The development of Longwood University’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) is well under way.
The university must receive accreditation and reaffirmation through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACS) about every 10 years, and in order to meet SACS’ new principles and requirements, Longwood will submit a Compliance Certification Report and a QEP.
The university administration takesthereaffirmationand accreditation process seriously, as SACS accreditation helps students gain access to federally subsidized financial aid and allows Longwood courses to be recognized regionally and internationally.
The SACS Leadership Team decided on the QEP topic of student research/ academic inquiry in spring 2012. The team, made up of Interim President Marge Connelly, QEP Director and professor of French, Dr. McRae Amoss; provost/vice president for academic affairs, Dr. Ken Perkins, associate communication studies professor, Dr. Pam Tracy; and director of SACS Compliance Certification, Dr. Virginia Kinman, chose this topic after hearing student, faculty and staff feedback on the four possible topics various faculty and staff members presented to the campus last spring.
The QEP must be fully developed by spring 2014, which is when the SACS on-site team will visit the university. Amoss said this visit will open up the QEP for suggestions, which are technically optional, and recommendations, which are required changes that must be addressed within a short time period. He said about 67 percent of colleges and universities receive recommendations.
Following the announcement of the QEP topic was the formation of the QEP Working Group, which includes Amoss, 12 other faculty members and two students. This group is closely associated with the QEP topic and will work on developing the QEP during the next few years.
According to Longwood’s SACS Reaccreditation web page, it is the QEP Working Group’s duty to “define the student learning outcomes the QEP will address, conduct a literature review of sound practices in the area chosen, identify the actions to be implemented, establish the timeline for implementation, identify necessary resources and develop the assessment plan.”
Amoss referred to the 2013-2014 academic year as “Year 0.” During this time, he said the university will not be “implementing the plan but doing some things that will eventually be part of the plan.”
Those involved with the implementation of the QEP will then begin to carry out the QEP during the 2014-15 academic year, carefully reporting on each action associated with the plan. After five years, the university will submit the Fifth Year Report to SACS to prove that the plan was implemented.
The QEP topic of student research/ academic inquiry is meant to benefit students, faculty members and the institution as a whole. “It’s such a great topic because it’s not research for research’s sake,” said Amoss. “It’s because doing research proves students’ skills in broad areas.”
Amoss said a significant amount of effort is already going toward student research, and there will be a focus on “organizing it better or expanding it to more students.” He said there are plans to have campus- wide symposiums on research that will allow students to display their research and expose younger students to research earlier.
Engaging students in research earlier has been known to increase retention rates, Amoss said. He believes this is because student research is “an active process.”
Shelby Waugh, a member of Cormier Honors College and a student Amoss selected to be part of the QEP Working Group, said she is currently working with her sub-group group to find a consultant to aid them through the process. Her group is also attempting to visit Randolph-Macon College to observe their research program.
In addition to these efforts, the group is working on establishing a research rubric. “It is difficult for us to quantify what should be in the rubric, however, because we do not want to limit a student's ability to produce research that is unique to them and their department, but at the same time we have to have tangible requirements and something to present to SACS,” she said.
From a student perspective, Waugh finds the QEP topic to be beneficial. “Conducting research as an undergraduate is a great way to expand your knowledge base in a particular area; it makes you more marketable to potential employers, and it can be really enjoyable.”
Waugh has been part of the QEP Working Group since September 2012, and she views the group as a “dedicated team who truly wants to see the capabilities for the student experience expand and grow over time ... I am excited to learn about the implementation of this plan.”
As far as the future of the QEP, Amoss said, “We also specifically for SACS have to define the student learning outcomes ... what they are able to do or know. Define them and then identify how we’re going to assess them. That’s a hard thing to do.“
Amoss said while working on the QEP will present challenges, “the whole reason for a QEP, I think, is improving the learning for our Longwood students.”
