Accreditation/AIMS FAQs
Q. Where can I obtain support to develop my course submission? I want to develop a course submission that meets the requirements for accreditation.
A. Please email your request to the Manager of Accreditation, Ontario College of Teachers, at accreditation@oct.ca. A program officer will be assigned to answer your specific questions. Using the guidelines developed by the College, a provider designs a course application that fulfills the regulatory requirements for accreditation. The guidelines set learning expectations, course components, instructional practices and forms of assessment that courses are expected to follow in order to be accredited. This application is submitted to the College for accreditation through the Accreditation Information Management System (AIMS).
Q. Are there restrictions on the additional qualification (AQ) programs that I may offer as a provider?
A. Providers apply to the College for the accreditation of each additional qualification program they wish to offer. Some providers are approved to offer courses from specific schedules:
You may choose to offer none, some or all of your accredited courses in any particular session. You may deliver a course in the formats that have been accredited by the College (face-to-face, online or blended). In some cases, you may need to demonstrate appropriate expertise in appropriate areas and expand your governance information as part of your accreditation application for an AQ from a new schedule.
Q. How will I know when a course is accredited in AIMS?
A. The AQ Status page shows the status of all applications submitted to the College for accreditation. From the navigation buttons on the right-hand side in AIMS, select AQ Status to:
You can sort the list of programs on this page by clicking on any of the headers such as expiry date.
Q. Why is the status of my course marked incomplete in AIMS?
A. The term Incomplete beside a program on the AQ status page indicates you have begun to upload an AQ application but you have not yet submitted it to the College for review. To complete the submission of the AQ program in AIMS, follow the steps below:
a. Choose the Method of Delivery (Face to face; Online; Partial Distance). Please indicate all the methods of delivery and ensure that your application reflects each delivery mode.
b. Upload the program application.
i. For programs offered in online format, you may submit the URL, guest ID and password. Please also upload the course in Microsoft Word or PDF format for archival purposes.
ii. For programs offered in Face to face/Blended format, upload the application in Microsoft Word or PDF format.
c. Upload the course developer’s CV.
d. When you are finished uploading documents, click Done.
Q. What is the procedure to submit modifications to the application in AIMS when requested by the College?
A. The College will contact you when modifications are necessary to continue the review of an application. You can submit the requested modifications in AIMS by following the steps below:
a. Choose the Method of Delivery (Face to face; Online; Partial Distance). Please indicate all the methods of delivery and ensure that your application reflects each delivery mode.
b. Upload the revised program application.
c. Upload the course instructor’s developer’s CV if this was missing.
d. When you are finished uploading documents, click Done.
Q. What is the procedure to submit program governance when requested by the College?
A. You can submit information about the governance and accountability structures for your AQ program in AIMS. Click on the Submit Program Governance link in the navigation menu and upload documents as attachments.
Please review the Checklist for General Submissions on Governance and Accountability to ensure the appropriate details have been included in your submission.
Note: New providers are required to upload a copy of the Application for Accreditation Agreement signed by an authorized agent of the provider. This is to ensure that you will inform the College, in the manner requested, when a candidate has successfully completed an AQ program, and to ensure that you will provide details of the qualifications that enabled the candidate’s admission to the AQ program as requested.
Q. What is the procedure to submit a new application for accreditation?
A. You may submit more than one new AQ applications for accreditation.
You must complete the upload of each AQ application before you start the upload
for the next application. An application must be in Ready for Submission
status before it can be submitted to the College.
Please follow the steps below to submit a new application for accreditation
in AIMS:
1. Select Submit New AQ Application from the navigation buttons on the right-hand side.
2. Select the schedule type followed by the course name for which you wish to submit an application for accreditation.
3. Click Next.
4. On the AQ Program Details page, please:
b. Upload the program application.
i. For programs offered in online format, you may submit the URL, guest ID and password. Please also upload the course in Microsoft Word or PDF format for archival purposes.
ii. For programs offered in Face to face/Blended format, upload the application in Microsoft Word/PDF format.
c. Upload the course developer’s CV.
d. When you are finished uploading documents, click Done.
5. The Ready for Submission page asks you to confirm if the provider contacts for the organization are correct and current. Please update the contact information if it has changed. If the contacts are current, click Finish.
6. The final step on the AQ Status page is to click on Submit to College. But if you intend to submit several applications, you may click Add AQ Application instead and follow the steps above to submit the next application. After you have finished uploading the final application, click Submit to College. This is a good way to submit multiple applications, as this ensures that you receive only one acknowledgement email for the programs submitted to the College as a group.
Q. How do I submit a renewal application for an AQ program that will expire soon?
A. The College will notify you by email approximately seven months
(210 days) before an accredited program expires. Renewal applications must be submitted
in AIMS before the expiry date to maintain the accreditation of your program.
There are two steps in the renewal process. First, you will identify the
programs you wish to renew and then you will submit your renewal application documentation.
Step 1: Submit your intent to renew in AIMS after you receive an expiry notification by email from the College. You must complete this step within 15 business days of receiving the email notification. Please follow the steps below to identify the programs you will renew:
1. Select Submit Renewal AQ Application from the navigation buttons on the right-hand side. If you do not see this navigation button in AIMS, you have no programs to renew right now.
2. Select the AQ program names you wish to renew by checking the boxes under the Will Renew column. You can save your renewal selections and finish later by clicking Save at the bottom of the page. If you have already finished this step, you will see grey checkmarks and the Will Renew boxes cannot be selected.
3. Click Submit intent to renew when you finish selecting the AQ programs you wish to renew.
4. After you have submitted your intent to renew, you will receive a confirmation email from the College. If you do not receive this email, you may have saved your work, but not clicked Submit intent to renew.
Step 2: Submit the renewal applications requested for review before the expiry date of the accreditation period. This ensures that you may continue to offer these courses, and any other courses in a sample, while the College reviews your renewal applications.
1. Within 15 business days of identifying the AQ programs you intend to renew, the College will email you a list of AQ programs that you must submit for an accreditation review. We may request renewal applications for all programs you will renew, or in some cases a smaller sample of programs. You can also see the applications you must submit by clicking on the Submit Renewal AQ Application navigation button. A Renew link appears beside the AQ program applications that you must submit.
2. When you are ready to submit your renewal applications in AIMS, select Submit Renewal AQ Application from the navigation buttons on the right hand side.
3. Click the Renew link for each AQ program and follow the directions below to submit your applications.
4. On the AQ Program Details page, please:
a. Choose the Method of Delivery (Face to face; Online; Partial Distance). Please indicate all the methods of delivery and ensure that your application reflects each delivery method.
b. Upload the renewal application.
i. For programs offered in online format, you may submit the URL, guest ID and password. Please also upload the course in Microsoft Word or PDF format for archival purposes.
ii. For programs offered in Face to face/Blended format, upload the renewal application in Microsoft Word/PDF format.
c. Upload the course developer’s CV.
d. When you are finished uploading documents, click Done.
5. The Ready for Submission page asks you to confirm if the provider contacts for your organization are correct and current. Please update the contact information if it has changed. If the contacts are current, click Finish.
6. You are now ready to work on your next renewal application. Once all the renewal applications requested are in Ready for Submission status, click on Submit to College. You should receive an email from the College confirming that we received your applications. If you don’t, you may have clicked Done and Finish, but you may need to click Submit to College.
Note: Individual renewal applications that form part of a sample will remain in Ready for Submission status until all of the requested applications are uploaded in AIMS. Once all of your requested applications are in Ready for submission status, click on Submit to College. The College will receive the entire sample to review and the courses that the sample represents.
Q. How do I know if a change I’m planning is a substantial change? How do I report a substantial change to an accredited course?
A. Click the Submit Substantial Change Request navigation button
at the right for resources about the substantial change process:
You can:
You can also request us to review your proposed change and advise whether it is substantial. Please follow the steps below to submit a substantial change request in AIMS:
1. Select Submit Substantial Change Request from the navigation buttons on the right-hand side.
2. Scroll down and select the AQ programs for which you intend to make a change request by checking the appropriate boxes.
Note: You may select a single course or multiple courses within a schedule. You can click on Select All if you want to select all the courses within a schedule.
3. Click Next.
4. Upload the documents to support your change request.
5. Click Submit Change Request.
Once the substantial change request has been submitted, the AQ Status page will identify the course as Change Request. The course remains accredited while we complete the review.
Note: You may not submit a further change request for the same course until the current change request review is complete.
6. Upon completion of our review, you will receive an email that describes one of the following next steps:
Non-Substantial Change - If the planned change is not substantial, the review is complete and no further action is required. There is no change to the accredited status of the program. We will add any documents submitted as part of the change request to the original AQ application for the accredited program.
Substantial Change Governance – If the planned change constitutes a substantial change to your governance, you will receive an email requesting that you update your governance document in AIMS within 60 days. There is no change to the accredited status of the program. The review is complete once the governance is updated.
Substantial Change – Early Renewal - If the planned change constitutes a substantial to one or more AQ programs, you will be asked to confirm by email whether you wish to proceed with the change. Upon receipt of this confirmation, AIMS will roll back the expiry date for the affected programs so that you may submit a revised application for renewal of accreditation. Once the expiry date is rolled back, the AQ status page will identify the course as Renewable. Follow the steps in the renewal process to submit your intent to renew the courses. Then submit the renewal applications before the accreditation expires.
Note: You can view the status of your change requests submitted for accreditation by clicking on the History button at the bottom of this page.