QEP Topic Selection
Team Announcement
and Invitation
www.uky.edu/QEP
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To introduce QEP
To ensure a
deliberate &
transparent process
To invite you to share
“big ideas”
To ask for help in
collecting
assessment data
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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).
Why is a QEP now a
SACS Core requirement?
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To make the SACS reaffirmation
of accreditation process less
prescriptive and . . .
To give more control to
institutions.
SACS Requirement Change
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Compliance Report reduced
from 463 MUST statements to .
..
◦ 57 comprehensive standards,
◦ 16 core requirements, and
◦ 7 federal requirements.
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Part I (Compliance Report) Due:
Sept. 2012
Part II (QEP) Due: Jan. 2013
Why is the QEP important to UK?
-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!
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
is a broad-based institutional process
focused on student learning and learning
outcomes
based on key issues emerging from assessment &
the mission (strategic plan) of the institution. In it,
we must …
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)
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“Enhancing StudentFaculty Engagement”
(Univ. of Virginia)
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“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.)
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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)
Spring 2010 … Brainstorming
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Introduce QEP
Ask for “Big ideas”
www.uky.edu/QEP
Collect & Review Existing Formal and Informal
Assessment Data
 Program Review Reports
 Program assessment reports
 Formative assessments
Summer 2010
Members of the TST
Will . . .
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Categorize Ideas Based on Emergent Themes
Develop Criteria for Evaluating Pre-Proposals
and White Papers
Develop Rubrics for Preparing Pre-Proposals
and White Papers
Pre-Proposals . . .
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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).
White Papers . . .
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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 $1000.00 honorarium.
TST (August/September)
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Report Emergent
Themes Back To
Campus
Community
Invite Pre-Proposals
(Guidelines, criteria,
and rubrics will be
included in the
invitation.)
TST (Fall 2010 – March 2011)
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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.
Questions? Comments?
www.uky.edu/QEP