In spring 2011, the Government of Saskatchewan launched a public consultation process to consider expanding degree-granting status in Saskatchewan in response to ongoing requests from post-secondary institutions and developments in post-secondary education elsewhere in Canada.  

The Government also launched the development of a Quality Assurance Review Process to run concurrently with the public consultations.

See information below to assist your understanding of these initiatives.

On March 15, 2011, our Ministry announced (News Release below) the appointment of Alex Usher, an internationally recognized expert in post-secondary education systems, to lead the consultations about expanding degree-granting authority in Saskatchewan.

Usher is the President of Higher Education Strategy Associates. He has worked on both national and international research projects related to post-secondary education.  Usher can be reached by email at: ausher@higheredstrategy.com.

In August 2011, Mr. Usher provided a final report and recommendations: Expansion of Degree-Granting Status in the Province of Saskatchewan: Report on Consultations and Recommendations

Mr. Usher's final report includes three common themes:

1. that there is widespread misunderstanding of what degree-granting expansion may entail;
2. there is substantial concern about duplication of services, especially in more expensive programs; and
3. that there is widespread support for, and trust in the province's two universities.

The report contains several recommendations including:

• A quality assurance board should be established for reviewing new degree programs at institutions other than the University of Regina and the University of Saskatchewan.
• Institutions other than the University of Regina and the University of Saskatchewan should be able to offer degree programs if approved by the quality assurance board.
• The University of Saskatchewan and the University of Regina should not need approval for new degree programs, but would benefit from a periodic quality audit system.
• A competitive process should be developed to determine which public institutions should offer new degree programs in areas of emerging professional practice.

On April 4, 2011, our Ministry announced the appointment of Dr. Brian Gillespie (see News Release below) to develop a quality assurance review process that could be used to assess applications for new degree-granting institutions and programs in Saskatchewan.

Gillespie is the former President of the British Columbia Institute of Technology and the first chair of the B.C. Provincial Degree Quality Assessment Board.

See our Quality Assurance Review webpage for more details.