ARCHIVED - RPP 2006-2007
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

• Previous Page
• Table of Contents
• Next Page

This page has been archived.

Section IV: Key Management Priorities

4.1 Corporate Performance, Evaluation and Audit

In 2006-2007, SSHRC’s Corporate Performance, Evaluation and Audit Division (CPEA) will continue to promote the development of a management culture focused on results and risk management. In particular, CPEA will advise managers on the design of all new programs to ensure they are conceived in terms of results-based objectives. The division will also assist in the development, implementation and monitoring of performance-based frameworks. In addition, as recommended in recent program evaluations, CPEA will lead the implementation of performance measurement systems that employ relevant data collection tools for the Canada Research Chairs and the Indirect Costs programs. Finally, CPEA will finalize and put into practice the performance framework it developed in 2005-2006 to better assess its own operation.

For both its audit and evaluation function, SSHRC is coming, in 2005-2006, to the end of its three-year planning cycle, when all approved projects will have been completed. In 2006-2007, the Council will develop, in consultation with management, new three-year plans (Table 10). Both the audit and performance, and the evaluation plans are based on SSHRC’s Corporate Risk Profile and Mitigation Strategy. CPEA submitted both plans for discussion, necessary changes or adjustments, and final approval to SSHRC’s Audit Committee and to its Performance and Evaluation Committee—in accordance with those committees’ respective mandates^*. The new three-year audit and evaluation plans were presented to and approved by SSHRC’s Governing Council in June 2006 and have been submitted to Treasury Board Secretariat.

Over the next fiscal year, CPEA will apply a recently completed framework to evaluate SSHRC’s Joint Initiatives program mechanism—its ongoing relevance, the results it has produced, and its governance processes. Using in part the findings of an environmental scan, CPEA staff will also complete an evaluation of SSHRC’s Doctoral Fellowships (DF) program. This evaluation will focus on whether the program should be modified to reflect the evolution and current conditions of graduate studies in Canada as well as whether any changes are appropriate to the program’s current design and delivery mechanisms. In addition, CPEA will conduct a summative evaluation of the Initiative on the New Economy (INE) program that will focus on capacity building and lessons learned.

In 2006-2007, CPEA will continue to work closely with the Audit Committee to provide systematic, independent and objective assessments of management controls in areas of higher risk. One of CPEA’s main goals is to begin implementing the new policy on internal audit, which came into effect in April 2006. Also in 2006-2007, SSHRC will complete implementation of recommendations that came from a recent internal assessment of the audit function. Finally, to improve compliance with policy requirements and standards, the Council will establish:

• an internal audit charter, to be approved by the Audit Committee;
• a quality assurance and improvement program to ensure the effectiveness of the internal audit function;
• better orientation for new members of the Audit Committee to explain their roles and responsibilities.

^*In accordance with SSHRC’s governance structure and process, management does not have the authority to approve audit and evaluation plans.

Table 10: Planned Evaluations and Audits, 2006-2007 – 2008-2009

Targeted Organization and Programs	2006-2007	2007-2008	2008-2009
SSHRC	Evaluation of Joint Initiatives mechanism	TBD	TBD
	Completion of evaluation of Doctoral Fellowships program	TBD	TBD
	Ongoing summative evaluation of Initiative on the New Economy (INE)	TBD	TBD
Indirect Costs Program	N/a	N/a	Program evaluation

Since SSHRC’s Terms and Conditions (Ts & Cs) have been extended until October 2006, CPEA will finalize, in 2006, the performance requirements for their renewal (Ts & Cs, RMAF, Risk-Based Audit Framework (RBAF)). This work will be carried out in collaboration with the Standing Committee on Performance and Evaluation.

4.2 Knowledge Mobilization and SSHRC’s Corporate Culture

As SSHRC moves towards a “knowledge council”, effective knowledge mobilization has to become a fundamental value and major orientation for all staff, which guides all internal processes and external interactions. It is for this reason that SSHRC management has made it a priority to ensure that “knowledge mobilization” will be properly embedded in the Council’s corporate culture in the next few years.

4.3 Inter-Agency Coordination and Collaboration

The Memorandum of Understanding on Roles and Responsibilities (MOU)

SSHRC, NSERC and CIHR have codified the role that institutions play in administering federal grants and awards for researchers. Key policy areas include financial management, ethics and integrity. Since 2002, researchers and research students have been eligible to apply for funds from the three granting agencies only if their home institution has signed the joint SSHRC-NSERC-CIHR Memorandum of Understanding on Roles and Responsibilities (Phase 1 MOU). In 2003-2004, a draft of policies not addressed in the Phase 1 MOU was completed (Phase 2 MOU). In 2004-2005, the granting agencies carried out national consultations on the draft Phase 2 MOU with universities, colleges, scholarly associations and other recipient institutions. The key objectives of the consultations were to (1) develop, by 2006-2007, a broadly accepted text for the Phase 2 MOU and (2) to further sensitize institutions to the agencies’ expectations on a number of policy issues not covered in the Phase 1 MOU. In late 2005, SSHRC held a final consultation with institutions on the eight schedules of Phase 2.

Ethical Conduct in Research Involving Humans

Canada’s three federal granting agencies are also collaborating in a multi-year initiative to establish and promote high standards of ethical conduct in research involving humans (RIH). Established in November 2001, the Interagency Advisory Panel on Research Ethics (PRE), supported by the Secretariat on Research Ethics (SRE), guides the development, interpretation, promotion and implementation of the 1998 Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS). The objectives of this interdisciplinary partnership, the results of which will be reported in 2009, are to:

• contribute to better governance of research ethics policies and practices for all research that is undertaken under the auspices of institutions and affiliated partners that receive funding from one or more of the three federal granting agencies;
• promote high ethical standards for all Canadian research that involves humans in order to ensure the protection of human participants; and
• increase public trust in both Canadian research involving human subjects and related research ethics policies.

In 2006-2007, the Advisory Panel will continue to participate in discussions on the development of a Canadian governance system for research involving humans. The Panel will further develop the TCPS, particularly with regard to social sciences and humanities research ethics and Aboriginal research ethics. With the benefit of public input, the Panel intends to recommend additions to and further adjustments of the TCPS. Finally, the Panel plans to release interpretation responses to guide implementation and use of the TCPS by researchers, research ethics boards in institutions, and research participants.

Integrity in Research and Scholarship

The planned revision of the policy document, Integrity in Research and Scholarship: A Tri-Council Policy Statement, began in 2004-2005. However, because of the ongoing reorganization of and staffing shortfalls in SSHRC’s Corporate Secretariat, this project has been suspended.

The Canadian Common CV

In 2005-2006, SSHRC continued its participation in the Canadian Common CV Network (CCV), a pilot project undertaken together with CIHR, NSERC, the Québec granting agencies, and other funding partners. A common CV would streamline and simplify the application process for students and researchers seeking support from different Canadian funding agencies. In January 2006, SSHRC completed consultations about the CCV with both academic and non-academic communities. In 2006-2007, SSHRC will determine next steps.

Electronic Services Delivery

Over the last couple of years, and in the context of changing client needs and emerging federal initiatives such as the Government Online initiative, SSHRC has made important strides in delivering services and programs online. To best address the evolving—and sometimes diverging—e-business needs of internal and external clients, SSHRC developed an Electronic Services Delivery (ESD)^* initiative with four objectives:

1. transformation of internal processes to provide higher quality client services;
2. higher levels of client satisfaction;
3. systematic and effective approaches to electronic information management;
4. improvement of service delivery and accountability.

To help achieve these objectives, in 2005-2006, SSHRC hired a temporary strategic advisor for electronic service delivery. The advisor is responsible for promoting, developing, managing and implementing an e-business strategy for the Council. This strategy will take into account the requirements of internal and external clients as well as the organizational objectives set by the ESD Steering Committee, which is made up of the executive vice-president, the vice-president (Programs), and the director-general (CASD), supported by the strategic advisor. At present, the strategic advisor is taking stock of SSHRC’s current e-initiatives, including tri-agency and multi-partner partnerships. Based on this stock-taking and subsequent analyses, the advisor will help develop a strategic ESD plan, for approval by the ESD Steering Committee, to be implemented in 2006-2007. SSHRC and NSERC are also planning to establish, in 2006-2007, a new bi-council Integrated Management/Information Technology (IM/IT) Steering Committee to replace the SSHRC ESD Steering Committee and to direct the development of all bi-council “e”-endeavours.

Finally, in 2006-2007, SSHRC will join CIHR and NSERC to provide, on a pilot basis, new electronic services to the Canadian research community. The main tool is an online portal, called “ResearchNet,” which will function as an online peer-review service that allows expert reviewers and adjudication committee members to view grant applications and submit reports and recommendations. SSHRC will also examine the possibility of using ResearchNet as a portal for applicants to complete and submit forms, to integrate them with other forms such as the Common CV, and to receive notice of funding decisions.

^* See Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Integrated Management Practices – Action Plan, Ottawa, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, May 2004, 26 pages, p. 7, http://www.sshrc.ca/web/about/publications/mgmt_action-eng.pdf.

• Previous Page
• Table of Contents
• Next Page