Quality Enhancement 
Expectations
The Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges
and Schools requires that institutions, as part of the review process
for reaffirmation of accreditation, submit a Quality Enhancement
Plan, a document that may not exceed 100 pages (with no more than
75 narrative), including narrative and appendices. The On-Site
Peer Review Committee determines the acceptability of the Quality
Enhancement Plan and provides analysis and advice to the institution
regarding it. Normally, the On-Site Committee includes a minimum
of five reviewers in the following areas and roles: chair, institutional
effectiveness, educational program, faculty, and learning/student
support services.
The Quality Enhancement Plan is described in the following excerpts
from Principles of Accreditation: The Foundations for Quality
Enhancement, A Draft Workbook produced by the Southern Association of Colleges
and Schools and distributed during the Regional Meetings of the
Commission on Colleges in fall 2002 and winter 2003:
The Quality Enhancement Plan is a course of action for institutional
improvement that addresses one or more issues that contribute to
institutional quality, with special attention to student learning.
The QEP is a significant component of the reaffirmation process
and should be designed to demonstrate a capacity to address significant
issues and aspirations.
In preparing the QEP, an institution is expected to engage the
wider academic community in a comprehensive and thorough analysis
of the effectiveness of the learning environment to support student
learning and to accomplish the mission of the institution. The
student learning concept should permeate the goals of the QEP;
however, its inclusion can be broadly interpreted.
The QEP complements the institution's ongoing integrated, institution-wide
planning and evaluation processes and is not intended to supplant
or replace those ongoing processes described in Core Requirement
Five and Comprehensive Standard 16.
Conceptually, an outline of a QEP might include but not be limited
to the following components:
- A topic, identified by the institution, that is creative
and vital to the long-term improvement of student learning
- Evidence that developing the QEP has engaged all appropriate
campus constituencies
- Specific, well-defined goals related to the issue of substance
and depth, expected to lead to measurable results
- Issues related to the identified topic that are critical
or essential to the institution
- Evidence of careful analysis of the institutional context
in which the goals will be implemented, including
analysis of both
internal and external strengths, weaknesses, opportunities
and challenges
- Viable implementation plan that includes the necessary
resources
- A full developed evaluation plan with the latitude
and flexibility to make adjustments to reach
the desired outcomes.
When reviewing the QEP and determining whether the Plan meets
Core Requirement Twelve, the institution may want to use the following
framework of quality indicators for evaluating its Plan:
- Focus of the Plan. The institution justifies the importance
of the Quality Enhancement Plan.
- Institutional Capability and the Initiation/Continuation
of the Plan. The institution provides evidence
that it has sufficient resources to implement, sustain, and
complete
the
Quality Enhancement
Plan.
- Assessment of the Plan. The institution demonstrates
that it has a means for assessing its Quality Enhancement
Plan.
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