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Quality Enhancement Plan: Increasing Success Through Engagement
Increasing Freshmen Academic Success Through Enhanced Student Engagement was both the title and focus of the Edward Waters College Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) upon its implementation in March 2006. The initial plan was designed to establish an integrative process that would increase the effectiveness of developmental course instruction and enhance the freshman core curriculum. In addition, we planned to use the results to help guide the institution in developing strategies, refining the curriculum, and improving student learning along a continuum of academic improvement. Emphasis was placed on strengthening critical thinking, problem solving, reading, writing, oral communication, and computer literacy.
Based on the analysis of assessment results during the first year of implementation (2006-2007), discussion ensued regarding the apparent ineffectiveness of the existing academic support services structure in enhancing student learning. As a result of reviewing our findings in conjunction with best practice research on the impact of the supportive environment on student learning, it was determined that the College's current academic support structure lacked the primary components for effective support service programming for under-prepared students (Boylan, 2002; McCabe, 2003). Best practice components include:
- Cohesive/Coordinated Services
- Student Monitoring
- Consistency of Service Delivery
- Trained Tutors
- Computer-Based Supplemental Instruction
It was determined that the College's academic support service system needed to be re-structured to be consistent with best practices in academic support service programming. Furthermore, it was determined that the College's QEP goals, activities, and outcomes were too broad to effectively manage in terms of effective strategy implementation and assessment. However, in order to realize the College's mission to prepare students holistically to advance in a global society, students must become engaged in their learning process. Therefore, in keeping with SACS Core Requirement 2.12(2) the decision was made to narrow the goals and activities of the QEP to 1) establish a comprehensive and cohesive academic support service system to address the academic deficiencies of first-year students; and 2) to utilize the implemented system to improve student learning in a critically deficient academic area.
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