October 15, 2015

QEP: PAST AND PRESENT AND FUTURE

Goals for October 15, 2015 Meeting

1) Learn about QEP Oversight Committee members’ skills

2)Understand expectations for QEP Oversight Committee members

3)Gain insight into QEP past, present and future

Lobo Stars: Enhancing Academic Learning Through Student Engagement at SRSUFeaturing• Outdoor Learning• Pilots of Engagement• Faculty Development

Focusing on• Critical Thinking

Assessed by• NSSE CAAP In-house

Measures

Putting Your Words to Work at RGC Featuring•Writing centers at each campus• Adopted writing rubric for student compositions

Focusing on• Enhancing students’ written and oral

communication skills

Assessed by• Smarthinking usage reports CAAP Writing Essay

Test• In-house Measures

Lessons Learned• Ownership is critical—The SACSCOC On Site Committee found that students only has a vague awareness of the QEP and faculty felt they had had little opportunity to participate in planning (SRSU).

• Planning is essential—Dr. Wesley Wynne, who coordinated QEP at RGC, recommended, “Be sure the QEP has a precise focus and its goals are reasonably easy to measure conceptually with all data available.” The oral communication component was dropped.

• Overarching themes—(1) Conceptualization; (2) Methodology;

(3) Manageability

Planning Begins with SACSCOC Compliance: CS3.3.2

The institution has developed a Quality Enhancement Plan that (1) demonstrates institutional capability for the initiation, implementation, and completion of the QEP; (2) includes broad-based involvement of institutional constituencies in the development and proposed implementation of the QEP; (3) Identifies goals and a plan to assess their achievement.

SACSCOC Requirement: CR 2.12

The institution has developed an acceptable Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) that includes an institutional process for identifying key issues emerging from institutional assessment and focuses on learning outcomes and/or the environment supporting student learning and accomplishing the mission of the institution.

Consider Our Local Institutional Context

Topic identification, plan design, and implementation approach must reflect:• SRSU/RGC Mission Statement• Assessment data• Campus culture• Strategic priorities• Resources• Research• Relevant best practices

Institutional Context: Core CurriculumCore Curriculum Skill Objectives Cycle• Team work (2014-2015)• Communication (2014-2015)• Empirical and Quantitative (2015-

2016)• Critical thinking (2015-2016)• Social responsibility (2016-2017)• Personal responsibility (2016-2017)

Institutional Context: Needs AssessmentTop 5 Areas Identified as Greatest Need with Rationale

1)Writing2)Reading3)Research4)Communication5) Internships/Community Service

Return RatesCombined 112/114 = 23% All faculty 59/122 = 48%All students 11/56 = 20% All staff & admin 52/362=

14%

Stage One: Conceptualization•Collect ideas from all sources: forums, suggestion boxes, surveys, emails, institutional context, national context•Build on existing strengths & structures•Narrow ideas down to a selected topic•Identify goals and articulate expected Student Learning Outcomes

Study Other Programs: USC Connect

Goal: Integrative learning within and beyond the classroom

Definition: Integrative learning is the active construction of knowledge across, within, and beyond the classroom experiences that can be applied to solve problems in new contexts.

University of South Carolina Strategy

1. Consensus and broad involvement2. Building on existing strengths3. Resource development4. Official recognition and clear

messaging5. Support for key players (e.g.

faculty, students)6. Ongoing assessment and program

change

Graduation with Leadership Distinction In... Community Service

Global LearningResearch

Professional Engagement (Internships & Peer Leadership)

USC CONNECTCourse work + Integrative learning + BTC

Graduation with Leadership Distinction Requirements

• Significant BTC Experience• Enhancement Activities• 6 credits Related Course Work• Public Presentations/Publications• E-portfolio emphasizing key insights,

analysis, application to leadership (completed through courses or independently)

• GPA 3.0 or higher

Ongoing Assessment and Program Change

•Faculty, staff and student perceptions surveys focus groups/partner meetings

• Student learning e-portfolios integrative learning assessment

Additional Resources• Irma J. Van Scoy, Executive Director, USC Connect,

www.sc.edu/uscconnect

• List of Quality Enhancement Plans from SACSCOC

http://www.sacscoc.org/documents/listofQEPs.pdf

• West Texas A & M University

http://www.wtamu.edu/about/quality-enhancement-plan.aspx

• Texas Wesleyan University

https://txwes.edu/academics/office-of-the-provost/sacscoc-accreditation-/quality-enhancement-plan/