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Quality Enhancement Plan 

Quality Enhancement Plan 

Quality Enhancement Plan

What is QEP?

QEP stands for Quality Enhancement Plan.

The QEP is a plan focused on improving student learning outcomes and/or student success and is a SACSCOC requirement for Southwest’s 2025 Reaffirmation. 

SACSCOC stands for Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, and is the institutional accrediting agency for Southwest. 

What's the Plan?

#SuccessStartsHere #SupportStartsHere 

Southwest Tennessee Community College plans to refine and reimagine learning supports for students. 

This initiative seeks to increase student success rates and decrease the number of students who fall into academic probation or suspension. The QEP intends to offer students customized resources that will help them progress academically. 

Students can expect to meet with peer leaders, student success and academic success coaches, and will have the opportunity to share their experiences and needs to further develop more targeted student supports. These experiences are intended to empower students and cultivate academic confidence while providing them with the necessary tools for academic success. 

Southwest’s QEP pilot focuses on improving student retention and persistence rates for students enrolled in co-requisite courses. In particular, Southwest’s QEP will provide supports for students who are academically underprepared, first-time/full-time, and low-income.

Why this Plan?   

  • Decreased persistence rates  
  • Decreased student success rates 
  • 28% of the student population earned 2.0 or lower over the past four years 
  • Approximately 200-300 students fall into academic suspension each semester

What outcomes will be achieved?   

Student Success Outcomes 

  1. Increase student success rates for academically underprepared students in selected co-requisite/learning support courses. 
  2. Increase persistence for academically underprepared students. 

Student Learning Outcomes 

  1. Students will identify learning support competencies to support academic success.
  2. Students will evaluate and/or critique learning support competencies that are introduced to support academic success.
  3. Students will apply learning support competencies to successfully complete a program or transfer to a 4-year institution.

To assist students in reaching these outcomes, the QEP will develop a student support framework which will start with a pilot that engages students registered in co-requisite courses. Once the pilot has ended, students and faculty will have the opportunity to share their experiences. Proceeding these interviews and assessment of the pilot, data-based interventions will be recommended for implementation. The pilot will create a baseline for further development of cross-functional collaboration and more targeted student support. 

  1. QEP Advisory Committee was formed. 
  2. Weekly reports to QEP Leads (AVP of Institutional Research, Planning, and Effectiveness and Interim Dean of Academic Support and Operations).
  3. QEP Topic Survey 
  4. QEP Approved by QEP Advisory Committee, Student Success Council, President's Cabinet, Academic Affairs and Deans, Math and English Chairs, and presented to the Southwest Tennessee Community College Foundation Board.
  5. Student submissions to QEP logo Contest. Juried by Graphic and Fine Arts Faculty, QEP Advisory representatives, and Communications and Marketing representative. 
  6. QEP Ambassadors: Student club leaders and peer mentors were recruited to lead student focus groups. 
  7. Faculty Focus Groups: Groups led by QEP Director.

  1. Notetaking: Taking notes on video tutorials in modules and/or lectures.
  2. Communication: Students spending on-on-one time with instructor, emailing the instructor for assistance, and/or attending office hours.
  3. Time Management: Submission of late assignments, testing out of modules, and/or finishing coursework early 
  4. Test Prep/Study Skills: study guides, study groups, working with a tutor, Math/Writing lab visits.

We plan to track and assess one (1) task or assignment that aligns with each category to evaluate how these tasks contribute to the student's completion of the co-requisites. To assess these activities, we will develop rubrics to track participation/completion. These activities and tracking should not require changes to course content or grading schemes. They are only required for assessment of the QEP. The data will then be utilized to support and further development of the QEP to make recommendations for interventions. In addition to the tasks or assignments listed above, we will track grades and attendance records. 

Summer 

  • Summer Institute QEP Presentations 
  • Pilot: Math and English Co-Requisites 
  • Present QEP to students engaged in pilot 
  • Present QEP at New Student Orientation 
  • Present QEP to Directors and Staff at satellite campuses 
  • Engage QEP Student Focus Groups 
  • Engage QEP Faculty Focus Groups 
  • Assess QEP Pilot Data

August 

  • Official QEP Campaign Launch 

September

  • Present QEP Findings to College Governance

October 1-3 

  • SACSCOC On-Site Evaluation 

 

Related Links

 

QEP logo created by student Emerson Guzman.
QEP logo created by student Emerson Guzman.

Southwest student Emerson Guzman, creator of the QEP logo.
Southwest student Emerson Guzman, creator of the QEP logo.

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