The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) on-site team will be at Long- wood University until March 20 to evaluate the university’s Quality Enhancement Plan. The SACS on-site team has been on campus since March 18 and will compile an evaluation report after the visit. SACS keeps schools’ accreditation up-to-date and help with school improvement. The name of the Longwood’s QEP program is the R.E.A.L (Re- search Experience for Aspiring Leaders) Inquiry. This program solely focuses on undergraduate student research.
Dr. Cathy Roy, the co-director of SACS-COC-QEP and associate professor of Exercise Science, said, “Not every student will have the opportunity to do one- on-one research with a faculty member or mentor, but a high percentage of students at minimum in their English 150 classes are going to be able to develop the skills that would make them better critical thinkers, make them be more literate in finding information (validating resources) and also making them better communicators. What we are trying to do is actually improve the core competencies.”
Roy said the QEP has three main goals or competencies, which are: to improve students’ learning by promoting their discoveries in research, improve student learning by students and faculty members working together on research and to help with the understanding of how important the results are in research.
According to Roy, the QEP talks started in fall 2011 when a committee was formed to help with the first presentations before any topic had been decided upon. The QEP topic of student research was decided in 2012 by surveying students and a QEP committee comprising faculty and a few student leaders.
Roy said the QEP has a five- year plan that will help enhance and promote this program. For the 2013-2014 academic year, Longwood is in the year 0 plan, which is also called the “pilot year.” This year there have been
changes in a few of the English 150 level classes. These are experimental classes focused on the QEP. English 150 is one of the first things Longwood wants to change. The group’s goal is to hit on research every step along the way of a college career, according to Roy.
There is currently research in place at Longwood, but it has a math and science focus, said Roy. The QEP will allow for all majors to have the same research opportunities as math and science have now. Within the next five years of this plan, the university is set to offer discipline enhanced research- focused courses, along with offering more options for student-faculty research and even offering research options during the summer. The QEP program for over the summer research is called Prism.
Carson Reeher, a sophomore who is on the QEP working committee, said that Prism is “mainly for math and science majors, but one of the aspects of the five-year plan for the
QEP is to not only increase participation in the program, but to also increase the opportunities for all majors to participate in it.”
The QEP working group wrote the plan for the QEP and was finished with external oversight and formalized in fall 2013. They are now in the process of marketing, promoting and raising awareness. Longwood’s QEP plan has already been submitted to SACS and is currently being reviewed. During this week’s on-site visit, there will also be giveaways on campus of free QEP gear like pens, t-shirts, backpacks, etc. in order to promote the QEP and raise awareness.
Joe Gills, a junior student representative on the QEP working committee, said, “We have gotten a lot of positive feedback. A lot of students are excited to see this new office on campus because the QEP is for the students and it really is going to improve the academics at Longwood. Students just seem to be really excited about this.”
The plan of the QEP is to begin implementing for the 2014-2015 academic year, which will be year one for the QEP. The mission of the QEP is to impact as many students as possible starting as freshmen and all through their college years. By implementing English 150 changes, the QEP plan will follow the class of 2018 all through their time at Longwood University.
