Preface

Northern Revised by the Office of Senior Vice-President, Academic, March 2026


Type	PDF
Size	388 KB

Open original PDF →

Referenced from: Policies & Procedures

Document text

Northern Revised by the Office of Senior Vice-President, Academic, March 2026

Preface

The Minister’s Binding Policy Directive on the Framework for Programs of Instruction states that:

‘The board of governors is to ensure that an advisory committee for each program of instruction or cluster of related programs offered at the college is established and is made up of a cross-section of persons external to the college who have a direct interest in and a diversity of experience and expertise related to the particular occupational area addressed by the program.’

The Board of Governors of Northern College fully supports this directive and believes that the Program Advisory Committees are essential if the College is to live up to its Purpose, Mission, and Vision.

Purpose, Mission, and Vision

Purpose

Empowering students and communities by providing leading edge education, training and work-integrated learning opportunities, rooted in the Northern experience.

Mission

Northern College will be a catalyst for growth and innovation, building capacity and sustainability in our communities and beyond, creating opportunities that transform learners into leaders, and offering destination programming to the world.

Vision

Northern College empowers learners and communities through education and innovation, collaborating to develop programming that prepares our graduates for success in a changing world.

College Values

Inclusive

We apply inclusive practices for learning, inside and outside the classroom.
We are committed to the growth and development of students and employees.
We honour people and recognize them as our greatest asset.

Innovative

We adapt and develop creative educational programs in response to an evolving environment.
We embrace change: technological, educational, and social.
We welcome diverse perspectives and ideas that propel the College forward.

Present

We prioritize presence in, and active engagement with, the communities we serve.
We purposefully collaborate with our organization and with partners.

Impactful

We offer authentic experiences linked to opportunities that result in meaningful impact.
We measure the outcomes of our actions and are accountable for what we do.

Indigenous Statement of Commitment

In our pursuit to become the college of choice for Indigenous learners, we will integrate the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Indigenous Education Protocols established by Colleges and Institutes Canada, and we will uphold the values and teachings of Indigenous Peoples in our practices.

Program Advisory Committee Terms of Reference and Procedures

1. ROLE

The role of the Program Advisory Committee is to provide recommendations and advice to the Board of Governors and the administration of Northern College in the following areas:

a) Labour market and associated educational needs of the community;
b) Program requirements to meet those needs;
c) Future trends in fields of specialty;
d) All other matters pertaining to the curriculum, facilities, placement, employment and community relations.
e) PAC members will participate in quality assurance processes including program review (Annual Program Review and Comprehensive Program Review). They will review, provide input, and endorse proposed major program revisions, and new program proposals (Ad Hoc Program Advisory Committee -see 2. Membership).

In order to foster an understanding of the College and the program area, advisory committee members will be encouraged to:

Participate in the post-secondary Orientation sessions at the beginning of the Fall semester;
Participate in Open House;
Attend the Technical Report presentations, where applicable;
Act as guest speakers in the specific courses;
Participate in marketing initiatives such as high school visits;
Act as ambassadors of the program area and the College in the community;
Act as a mentor and/or participate in the Mentorship Program;
Provide regular updates on trends, skills required in the workplace, and opportunities in the field;
Conduct research and provide recommendations on issues, and
Stay current on communications to and from Northern College on PAC related issues.

2. MEMBERSHIP

Each Program Advisory Committee will endeavour to have six (6) external members and four (4) internal members.

It is imperative that the external members be representative of the field of study to ensure relevancy in content, and ongoing support and community involvement in the specific program area. External members should include a fair cross section of practitioners, management, and graduates of the program area to offer direction and advice from varying perspectives.

Internal members should include the Dean responsible for the program area, a member of the Board of Governors (for communication purposes only), the program coordinator and core faculty and support staff from the program area as well as a student representative elected by the students enrolled in the program or recommended by program faculty. All internal members are individuals who have responsibilities in the program area; attendance and involvement is necessary to provide support, information and direction from the areas of responsibilities.

Efforts will be made to ensure a balanced representation of culture and gender.

The President of the College and the Senior Vice-President, Academic will be ex-officio members of all Program Advisory Committees.

College employees and members of the Board of Governors are non-voting resource persons on Program Advisory Committees.

A Recommendation for Appointment to Program Advisory Committee form (Appendix A) must be completed by the potential member and signed by the Dean of the respective department, as well as the Senior Vice-President, Academic. The form is then submitted to the Board Office for appointment by the Board of Governors.

When a new PAC member replaces an existing PAC member from the same external organization, the Recommendation for Appointment to Program Advisory Committee form (Appendix A) is completed and submitted to the Board Office for the Board of Governors ’ information/notification. The replacement of an existing PAC member with a new PAC member from the same external organization is completed at the discretion of the Dean, and does not require Board approval.

Ad Hoc Program Advisory Committees:

Ad Hoc PACs are established when a new program is being developed. Members are appointed by the Dean of the School as representatives of the disciplinary field of practice. Ad Hoc PAC members will often also include faculty members, academics, and administration. Upon approval of the program by the Board of Governors and Ministry of College, Universities, Research Excellence and Security, the Ad Hoc PAC is dissolved and an official Program Advisory Committee is established.

3. PARTICIPATION

Commitment

Membership on Program Advisory Committees is on a volunteer basis. No remuneration will be received by the members except reimbursement of travel expenses pursuant to College policy on travel expenses.

Members will endeavor to attend all committee meetings to ensure continuity of the group.

Members who miss three consecutive meetings will be deemed to have resigned unless it is due to extenuating circumstances to be determined by the Dean and Advisory Committee Chair. The resignation will be acknowledged by the Chair at the third meeting.

Election and Role of Chair

The Chair and Vice-Chair/Co-Chair are elected at the first meeting of the school year among the membership of the Committee for a term of five years. After five years, a Chair or Vice-Chair/Co-Chair may be nominated by a member of the committee for reappointment for another term. If a formal nomination process is required, it will be conducted by the Dean at that time.

In the absence of the Chair and the Vice-Chair of the Program Advisory Committee, the members present at any meeting shall choose one of the external members to be the Chair of the meeting.

In addition, the Chair of each advisory committee may be requested to represent his/her committee at official College functions.

4. MEETINGS

Quorum

To submit a recommendation to the Board of Governors, the presence of fifty percent of the voting/external members in addition to the Chair of the Program Advisory Committee will be necessary to constitute a quorum. When a recommendation is to be made by the Program Advisory Committee to the Board of Governors, the Recommendation for the Board of Governors’ Consideration form (Appendix B) must be completed and submitted to the President’s Office prior to the next scheduled Board meeting. The schedule of Board meetings is available on the Northern College website .

Motions

Any member of the Program Advisory Committee may bring forward a motion for consideration. Motions should be clearly stated and, where possible, submitted in writing to the Chair prior to the meeting.

The Committee will strive to reach consensus through open discussion. Consensus is defined as general agreement among members, even if not unanimous, where all significant concerns have been addressed.

If consensus cannot be reached within a reasonable timeframe, the Chair may call for a vote. Each appointed voting member shall have one vote. A motion shall be deemed carried if it receives a simple majority (more than 50%) of votes cast by members present.

All motions and their outcomes -whether by consensus or vote -shall be recorded in the meeting minutes.

Recommendations to the Board of Governors must be passed as motions.

5. FUNCTIONS

The committee will be involved in various aspects of the program of study, i.e. postsecondary, extension, retraining, apprenticeship, training in business and industry, management development programs, and community programs. Program Advisory Committee members have a responsibility to the Board of Governors, the College, the students, the employers and the community.

The special functions of the committee are to:

Advise the Board of Governors in defining the objectives of the program;
Advise the Board of Governors on the specific skills required by the students to reach the objectives;
Assist in the development and evaluation of programs of study (both full-time and part-time) and curriculum in relation to the community, the provincial and national requirements where these apply;
Advise the Board of Governors on changes in the labour market which will affect the employment of graduates and to assist in the placement of graduates where this is possible;
Discuss relative training and retraining within their fields and evaluate requirements for on-the-job training and retraining;

Advise the Board of Governors on the community reaction to the program, and any concerns regarding attrition and the graduates when this information is brought to their attention;
Advise the Board of Governors on the requirements for full-time and part-time programs of study to meet new developments and unresolved needs in the community;
Provide consultation when directed by the College, on matters in their field of specialty;
Help the College maintain a dynamic relationship with the community;
Receive reports from student, faculty, administration and committee members on the foregoing matters as necessary, and,
Review reports on standards updates (from the Ministry) and/or quality assurance reviews, related to the programs of study.

6. NOTICE AND FREQUENCY OF MEETINGS

Administrative support for all advisory committees will be provided by the College.

A minimum of one meeting per year academic year will be held, with the meeting dates and times determined by the advisory committee members and reviewed annually.

The agenda will be established by the Dean and resource members, in cooperation with the committee chair. The agenda and supporting data will be sent to all committee members well in advance of the meeting date.

The minutes will be sent to advisory committee members prior to the date of the meeting.

7. AUTHORITY

a) The principle of the Program Advisory Committee, proposed by the Board of Governors, is that the College welcomes advice from the Program Advisory Committee. Program Advisory Committees are essential to the provision of relevant, accessible, timely, high-quality educational opportunities that will provide the communities served by the College with the tools that they need to contribute to the social and economic development of the region.
b) The Program Advisory Committee will make recommendations through their minutes of meetings to the President, Senior Vice-President Academic, Dean, and the faculty and support staff of the department for information and implementation where Board approval is not required.
c) All recommendations submitted by the Program Advisory Committee for the Board of Governors’ attention must be submitted to the Board Office. A copy ( Appendix B ) is also sent to the Senior Vice-President Academic.

d) In response to the above, the Dean may complete a Report to the Board of Governors which provides more background information and recommendations on the issues at hand.

8. REPORTING TO THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS

The Board wishes to maintain a close relationship with the Program Advisory Committees and as such, each Program Advisory Committee will be assigned a Board Representative. The Office of the Senior Vice-President Academic will conduct an annual Program Advisory Committee survey to collect data on items such as:

Committee membership -its ’ adequacy of representation, and function.
Meetings -the suitability of meeting arrangements, minutes, format, and College input.
Labour market trends, employment opportunities for graduates.
Areas such as program objectives, training, and retraining requirements, etc.

The data collected by the annual Program Advisory Committee survey will be included in the SVPA Office’s Annual Compliance Report on Program Advisory Committees . Other issues as deemed appropriate should be brought forward at this time for Board information and consideration, and the Board will be particularly interested in learning how the Board of Governors might be of more assistance to the Program Advisory Committees.

In addition, Program Advisory Committee Chairs, on behalf of their committee, may make a presentation to the Board of Governors on issues of a special or urgent nature. This can be arranged by requesting to be placed on the agenda of the next Board meeting through the Board Office.

Recommendation for Appointment to Program Advisory Committee

Advisory Committee:
Reason for Recommendation:

☐ New Program Advisory Committee Member - Board Approval Required
☐ Replacement of Current Program Advisory Committee Member (with representative of the same organization) - Notification of Replacement

Advisory Committee Member Information:

Name:

Mailing Address:

Telephone:

(Bus)

(Res)

Email:

Occupation:

Resume Submitted:

Yes ☐
No ☐

Title:

Organization:

Location:

Northern College Graduate:

Yes ☐
No ☐

Program:

Year:

Campus:

I agree to serve on this committee:

Nominee Signature

Date

Program Dean Signature

Date

Senior Vice-President Academic Signature

Date

Note: This information is collected under the authority of the Ministry of Colleges and Universities Act, R.S.O. 1990, Chapter 19, S.5, R.R.O. 1980, Reg.640. The personal information will be used to determine eligibility to serve on Advisory Committee(s); to maintain record of committee members for contact and communication and professional/social activities. Any queries may be directed to the FOI Coordinator, Northern College, P.O. Box 3211, Timmins, ON P4N 8R6. Telephone (705) 235-3211.

(Revised March 2026)

Recommendation for the Board of Governors’ Consideration

Name of Program Advisory Committee

Program Advisory Committee Meeting Date:

Agenda Item #

Chairperson of Program Advisory Committee:

Background:

Motion:

Moved by:

Seconded by:

For BoG Use Only

Approved ____ Not Approved ____ More Info Required ____ Further Action ____

_________________________________________

Chairperson’s Signature

Source: https://www.northerncollege.ca/uploads/2025/09/Program-Advisory-Committee-PAC.pdf