Starting in fall semester 2011, the first-year experience for new students at UGA will undergo a significant transformation. That’s when a new integrated program for the first-year experience will be launched.
The initiative will be developed and funded as part of the process through which the university is seeking reaffirmation of its accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
“We have a unique opportunity-in meeting SACS requirements-to adopt an innovative Quality Enhancement Plan that will impact the academic environment and improve student learning on this campus,” said Bob Boehmer, associate provost for institutional effectiveness and SACS liaison.
But the specific elements of the QEP and how it will be implemented have yet to be determined. What has been decided-after a year of study and discussion-is that the focus will be on faculty-led seminars for first-year students.
The Student Learning Enhancement Team, composed of more than 30 faculty and administrators plus staff and student representatives, solicited ideas and feedback from the university community during the 2008-2009 academic year. The team then submitted four proposals for different areas of focus to the Leadership Team, chaired by UGA President Michael F. Adams and including other senior administrators and two faculty representatives.
“The Leadership Team felt it was the right time to examine how our talented students become engaged in the intellectual life of the campus at the outset of their academic careers,” Adams said. “We want our entering students to understand the activities of a research university, to interact with our outstanding faculty, to know what our land-grant mission entails and to think critically in a small classroom setting. I look forward to seeing the Quality Enhancement Plan for our students.”
With the focus now decided, the Student Learning Enhancement Team-now called the Quality Enhancement Plan Team-is beginning the work of designing that plan. David Lee, vice president for research, chairs the subcommittee working on the design plan, while other subcommittees will work on how to assess outcomes, ways to communicate with and involve the university community as the plan is developed, and other facets of the project.
The team is also looking at best practices at other institutions and reviewing research on the first-year experience. In October, team chair Rodney Mauricio, an associate professor in genetics, and Allan Aycock, director of assessment and accreditation in the Office of Institutional Effectiveness, will attend the Institute on First-Year Assessment sponsored by the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition.
The Quality Enhancement Plan Team has been asked to finish drafting the QEP by the end of fall semester. The university community will then be invited to provide feedback during spring semester. The communications subcommittee is planning to hold forums and also host a conference on campus in the spring. For more details, see www.qep.uga.edu.