Graduate Student Award in Postsecondary Quality Assurance
The Canadian Postsecondary Quality Assurance Network (CPQAN) welcomes applications for a Graduate Student Award in Postsecondary Quality Assurance. Valued at $1,000, the award recognizes a master's or doctoral student whose research contributes to quality assurance in Canadian postsecondary education.
The award is made possible through the generosity of Dr. Christine Bovis-Cnossen and Dr. Sonny Ramaswamy, whose keynote honoraria have been directed to support emerging scholars in the field.
Eligible graduate students are invited to apply by August 15, 2026. Questions may be directed to Dr. Alana Hoare at ahoare@tru.ca.
PDF currently only available in English.
2026 Award Recipient - Claire Sauvé
Claire Sauvé is Associate Director of Continuing Studies at Vancouver Community College and a PhD student in Education Theory and Practice: Philosophy at Simon Fraser University. Her research examines program review in BC vocational education as a relational storytelling practice, a site of tension between competing forces in postsecondary, and a space where questions about the future of higher education are raised. Drawing on critical perspectives from feminist, decolonial, and vocational education scholarship, the research uses institutional ethnography to explore how faculty and QA practitioners experience and narrate program review, and how texts coordinate that work. Through a critical-relational framework, it aims to reconceptualize program review in ways that honour the relationships, labour, and ways of knowing of those involved, and build the trust genuine improvement depends on.
This research is informed by Claire's professional and lived experience, her background in pure mathematics (BSc, MA), and her prior research. Her MEd study (Sauve, 2023) found that with adequate resources, time, and support, program review can drive meaningful improvement for faculty and students. Subsequent studies argued that program review should be a collective effort across all levels of the institution (Sauve et al., 2026), and that temporal structures constrain both process and improvement regardless of a department's size, discipline, or capacity (Sauve & Hoare, forthcoming).
The Canadian Postsecondary Quality Assurance Network (CPQAN) invites applications for the Graduate Student Award in Postsecondary Quality Assurance, which recognizes emerging scholars whose research contributes to the field of quality assurance in Canadian postsecondary institutions (including universities, colleges, CEGEPs, and polytechnics).
The Award is valued at $1,000 and reflects CPQAN’s commitment to fostering scholarship, collaboration, and evidence-informed practices in postsecondary quality assurance.
This year the award is made possible through the generosity of Dr. Christine Bovis-Cnossen and Dr. Sonny Ramaswamy, inaugural keynote speakers for the CPQAN forum. Through these contributions, CPQAN is investing in the next generation of researchers whose work advances quality assurance scholarship, policy, and practice.
Eligibility
To be eligible for the Award, applicants must:
Be enrolled in a master’s or doctoral program at a recognized Canadian postsecondary institution at the time of application.
Be conducting research related to postsecondary quality assurance, quality enhancement, accreditation, program review, assessment of learning outcomes, institutional effectiveness, quality culture, student success, educational policy, or related fields.
Research may be proposed, in progress, or recently completed, provided it is connected to the applicant’s graduate studies and demonstrates relevance to postsecondary quality assurance.
Application Requirements
Please submit the following documents by August 15, 2026:
Proof of enrolment in a graduate program such as an enrolment verification letter, unofficial transcript, or confirmation from the institution.
A Research Statement, maximum 750 words, describing the research topic or project and its significance to postsecondary quality assurance.
A letter of recommendation from the applicant’s faculty supervisor or instructor.
Submit all materials as a single PDF to Dr. Alana Hoare at ahoare@tru.ca with the subject line: CPQAN Graduate Student Research Award Application
The award recipient may be invited to share a brief summary of their research with the CPQAN community through the CPQAN website, newsletter, or a future CPQAN event.
Adjudication Criteria
Applications will be reviewed based on:
Relevance of the research to postsecondary quality assurance
Significance and potential contribution of the research
Clarity of the research statement
Evidence of scholarly promise
Potential relevance to quality assurance policy, practice, or scholarship
Important Dates
Future award opportunities will be circulated.
For inquiries about the award or application process, please contact Dr. Alana Hoare at ahoare@tru.ca.