Announcement of QEP topic
QUALITY ENHANCEMENT PLAN
As most of you know, ACU will be going through its SACS reaffirmation process beginning Spring 2011. The traditional audit of academic and operational policies and procedures has been enhanced with an additional component that requires all accredited schools to engage in a five-year Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) to enhance quality and student learning.
To prepare for the university’s first QEP, a selection committee was developed in 2009, chaired by Greg Straughn, to research and review topics. After receiving input from focus groups, interested faculty members, support staff from both academic and student life entities, students, alumni, and the ACU Board of Trustees, the SACS Leadership Team selected the topic of Research Literacy as the theme for ACU’s Quality Enhancement Plan.
After choosing the topic of focus, the Leadership Team, composed of Dr. Money, Dr. Jeanine Varner, Dr. Tom Milholland, Dr. Nancy Shankle, Dr. Tom Winter, and Dr. Phyllis Bolin created a QEP Development Team whose task would be to better define the topic, define student learning outcomes, identify best practices, establish a plan and timeline for implementation and develop evaluation and assessment methods.
The Development Team has already begun its work and will be collaborating with all campus partners to build a comprehensive plan that engages students in the understanding of research, its process and its value to their ACU education.
A blog http://blogs.acu.edu/qep/ has been established that will keep you informed with the team’s progress and offer a place for discussion amongst the ACU community. The development team will also be using surveys and other tools to receive input. Please use these opportunities to contribute your ideas and experiences.
The QEP will become the centerpiece of our SACS reaffirmation process. Its development and implementation are among the most important things that we will do as an institution over the next five years. We need your help to ensure a successful plan is developed, implemented and measured. Please feel free to contact any of the members on the development team, listed below, with questions or feedback and use the blog, surveys and other discussion opportunities to provide your input.
The QEP Development Team includes:
- Phyllis Bolin, Chair
- Jennifer Shewmaker, Associate Chair, Psychology Department
- Jeff Arrington, Associate Vice-President for Student Life
- Brenda Bender, Communication Sciences and Disorders
- Rob Byrd, School of Information Technologies
- Colleen Durrington, Board of Trustees
- Jared Elk, student Political Science Major
- Kris Evans, Dir of Strategic Marketing
- Jaime Goff, Marriage and Family Therapy
- Kaye Price-Hawkins, Alumnus and Consulting-Priceless Literacy
- Tom Lee, Biology
- Mark McCallon, Asso. Dir of Library
- Florah Mhlanga, Agriculture and Environmental Science
- Autumn Sutherlin, Chemistry and Biochemistry
- Allen Teel, Music
- Kyle Dickson, Adams Center, Ex Officio
- Scott Perkins, Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, Ex Officio
- Greg Powell, Director of Undergraduate Research, Ex Officio