QEP Topic Selection Team Announcement and Invitation

 To introduce QEP  To ensure a deliberate & transparent process  To invite you to share “big ideas”  To ask for help in collecting assessment data

 Quality Enhancement Plan  A core requirement for SACS Reaffirmation of Accreditation:  “... a carefully designed course of action that addresses a well-defined and focused topic or issue related to enhancing student learning” (SACS Handbook for Reaffirmation of Accreditation, 2007, p. 3).

 To make the SACS reaffirmation of accreditation process less prescriptive and...  To give more control to institutions. Why is a QEP now a SACS Core requirement?

 Compliance Report reduced from 463 MUST statements to... ◦ 57 comprehensive standards, ◦ 16 core requirements, and ◦ 7 federal requirements.  Part I (Compliance Report) Due: Sept  Part II (QEP) Due: Jan SACS Requirement Change

-If SACS does not accept our QEP Topic or even our Topic Selection Process, our university can lose accreditation! +We have the opportunity to determine for ourselves a student-learning related topic, goal, and plan to achieve it that will make our great institution even better! Why is the QEP important to UK?

(1) is a broad-based institutional process (2) focused on student learning and learning outcomes (3) based on key issues emerging from assessment & (4) the mission (strategic plan) of the institution. In it, we must … (5) demonstrate institutional capability to implement, complete, and assess it. (SACS Core Requirement 2.12)

 “Do the Right Thing: A Campus Conversation on Ethics” (Texas Tech Univ.)  “Enhancing Student Learning Through Improved Advising” (Louisiana State Univ.)

 “Degrees of Excellence— Reconceptualizing the Core Curriculum” (Univ. of Alabama)  “Enhancing Student- Faculty Engagement” (Univ. of Virginia)

 “The International and Intercultural Awareness Initiative” (Univ. of Tennessee)  “The Integrated Communication Initiative” (Webber International Univ.)  “Discovery Based Learning: Transforming the Undergraduate Experience Through Research” (University of Houston)  “The Student-Achievement Center: Enhancing Student Learning in a Comprehensive Service Center” (Louisiana Tech Univ.)

 Present the QEP as merely “another SACS hoop to jump through”  Impose a QEP topic from the top down  Submit a QEP topic that describes initiatives already fully realized  Try to do too much (feasibility)

1) Pre-Planning Team (PPT) Develops a topic selection plan and timeline 2) Topic Selection Team (TST) Identifies a topic based on broad input 3) QEP Development Team (QEP-DT) Writes up the 100-page QEP document (Due to SACS January 2013) 4) QEP Implementation Team (QEP-IT) Implements the QEP and prepares impact report (Due to SACS December 2017)

 Introduce QEP  Ask for “Big ideas”   Collect & Review Existing Formal and Informal Assessment Data  Program Review Reports  Program assessment reports  Formative assessments Spring 2010 … Brainstorming

 Categorize Ideas Based on Emergent Themes  Develop Criteria for Evaluating Pre-Proposals and White Papers  Develop Rubrics for Preparing Pre-Proposals and White Papers Summer 2010 Members of the TST Will...

 Begin to flesh out a “big idea” into a one-page executive summary that...  Includes a rationale explaining how the “big idea” relates directly to student learning and  Why this “big idea” is valuable to students, faculty, staff, & stakeholders (alumni, employers, community). Pre-Proposals...

 Are fully developed 8-10 page proposals that provide...  A rationale and an implementation plan that are solidly  Supported with research.  Developers will be compensated with a $ honorarium. White Papers...

 Report Emergent Themes Back To Campus Community  Invite Pre-Proposals (Guidelines, criteria, and rubrics will be included in the invitation.) TST (August/September)

 October 1: Pre-Proposals Due  Evaluate Pre-Proposals (Select 8-10 for possible White Papers.)  December 1: White papers are due.  January – March 2011: Evaluate white papers and, ultimately, the QEP topic. TST (Fall 2010 – March 2011)

Questions? Comments?