Know Your IPESA (Institutional Policy on Student Achievement)
From pop quizzes to plagiarism, (IPESA) defines the rules and roles of students, teachers, and collegial institutes. It is a policy which adheres to standards of regulation set by Québec’s Ministère de L’Enseignement Superieur. In the context of academic institutions, this policy connects us, the students, to our teachers and aims to make the evaluation process as equitable as possible through roles and responsibilities on both ends. In short, it is there to ensure fairness, inclusivity, and clarity.
A policy is a formal document which:
- Finds a problem, or determines a goal.
Colleges lacked a mechanism to unify the goals and standards for the learning process.
2. Determines the steps to solve it (action/inaction, what decisions are to be made).
The Ministry of Higher Education made the policy, and the academic institutions interpreted them with their employees (for example, our teachers). They then implemented it in the curriculum.
3. Applies the steps with consideration for the affected parties.
Teachers communicate to and/or give resources for said standards to their students: e.g., program grids, Learning Integration Assessments (LIA), course outlines, integrative assignments, rules on plagiarism, etc.
The province of Quebec allows some wiggle room with how each college interprets this policy, but in accordance to Vanier’s website- here are some shortened key points to keep in mind:
STUDENTS:
- 4.3.1. All students must pass a Program Comprehensive Assessment (PCA) during their last semester. This is to make sure that students have gotten a well-rounded understanding of their program of choice. It can be in the form of an integrative project, integrative seminar, science option courses, and so on.
- 5.1.4. Respect intellectual property: do not forget to site your sources
(make sure they are credible), paraphrase properly, do not use artificial
intelligence in your work unless stated otherwise (this includes websites
like Grammerly, and other grammar correcting websites), do not plagiarize
on past work (this includes your friend who took the same class), etc.
- 5.1.9. Students are responsible to keep digital or physical copies of all their work until the course-delete deadline of the following semester, as they could be needed for Grades Review requests and academic misconduct allegations.
- 5.1.10 Seek out guidance when dropping or failing a course, as this can impact your graduation date. Dropping certain courses can result in you losing your eligibility to take language exit exams.
TEACHERS:
- 5.2.6. Teachers must provide us with written instructions to all assignments, and if they can, a grading grid.
- 5.2.10. Teaching requires inclusivity and diversity. No student is the same and our learning needs require adaptation. It is on the student to communicate their needs and on the teacher to adapt to the best of their capabilities. For example, if you are a visual learner and your teacher does not write notes on a board, you may request them to.
STUDENT SERVICES:
- 6.9.1. Student services must provide students with support in the case of physical, medical, mental or learning disabilities. In order to make the process as easy as possible for yourself, we suggest that you make a collection of all relevant documents provided by your physician(s) beforehand.
There are many more relevant roles assigned to groups such as Student-Teacher Mediator Committee, Academic Misconduct Review Committee, Academic Advising, etc. In addition, other rules are stated through the “Academic Conduct” section (11.)
(e.g. 11.1.5. “Students who disagree with a decision related to conduct in the classroom may contact the Faculty Office or the Student Advocate for assistance”)
The Insider strongly suggest you consult this document to learn your rights and roles during your time at Vanier.
*All information has been sourced from the Vanier College IPESA document*
Click the link below if you would like to consult the full Vanier College IPESA document:
