Background

The Ontario Council of Graduate Studies, an affiliate of the Council of Ontario Universities, adopted the Graduate University Degree Level Expectations(GDLEs) in January 2005. In December of the same year, the Council of Ontario Universities endorsed the Ontario Council of Academic Vice-Presidents’ (OCAV) University Undergraduate Degree Level Expectations (UUDLES). OCAV subsequently incorporated the UUDLES into its Undergraduate Programs Audit Council Review and Audit Guidelines and set an implementation date of June 2008.

By adopting the Degree Level Expectations, OCAV has effectively established the academic standard for Ontario’s universities. Each university is expected to develop its own institutional expression of the undergraduate and graduate Degree Level Expectations and apply them to its academic programs.

Ontario Universities Council on Quality Assurance. (April 22, 2010). Quality Assurance Framework.