Zachary Bonta

The document outlines the vision for Bevill State Community College to achieve excellence in education, workforce training, partnerships, and economic development. This vision is underpinned by core values including dignity, service, integrity, accountability, leadership, collaboration, diversity, professionalism, and a commitment to excellence. The strategic direction is further guided by three primary goals: Connect, Complete, and Contribute.

The committee discussed improving study strategies, including restructuring ORI107 to incorporate these strategies. The impact of orientation on improving note-taking, concentration skills, and test preparedness was also discussed. The committee considered providing unit objectives for select courses and the provision of lecture videos as supplemental student resources. The revised QEP timeline was distributed, and a request was made for the QEP Executive Summary to be submitted by February 14, 2019. The design and spirit of the QEP is to improve the success of our students.

This Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), titled "Transforming Instructional Programs for Success," aims to improve student success by enhancing instructional practices at Bevill State Community College. The plan focuses on redesigning and standardizing the freshman orientation course (ORI 107) to emphasize study strategies and implementing common unit objectives in five core enrollment courses: ENG 101, PSY 200, BIO 103, MTH 100, and MUS 101. Key outcomes include increasing successful course completion rates, improving fall-to-fall retention, fostering positive student self-assessment of learning, and enhancing student satisfaction with instructional strategies. The plan is also set to expand to Career Technical, Health Science, and additional General Education courses.

The Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) Development Committee met to discuss the QEP timeline of events and possible QEP themes from a college-wide survey administered in April 2017. The committee reviewed the results of surveys and faculty votes that narrowed down potential topics to Critical Thinking Skills, Reading Comprehension Skills, and Study Skills. The sub-committees recommended further exploration of study skills with a tie-back to student success as a possible QEP theme. The committee discussed the differences between study skills and learning, and the structure of the QEP Development Committee was outlined, including the Writing, Implementation, Marketing, and Assessment sub-committees. The SACSCOC QEP standard was reviewed, and discussions included specific learning outcomes, student successes, measurement methods, and the potential impact of the study skills topic on a broad base of the college. The committee also discussed the development and implementation phases, suggesting a phased approach starting with ORI107 and expanding to other courses. The QEP Director recommended that the phases only include Academic Transfer due to assessment difficulties with Health Science and Career Tech.

The committee members shared information regarding important dates related to SACSCOC reaffirmation and the QEP. The sub-committees presented their research findings in relation to the three proposed topics: critical thinking, reading comprehension, and study skills. The committee made the recommendation to focus on the area of study skills with additional research needed to define the scope of the QEP. The College President will be appointing a QEP Director and a team of individuals to continue work on what this committee has begun.