Seeing the need for consulting services, specifically in the area of quality assurance in higher education, Diane Barrafato founded COVENTRY HIGHER ED. CONSULTING LT, bringing more than two decades of industry experience to her position as the firm’s president and secretary.

This year, COVENTRY HIGHER ED. CONSULTING LTD. has been named a Worldwide Branding Executive of the Year in Quality Assurance and Academic Leadership. Selection of honourees are based on their professional accomplishments, academic achievements, leadership abilities, years of service, and the credentials they have provided in association with their Worldwide Branding membership.

Prior to her current role, she held positions at Mohawk College as professor, associate dean, acting executive dean and chairperson. The consultancy, started by Ms. Barrafato in 2013, provides quality assurance consulting services to the higher education sector. Recognized for her expertise in auditing and quality assurance, she calls upon her extensive background in higher education. With first-hand experience and research in program development, program evaluation and review processes, program accreditation and institutional level quality assurance audits and processes, Ms. Barrafato is uniquely qualified to advise academic organizations on quality assurance practices and processes to assist with internal and external reviews and ongoing continuous improvement.

Ms. Barrafato holds an Executive MBA degree from Athabasca University in Alberta, Canada, earned in 2012. While completing the MBA degree, her research, entitled “Program evaluation in Ontario community colleges: Developing a provincial program performance scorecard,” provided a critical examination of the literature of current practices related to program evaluation and measurement of “quality” in postsecondary education in Canada. This study examined current approaches to regular program evaluation and review in the 21 of 24 Ontario Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology (CAATs) that participated in this study.

With such an extensive professional background, it comes as no surprise that Ms. Barrafato has been honoured with numerous awards throughout the course of her career. Ms. Barrafato was presented with the Trillium Award in 1984 and 1980, The Percy Ghent Memorial Award in 1984, and, in 1980, the Jack Coones Memorial Award and the Silver Medal for the Gevaert (student) Essay Competition at the Canadian Level.

Ms. Barrafato maintains a professional affiliation with a number of organizations including the Ontario College Quality Assurance Services and the College of Medical Radiation Technologists of Ontario. Her papers and research have been published in the Canadian Journal of Surgery, and in the Canadian Journal of Radiography and Nuclear Medicine. She makes charitable contributions to World Vision, Inc., and enjoys spending time with her family and traveling.

In the future, Ms. Barrafato plans to expand the firm’s consulting services to colleges and universities across Ontario.