College of Dentistry External Review
Terms of Reference
As of July 16, 2010
Purpose
An external review of the College of Dentistry’s Doctor of Dental Medicine Undergraduate
Program (DMD) – including the General Practice Residency (GPR) program - will be
undertaken in conjunction with the College’s integrated planning and budget adjustment
processes. This review, in concert with a site survey by the Commission on Dental
Accreditation of Canada (2010), will review the DMD program ensuring that the current
programs’ strengths are maintained, gaps addressed and opportunities identified in order
to maintain a high standard of dental education, research and community service now and
for the future. The Assistant Provost, Institutional Planning and Assessment will work with
the College of Dentistry to reduce overlap between the two review processes where
possible.
A self-study document will be required and will address the following key questions/areas:
Academic Programs
Are the academic priorities identified in the College’s integrated plan consistent with
those of the University?
Are the DMD program’s curriculum, delivery model and evaluation methods
appropriate for a contemporary competency-based dental education program?
Are the admission, promotion and graduation requirements appropriate for the
College’s educational objectives?
Are the DMD program’s human, infrastructure and financial resources adequate to
support current programming and are they effectively and efficiently utilized?
Does the DMD program’s human, infrastructure and financial resources have the
capacity to deliver increased enrolment and/or new programs?
Are there important areas of concentration, strength or innovation that the College
should be pursuing in its educational programs?
To what extent does the College deliver a high-quality education to its students?
Research and Scholarly Activities
What kind of research and scholarly activity occurs within the College and what is its
quality and quantity?
Is the College responding appropriately to enhance its research activities, as the
University has encouraged it to do?
Will the strategic directions outlined in the College’s integrated plan enhance its
scholarly activity?
Is the College’s commitment to research and scholarly activity consistent with
national/international trends/expectations? How does the College’s research,
scholarly activity and productivity compare with other schools of dentistry in
Canada?
Are there sufficient resources to support the research and scholarly activity of
faculty?
Are there research and scholarly opportunities available to the College that it needs
to seize?
Is the curriculum in the DMD program informed by currency in the discipline and by
up-to-date research and scholarship?
Community Outreach and Engagement

Do the College’s community outreach and engagement activities enhance the student
experience of the DMD program?

Do the College’s community outreach and engagement activities contribute to the
inter-professional education mandate of the Council of Health Sciences Deans and do
they contribute significantly to the University as a whole?

Do the existing human, infrastructure and financial resources adequately support
the College’s strategic direction for community outreach and engagement?

Will the strategic directions outlined in the College’s integrated plan enhance its
scholarly activity?
Administration

Are the College’s administrative structure and human resources appropriate to meet
its mandate and are they effectively and efficiently utilized?

Do faculty members of the College have an appropriate sense of their place within
the University community?

Is communication within the College and between the College and other parts of the
University adequate?

Are faculty, staff and students sufficiently aware of the strategic directions outlined
in the College’s integrated plan?
Faculty Practice Unit

What benefits accrue to the College and the University from the presence of a
practice unit on campus? Do the current human, infrastructure and financial
resources support the current faculty practice model? Is the model sustainable?

Do other Colleges of Dentistry in Canada offer better models?

Is the practice unit operating effectively and efficiently?
Composition of External Review Team
The External Review Team will be chosen by the Provost and Vice-President Academic on
the advice of the Dean of the College of Dentistry. The Review Team will be comprised of
three persons who are familiar with dental education, have national or international stature
within the discipline, and who can reasonably be asked to provide an objective assessment
of the College’s strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and challenges, within the context
of dental education in Canada. A preliminary list of potential reviewers will be provided by
the Dean of the College of Dentistry to the Provost. While the intent will be for the Provost
to select from this list, the Provost may wish to invite other suitable reviewers for this
review.
Provision of Background Information
The Review Team will have access to pertinent background material prior to and during the
external review. At a minimum, the College will prepare a self study document which
provides information to support the key questions to be addressed in this external review.
Ideally, the possible overlap between this review and the accreditation review will be
addressed. Every effort will be made to reduce redundancy and overlap between the
accreditation review and the review commissioned by the Provost.
Review Schedule
The review will take place from Monday, November 22 to Wednesday, November 24, 2010.
Each reviewer will spend three days at the University as part of the review process. Time
will be scheduled for individual and group meetings with University and College officials
including administration, faculty, staff, students, alumni and other stakeholders.
Report
The review and the Reviewers should focus and make recommendations on the following
areas:

The effectiveness of the DMD curriculum including guidance for curriculum renewal

The effectiveness of the College’s administrative and organizational structure

The quantity and quality of the College’s research and scholarly activities

The quantity and quality of the College’s community outreach and engagement
activities

The adequacy of the College’s human, infrastructure and financial resources to meet
current and future programming needs

The effectiveness of the College’s faculty practice model

The contributions of the College to interdisciplinarity and to the Health Sciences
group
The written report will be due within four weeks of the site visit. The report will be
submitted to the Provost and Vice-President Academic, with copies to the Dean and to the
Assistant Provost, Institutional Planning. An initial response from the Dean to the
recommendations of the Review Team will be required within one month of receipt of the
written report.
The Dean, as Chief Executive Officer of the College, is ultimately responsible for the
implementation of the recommendations of the external review. Ultimately, an
implementation plan will be developed for inclusion into the College’s next integrated plan
(due October 2011).