Collegiate Times

Squires' Old Dominion Ballroom was abuzz yesterday afternoon, as Virginia Tech faculty, staff, administrators and alumni gathered to discuss the university's re-accreditation plan for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

This plan, called the Quality Enhancement Plan, is a new requirement for the re-accreditation process that the university undergoes every ten years.

With Tech's re-accreditation coming up in 2009, the inclusion of this condition is now forcing the institution to develop a new course of experimental action that will enhance undergraduate student learning to help transform the campus culture and environment. Along these guidelines, a committee was selected to lead the QEP process in the fall of 2006, consisting of 26 faculty, staff and administrators, most of whom attended yesterday's meeting.

The event began with an opening statement by Mike Ellerbrock, a professor and extension economist in the college of agriculture and life sciences and the director for the center for economic education, to introduce the direction the committee is headed with the QEP concept, followed by a summary of the re-accreditation process. The main point of the introduction was to emphasize that the forum was meant to generate a long-term strategy for improvement.

"The goal of the proposed QEP is to enhance the undergraduate students' engagement with their education through student-centered learning, evidenced in greater personal agency in planning one's educational path; increased connection to local and broader communities; and demonstrable capacity for critical and integrative thinking, collaborative problem-solving, personal and social responsibility, strong communication skills and information fluency," Ellerbrock said.

"This is our first university-wide meeting to solicit input into the QEP process and to recognize that this process is as important as the product," said Lanny Cross, the SACS accreditation liaison.

This idea was the gateway for small table discussions between committee members and the faculty in attendance on the QEP's focus: student engagement and student learning. Each table was asked to answer two questions: How do you define student engagement and learning?; and what suggestions/ideas do you have for enhancing student engagement and learning?

The overall sentiment of the panel at one table seemed to be to focus on enhancing the learning experience from the bottom up, starting with freshmen and working toward total improvement.

"For me, student learning doesn't happen unless students are engaged. I know at career services, there are a number of things we're mindful of in our teaching, and active learning is one thing that we implement in our classroom structure; students being in a professional environment where they can apply what they learn in the classroom; having students be an active part of their own learning," said Donna Ratcliffe, director of the career services auxiliary. "I think the university would reap enormous benefits from focusing on freshmen."

"When I think of engagement, I think of problem solving," said Tom Head, learning technology director of administration. "So I think it will beneficial to help the students work toward that area."

"From what I had observed, (student) retention is often dependent on finding a place they're comfortable," said Chris Helms, the director of student athlete academic support services. "We can do that through better advising."

Once they process the information, the committee has plans to open the topic up to students in another open forum, which will allow a good exchange of the program between committee and community.

"Ideally I would like this meeting to kick off some level of enthusiasm throughout the university," Cross said. "Then, that sentiment will be able to grow by the time we have to submit our final plan to the SACS board — including what we want to implement and how we plan to pay for it- in Jan. 2009."