A QEP, or Quality Enhancement Plan, is a plan of action to improve student knowledge, skills, attitudes, values or behaviors, or to impact the student learning environment and student success. For example, MGCCC’s first QEP, Just Read It!, resulted in our faculty and students embracing active learning strategies to improve reading comprehension, and it continues to make an impact on student outcomes in this area.

A new QEP is required with each reaffirmation of accreditation by SACSCOC (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges). Therefore, a new QEP is written every 10 years. MGCCC is scheduled for reaffirmation in 2019.

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges is the regional body for the accreditation of degree-granting higher education institutions in the Southern states. It serves as the common denominator of shared values and practices among the diverse institutions in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Latin America and other international sites approved by the Commission on Colleges that award associate, baccalaureate, master’s, or doctoral degrees. For more information, see http://www.sacscoc.org/.

Every 10 years, institutions accredited by SACSCOC undergo an intensive self-study, followed by a thorough review by peers, to determine their compliance with SACSCOC Principles of Accreditation. These standards serve to ensure accountability and quality in all aspects of the institution. For more information, see the Principles of Accreditation.

Embracing Essential Skills. The current QEP focuses on cultivating good habits in attendance and punctuality and teaches strategies for effective listening and speaking.

The four-phase process to choose the topic started in August of 2017. The QEP Topic Selection Committee sent a call for topics to all stakeholders, including students, employees, employers, and alumni. After receiving and ranking the topics, the committee issued a request for proposals. The committee developed a rubric for evaluating the proposals, and a subcommittee ranked them. In the next phase, the committee requested feedback on the proposals from all stakeholders. During this phase, essential skills emerged as the top choice. In the final phase, the committee recommended the topic to the executive council who accepted it and submitted it to the board of trustees for approval.

The community has been involved in every phase of the topic selection, development, and implementation processes. The community has provided valuable feedback every step of the way. For example, the QEP Implementation Committee seeks to make all aspects of the QEP practical and applicable in the workplace; therefore, the committee asked the community to provide common workplace scenarios to be used in classroom listening and speaking activities, resulting in students practicing essential skills in relevant contexts.

SLO # 1 – Attendance and Punctuality: Students will be present and punctual.

SLO #2 – Listening: Students will demonstrate proficiency in listening in the following areas: Nonverbal, Workplace (Summarization), Situational (Follow-Up Questions), and Presentations.

SLO #3 – Speaking: Students will demonstrate proficiency in speaking in the following areas: Nonverbal, Workplace (Use of Language), Situational (Content), and Presentations.

Student learning outcomes will be assessed directly and indirectly. Institutional Research will provide data on attendance, and instructors will use rubrics designed specifically for the assessment of the QEP to assess students’ performance in listening and speaking; this is direct assessment. Additionally, the QEP will be assessed indirectly through surveys administered to students, employees, and employers and through the annual planning process. This assessment process aligns with the assessment process for all programs at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.

The first stage of the QEP implementation was introduced to Career programs in fall 2019.  A revised version of SPT 1113 (Public Speaking) was offered for the first time.  The three essential skills will be embedded in Career programs within each credential level during spring 2019.

The purpose of the QEP is to propagate a culture of essential skills improvement among career students, employees, and stakeholders by aligning academic and support services with best practices and resources that empower students to take ownership of their essential skills needs related to attendance/punctuality, listening, and speaking.