The Secretariat provides support to the Postsecondary Education Quality Assessment Board. Among other responsibilities, the Secretariat undertakes research and drafts the Board’s criteria, policies and procedures.
Each application for ministerial consent is managed by a Senior Policy Advisor who assists the applicant in understanding the Board’s criteria and procedures and coordinates the Board’s relations with the ministry, regulatory bodies and external expert review panels to facilitate the comprehensive review of applications.
James has a PhD in English and has taught a wide variety of courses at York University ranging from literature through humanities/history of ideas to applied ethics. He has also held university administrative positions such as Assistant Director of the Centre for Academic Writing, Associate Director of the Centre for the Support of Teaching, Assistant Secretary of the University and Senior Executive Officer for Finance and Administration. After 8 years at the University of New Brunswick in an administrative role, in 2013 he returned to Toronto where he was delighted to take up the position of Chief Executive Officer and Director for the Postsecondary Education Quality Assessment Board (PEQAB).
Jennifer Andreae holds an MA in history, an MIST, and did doctoral research in the field of early modern European history, all at the University of Toronto. She spent 15 years teaching history, humanities, and professional writing at York University, and then shifted her focus to developing digital learning programming for George Brown College and the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services. Jennifer has also served as a librarian at Ryerson University and George Brown College. Jennifer joined the PEQAB team in 2019.
Dr. Joel Buenting earned his doctoral degree in philosophy from the University of Alberta and his Master of Public Administration degree from Queen’s School of Policy Studies. Joel worked for numerous Government of Ontario Ministries prior to joining the Postsecondary Education Quality Assessment Board in 2015.
Mary Catharine Lennon, PhD
Head of Research, International and Special Projects
[email protected]
With a PhD from the University of Toronto, Dr. Mary Catharine Lennon has an academic and professional background in international and comparative higher education policy research, development and advice in areas including system design, accountability and quality assurance, evaluation and learning outcomes. She has worked with institutional, provincial, inter-provincial, and international educational agencies including the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, and the Association of Commonwealth Universities. Dr. Lennon currently holds the position of Research Associate with the Centre for Canadian and International Higher Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (UofT), and she is also a member of the board of the International Network of Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE).
Dr. Zuzana Wilcox has a PhD in European History from McMaster University, having completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Calgary. She has a Minor in French and had the opportunity to study and work in France and Québec City. Her education also includes a Scholar’s Certificate of Completion in the “Principles and Practices of University Teaching” (McMaster). Zuzana joined the Ministry of Colleges and Universities in 2014, and the Postsecondary Education Quality Assessment Board (PEQAB) in 2022. Prior to pursuing her career in postsecondary education policy and quality assurance, she taught a variety of courses in History, Art History, and Classics, worked as an educator at several cultural organizations in both Canada and Europe, and volunteered with the World University Service of Canada. Zuzana speaks English, French and Czech.
