College releases results of independent governance review

November 26 2018

College Council to be briefed on the contents of the report and its recommendations at their December 6, 2018 meeting

November 26, 2018 (Toronto) – The Ontario College of Teachers has released the report from an independent review of its governance structure and processes. The review, conducted by Governance Solutions Inc., was commissioned in March of 2018 as part of the College’s commitment to greater efficiency and effectiveness.

The comprehensive report provides 37 recommendations, including:

• a smaller, balanced Council of 14 members, 7 of whom would be Ontario Certified Teachers and 7 members of the public appointed by the province. Currently, Council is comprised of 37 members, 23 of which are members of the profession and 14 appointed;
• selecting Council members from a pool of qualified professional applicants, following a robust, transparent process based on a competency profile, in place of the current election process;
• selecting a separate set of qualified members of the teaching profession through an application process for the College’s Statutory, Regulatory and Standards of Practice Committees;
• staggered, two-year terms, renewable up to four times (maximum eight years). Currently, Council members may serve up to two, three-year terms; 
• changing the Chair of Council position from a full-time, seconded position, to a part-time role focused on being an effective manager of Council, resource to Council members and liaison with the Registrar;
• Chairs of Council and committees will serve one-year, renewable terms. Currently, Council appoints members to these positions for the duration of the three-year Council term.
• renaming the College to better reflect its statutory authority and duty to regulate teachers;
• increased use and authority of roster members serving on panels of statutory and regulatory committees;  
• altering the composition of Council committees to re-balance the mix of professional and public members, such as:
  • equal numbers of both professional and public members for the Investigation, Discipline and Fitness to Practice committees;
  • a majority of profession members for the Accreditation, Accreditation Appeal, Registration Appeals and Standards of Practice and Education committees;
  • a majority of public members for the Audit and Finance, Governance and Nominating and Human Resources committees; and finally,
  • the entire Council itself will make up the Executive Committee.

“Self-reflection and examination are built into our daily operations,” said Registrar and CEO Michael Salvatori, OCT. “It is our commitment to continuous improvement and the independent review is a part of that.”

The College’s Council will receive the report’s findings and recommendations at its December 6 meeting.

“Self-regulation is a privilege in that it recognizes the maturity of the profession. It honours the special skills, knowledge and experiences that a profession possesses,” says Council Chair Nicole van Woudenberg, OCT. “Council will continue to serve with rigour in the public interest, protecting students, and receives the recommendations in the report with that lens. Our next step is to discuss the recommendations and determine an action plan moving forward.”

The completion of the report is timely as the College’s commitment to effective governance practices and structures aligns with the government’s direction, as outlined in Bill 48, the Safe and Supportive Classrooms Act, 2018.

“Based on the outcome of the review, we will entertain amendments relating to the Council which could allow the government to introduce changes that could better serve and protect the public interest in regulating Ontario’s teaching profession,” said Ontario Minister of Education Lisa M. Thompson, on November 12 during the second reading debate of Bill 48.

“Our review found that the College’s regulatory governance processes are strong, and we identified real opportunities to strengthen its corporate governance, and regulatory governance outcomes, while retaining a self-regulatory approach,” said David A.H. Brown, Executive Vice President, Governance Solutions Inc. “Reflecting and improving upon the College’s governance is key to protecting the public interest, and in this case, Ontario’s students.”

David Brown and his team at Governance Solutions Inc. used online surveys, in person and telephone interviews to canvass numerous stakeholders, in English and French, including:

• members of the public
• members of the College
• members of the current and previous College Council
• key external stakeholders including teachers’ federations, school boards, education associations and regulators

The exact report methodology can be found in the report, which is available on our website at oct.ca.

David Brown is Canada’s leading thinker, speaker, writer and practitioner in governance.  Since 1995, David has authored or co-authored authoritative research on public sector and regulatory governance in Canada and Ontario, and has co-founded over a dozen governance education programs including university accredited certification programs for the Health, Colleges and Universities and School Board sectors, the Public Enterprise (Crown Corporation) Governance Centre, and the Directors College. David co-founded Governance Solutions Inc. (GSI) (formerly known as Brown Governance Inc) 27 years ago and has provided superior governance solutions to hundreds of clients since then, including leading public sector and regulatory governance organizations.