QEP Summer Reading

The following letter came to faculty about the process of developing a Quality Enhancement Plan.

June 29, 2009


Dear Colleagues --

Happy Summer! We certainly hope that you are doing well and getting excited about the upcoming school year. As you will remember from our work last semester, the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) is an integral part of our re-affirmation of accreditation process with SACS. More importantly, it represents an exciting opportunity for us to identify one aspect of student learning that needs to be enhanced and to develop a project for making improvements in this identified area of student learning. We hope that you enjoyed our presentation at the Faculty Institute in January, and we appreciated your initial feedback on a survey at the faculty meeting on April 7, 2009. Our QEP Steering Committee -- comprised of faculty, staff, administrators, students, alumni, Board of Trustees, and community -- has experienced a great start to the planning process. In the Fall, the entire campus community will be inundated with vital information, and we will be soliciting even more feedback regarding QEP topics. There is a lot more work to do, and we will continue to ask for your support and ideas over the next few years.

In order to make sure that everyone fully understands the QEP, the procedures involved, and the wonderful adventure ahead of us, we have compiled a summer reading list for your enjoyment and placed it on page two of this letter. Please feel free to read up on the QEP, including the work done by other institutions of similar classification. Then, if you'd like to join the conversation about the QEP or ask any questions, please visit our QEP blog at shawuqep.blogspot.com or email us at qep@shawu.edu. Our website will be launched next month, and you will be able to stay up-to-date regarding all of our activities. Thanks for your help!

Dr. Carol Bunch and Dr. Derek Greenfield, QEP Co-Directors

SUMMER READING LIST

First, do you want to know what topics other schools have focused on for the QEP? Here's a brief list:

* From These Roots… A Foundation for Life: Mathematics and Financial Literacy (Hampton University)
* Using Technology to Improve Composition Skills in First-Year Students (Allen University)
* Strengthening the Quality of the Freshman Year Experience Through Student Engagement
(Johnson C. Smith University)
* Speak Well, Write Well, Work Well! Enhancing Communication College Wide (Durham Tech)
* R.E.A.S.O.N: Creating Coherent Pathways to Develop Critical Thinking Skills in Students
(Norfolk State University)
* Learning for Civic Engagement in a Global Context (Mary Baldwin College)
* Think for Yourself, Write for Others (Palm Beach Atlantic University)

(you’ll need to see the next page for the actual reading list!)
Now, if you would like a little more detail about other QEPs submitted by some institutions similar to Shaw, click on this link:
http://www.sacscoc.org/2008TrackBQEPSummaries.asp

Need a bit more information? Check out the Executive Summary for Hampton University's QEP:
http://www.hamptonu.edu/sacs/pdf/qep/QEP_Executive_Summary.pdf

Want the whole thing? OK, here is the actual QEP submitted by Eastern Kentucky University:
http://www.qep.eku.edu/plan/QEP_final.pdf

For those desiring an overview of the process and some relevant research conducted on QEPs from various institutions, this document is outstanding:
http://www.sacscoc.org/institute/2008/Tuesday,%20July%2029,%202008/Matveev-Norfolk%20State%20Univ..pptx.pdf

Finally, here’s a link from SACS to find out everything and anything about the QEP:
http://www.sacscoc.org/pdf/081705/QEP%20Handbook.pdf

QEP--Work Continues at Shaw

Today I observed part of a meeting in the Faculty Lounge in Debnam Hall (my favorite place to hide out on campus). Dr. Greenfield and Dr. Bunch were meeting with Deans and others to discuss the development of a Quality Enhancement Plan for Shaw University. They will hold other meetings with other groups as time goes on. By the time of the SACS review, Shaw will have prepared a plan for specific improvements to make over the coming years. It is a process that Shaw says must be "faculty driven." You can get updates and make comments through a blog set up by the committee: Shaw University QEP. Let's roll up our sleeves and do our part to make this plan something that we all can get behind--Harambee.

Mike Broadway