of Medicine
- School of Audiology & Speech Sciences, Faculty of Medicine
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Medicine
- Providence Health Care Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine
- Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine
- Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Faculty of Science
2027/28
Departments, Schools, Centres, Institutes, Programs:
- Department of Materials Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science
- Department of Mining Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts
- School of Music, Faculty of Arts
- Indigenous Teacher Education Program, Faculty of Education
- Teacher Education Program, Faculty of Education
- Department of Forest Resources Management, Faculty of Forestry
- Centre for Heart Lung Innovation, Faculty of Medicine
- Centre for Hip Health & Mobility, Faculty of Medicine
- Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine
- Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine
- Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Science
- Institute for Oceans and Fisheries, Faculty of Science
2026/27
Faculties and Major Units:
- Sauder School of Business
Departments, Schools, Centres, Institutes, Programs:
- School of Nursing, Faculty of Applied Science
- Department of Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts
- Department of Central, Eastern and Northern European Studies, Faculty of Arts
- Centre for Blood Research, Faculty of Medicine
- BC Cancer Institute, Faculty of Medicine
- Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Management, Faculty of Medicine
- Human Early Learning Partnership, Faculty of Medicine
- Northern Centre for Clinical Research, Faculty of Medicine
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine
- Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine
- BC Centre on Substance Abuse, Faculty of Medicine
- Department of Urologic Sciences, Faculty of Medicine
- Department of Statistics, Faculty of Science
2025/26
Faculties and Major Units:
- Peter A. Allard School of Law
- Faculty of Forestry
Departments, Schools, Centres, Institutes, Programs:
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science
- Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory, Faculty of Arts
- Department of English Language and Literatures, Faculty of Arts
- Counselling Psychology Doctoral Program, Faculty of Education
- Department of Educational Studies, Faculty of Education
- Master of Educational Technology Program, Faculty of Education
- Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, Faculty of Forestry
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine
- Department of Dermatology and Skin Science, Faculty of Medicine
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine
- Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Health, Faculty of Medicine
- Department of Medical Genetics, Faculty of Medicine
- Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine
- School of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine
- Women's Health Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science
- Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science
Completed External Reviews
2024/25
Departments, Schools, Centres, Institutes, Programs:
- School of Creative Writing, Faculty of Arts
- Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies, Faculty of Arts
- Department of Educational & Counselling Psychology, and Special Education, Faculty of Education
- School of Kinesiology, Faculty of Education
- Department of Language and Literacy Education, Faculty of Education
- Centre for Advancing Health Outcomes, Faculty of Medicine
- Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine
- BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Faculty of Medicine
- Department of Orthopaedics, Faculty of Medicine
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine
- Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Medicine
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Faculty of Science
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science
2023/24
Departments, Schools, Centres, Institutes, Programs:
- Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science
- Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice, Faculty of Arts
- School of Journalism, Writing and Media, Faculty of Arts
- Department of Curriculum & Pedagogy, Faculty of Education
- English Language Institute, Faculty of Education
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Faculty of Medicine
- Department of Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine
- Centre for Health Services and Policy Research, Faculty of Medicine
- Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine
- Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine
- Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, Faculty of Science
- Michael Smith Laboratories, Faculty of Science
2022/23
Faculties and Major Administrative Units:
- Faculty of Applied Science
- Faculty of Science
Departments, Schools, Centres, Institutes, Programs:
- School of Community & Regional Planning, Faculty of Applied Science
- Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science
- Department of Materials Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science
- Department of French, Hispanic & Italian Studies, Faculty of Arts
- School of Information, Faculty of Arts
- Centre for Disease Control, Faculty of Medicine
- International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries, Faculty of Medicine
- Life Sciences Centre, Faculty of Medicine
- Department of Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medicine
- Vancouver Prostate Centre, Faculty of Medicine
- Department of Botany, Faculty of Science
Previous External Reviews of Faculties and Major Administrative Units:
2018 - 2022
| External Review of UBC Library | March 2022 |
| External Review of UBC Information Technology | February 2022 |
| External Review of the Faculty of Dentistry | January 2022 |
| External Review of the UBC Learning Exchange | November 2021 |
| External Review of the Peter Wall Institute of Advanced Studies | January 2020 |
| External Review of the Peter A. Allard School of Law | November 2019 |
| External Review of the Faculty of Medicine | November 2019 |
| External Review of the Equity & Inclusion Office | October 2019 |
| External Review of the UBC Sustainability Initiative | January 2019 |
| External Review of UBC Vantage College | November 2018 |
| External Review of the Faculty of Land and Food Systems | October 2018 |
See all related appointments here.
External Review Guidelines
A new set of External Review Guidelines has been developed to coincide with the new Senate Policy on External Reviews, which was approved by Senate in the fall of 2024. The final Guidelines are now posted below.
Any new external reviews initiated at UBC Vancouver in 2024/25 should follow these Guidelines.
- Guidelines for External Reviews of Academic Units - Colleges, Departments, Schools, Divisions, Institutes and Centres
- Guidelines for External Reviews of Academic Units - Faculties
If you have any questions about the Guidelines, please contact selina.fast@ubc.ca.
Reports to Senate on External Reviews
External reviews and preliminary responses are summarized each year in a Report to Senate from the Provost's Office. View the reports below:
- 2024/25 Report to Senate
- 2023/24 Report to Senate
- 2022/23 Report to Senate
- 2021/22 Report to Senate
- 2020/21 Report to Senate
- 2019/20 Report to Senate
- 2018/19 Report to Senate
- 2017/18 Report to Senate
- 2016/17 Report to Senate
- 2015/16 Report to Senate
- 2014/15 Report to Senate
- 2013/14 Report to Senate
- 2012/13 Report to Senate
Quality Assurance Process Audit
The Quality Assurance Process Audit (QAPA) is an external review process to ensure that public post-secondary institutions periodically conduct rigorous, ongoing program and institutional quality assessment. All B.C. public institutions participate in the QAPA once every seven years. This process was developed by the Quality Assurance Audit Committee, a standing committee of the Degree Quality Assessment Board. The Committee is comprised of representatives from the public institutions and the Board.
Similar processes have been implemented across Canada, with each Province having developed its own approach.
UBC Vancouver underwent a QAPA visit in December 2018 after developing and submitting an institutional self-study report. All of those involved in the process appreciated the opportunity to reflect upon UBC’s strengths as well as the areas identified for improvement in our quality enhancement policies and processes. The Okanagan campus’ QAPA process is scheduled for 2021.
Summary reports are available for institutions with completed QAPA audits. For quick access to the report for UBC Vancouver, click here.