Background
Health profession regulators like the College of Kinesiologists exist to protect the public interest. In Ontario, many regulatory bodies are beginning to introduce changes to the way they govern themselves to help better serve the interests of the public. These changes are extensive and vary across the regulators and will be rolled out over several years. The changes are driven by calls from government to improve openness and accountability, and by recent reviews of regulators in other provinces.
The College has been carefully reviewing these developments and is discussing how it can enhance its own processes. In its strategic plan for 2019-2022, the College committed to improving the way it operates. The first step the College has taken is to develop a draft competency profile for the election and selection of Council and committee members. The College’s Council, or board of directors, is made up of 10 kinesiologists elected by their fellow kinesiologists and six to eight people appointed by the Ontario Government to provide the public’s perspective. The College has seven statutory committees (i.e. committees required by the law) and three non-statutory committees (i.e. committees Council creates at its own discretion). These 10 committees are made up of Council members and kinesiologists who apply every year to sit on the committees (i.e. non-Council committee members).
The draft competency profile
The draft Council and Committee Competency Profile defines the knowledge, skill, judgement, attitude, and experience (i.e. competencies) required of College Council and committee members. This document was adapted from the Health Profession Regulators of Ontario’s (HPRO) Boards/Councils Competencies and Eligibility/Disqualification Criteria document. The competencies are defined throughout and the profile indicates the level to which a potential Council or committee member must possess the competency. At a later date the College will define additional competencies for certain committees that could be further developed once a Council or committee member is appointed to the committee.
It’s not necessary for potential Council and committee members to be proficient in all competencies. What’s important is that Council has the collective expertise in the competencies that are necessary to provide oversight and strategic guidance to College staff.
The Council and Committee Competency Profile will be used to:
- Articulate the requirements to be a Council/committee member;
- Assess individuals who wish to become Council or committee members and determine eligibility;
- Assess the overall competence of Council and committees in terms of the mix/composition of members;
- Identify opportunities for improvement and plan learning and development initiatives; and
- Evaluate performance.
View the draft competency profile.
Consultation webinars
The College hosted two consultation webinars on January 26, 2021 to provide an overview of the draft competency profile. View the consultation presentation or view the webinar recordings.
Share your feedback
The College would like your thoughts and comments on the draft competency profile. Comments received are reviewed by Council as part of the decision-making process. All feedback is considered, regardless of whether it is reflected in the final document. Comments can be provided by:
- Online survey
- Sending an email to lara.thacker@coko.ca
Please share your thoughts by Tuesday, February 16, 2021.
Next steps
College staff will review all feedback received and present a final profile for Council approve in March 2021. Once the competency profile is implemented, staff will communicate these changes to registrants and other partners.