QEP Committee Meeting, July 18, 2005
1:00 PM ITV between
Middlesboro Campus and
Members in attendance: Robin Haggerty, Chair; Wheeler Conover, ex-officio; Rick Mason, Chuck Sturgill, Odell Wilson
Members not in attendance: Millard Robbins, David Clutts, Peggy Conklin, JoAnn Martin
The meeting began at 1:00. Robin welcomed everyone and thanked everyone for attending. It was noted that having a meeting in July was unusual, but that considering the committee’s charge and deadlines, work clarifying the QEP needed to begin as soon as possible.
Robin checked to make sure everyone had received the SACS Handbook for Reaffirmation of Accreditation and The Principles of Accreditation. All members had.
Robin went through the components of the QEP and how it will be evaluated by the visiting SACS team in Fall 2006. All members except Odell had received the Miami Dade QEP Plan that Wheels had sent out. It was noted that the document would be helpful for the committee to see how another school had progressed with a very similar topic.
The deadlines for the QEP were discussed. A draft for evaluation must be in the President’s office by March 15. The document can contain up to 75 pages of narrative and 25 pages of appendices. It was noted that the document should be as complete as possible or as ready as possible by that date. It was also noted that we need to know the exact date of the SACS visiting committee because the QEP document must be handed in exactly six weeks prior to that visit.
Robin provided a copy of the QEP topic from Dr. Ayers’ memo naming the QEP committee. From there, discussion of the topic began. Robin also provided a list of “best practices” within developmental education to give a bit more focus to the discussion.
From discussion, several issues kept re-emerging: first of all, we must define what we mean by “success”. Among the meanings discussed were better completion rates, better grades, student performance on post-tests, and success rates in subsequent courses. It was noted that grades are not necessarily the best indicators of success; post-tests tend to be better indicators of learning. It was also noted that there is no departmental syllabus to pass along to adjunct faculty to teach the course. Other issues tied specifically to success included attendance, counseling services, advising, scheduling issues, better communication with adjunct faculty, and the need for coordination of services whether by creating a Developmental Studies Division or by assigning a Developmental Studies Coordinator. The need for institutional research was reinforced repeatedly. Hard data is needed to measure success and to show that problems do exist with the current learning situation. Rick was asked specifically to provide, by campus, the number of students who tested into developmental math, E/W reports on those classes, and whether students were actually taking the courses in sequence. He was also asked to look into the success rate of the paired courses MT 065 and MT 120.
Odell raised another important issue. His concern is that the topic for the QEP will not engage the majority of the faculty. Robin pointed out that the issue of advising will bring in more faculty, but that she will look into the issue further before presenting information about the QEP to the faculty during in-service.
Before the end of the meeting, Robin asked all members to make themselves familiar with the Miami Dade QEP and the requirements for the QEP in the Handbook. She also asked Rick to begin research, for Odell to begin research on “best practices” for teaching developmental math, and for Chuck to begin research on “best practices” for advising at-risk students. Robin noted that she will look into documenting scheduling problems/conflicts.
Robin will ask Millard Robbins to work with Chuck and she will ask David Clutts to work with Odell. JoAnn and Peggy will be assigned to committee work on August 4, when the committee meets again.
The committee agreed that a “rough draft” of the QEP should be completed by December 2005 and that a clear outline of the document should be prepared by September 2005.
Robin will present the basics of the QEP to the faculty on August 3 and familiarize them with the issues the committee is beginning to investigate. She and Peggy Conklin will attend the Institute on Quality Enhancement and Accreditation in Orlando from July 24-27.
The meeting ended at 3:00 pm.