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Committee chooses focus for QEP portion of SACS reviewBy Jake Carter GHC has chosen �Information Competency� as the focus of its Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) required as part of the college's process of renewing its reaccredidation through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). The QEP portion of SACS reaccredidation of colleges is based on a five-year plan of improvement in a specific area. According to Leslie Johnson, QEP committee co-chair, the term �Information Competency� refers to several methods for understanding information handled by students. These methods are understanding how to obtain information pertinent to assignments, how to locate reliable sources and how to process and use information in an effective manner. �Information Competency is the ability to find useful and credible information and effectively communicate it in some way such as in writing or a speech,� said Johnson. The committee is currently meeting to write a specific plan to be submitted in August. The plan is supposed to have a clear way to measure how well the students are learning and make adjustments as necessary. �In the past, SACS worried about whether we had professors with the right degrees or the right number of journals in the library,� said Dr. John Reiners, professor of business and economics and co-chair of the QEP committee, �but now they are interested in seeing a five-year plan for enhancing student learning in some specific area.� The QEP committee is comprised of co-chairs Reiners and Johnson and members Eddie McLeod, Susan Vines, Teresa Hutchins, Alan Nichols, Becca Maddox, Harriet Kiser, Rachel Wall, Carla Patterson, Jeanie Cassity and Dr. Renva Watterson. Currently, the QEP committee is attempting to involve students by having a contest to design a permanent logo for the QEP plan. QEP TimelineSpring 2006 The process began with the release of college-wide surveys during March and April. The SACS Leadership Team then met to review the results and narrow down the potential topics to three: writing, information literacy and learning communities. Fall 2006 Six different focus groups comprised of faculty and staff and one comprised of students met on the Floyd, Cartersville and Marietta campuses to begin discussing the topics during September. The results of the focus group sessions were presented at Town Hall meetings of faculty and staff on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, where attendees ranked the topics. The SACS Leadership Team narrowed the QEP topics to two: information literacy and writing on Nov. 13. On Nov. 29, the first committee to oversee the plan was formed. The committee combined the two remaining topics and renamed the focus �information competency.� Spring 2007 In May the plan will be distributed at the GHC faculty's annual Assessment Day and final feedback will be added. Fall 2007 Integration of the QEP plan will begin in classes in Area B of the academic core. A new area of classes will be added to the process each year. |
