Western Kentucky University
Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) Theme

“Engaging Students for Success in a Global Society”

Rationale: This theme clearly establishes the desired outcome (student success), identifies the means to that outcome (student engagement), and provides the context within which the engagement activities will be developed and implemented (global society). It synthesizes the strengths of the three proposed themes (i.e. Increasing Student Engagement, Promoting Student Success, Preparing Students to be Productive in a Global Society) while overcoming many of the individual weaknesses. Most notably, it places the central focus on success, flows directly from the WKU Mission Statement and Strategic Goals, and provides the campus community with a sense of “stretch” or aspiration.

The many advantages of this theme include:

• It highlights the intention to provide a world-class education and equip students for life on the larger world stage
• It addresses what higher education is supposed to be about – student success
• It can be interpreted broadly to encompass aspects of success other than academic success
• It has a direct linkage to the university mission statement and strategic goals
• It is compatible with many activities already underway in many academic as well as non-academic units It will support a variety of new initiatives across campus

As we move forward into the QEP developmental phase, it will be imperative that each of the pivotal terms (engagement, success, and global) be clearly defined. In particular, the concept of “global” does not have to mean “international”, nor should it be necessarily restricted to issues relating to “diversity”. As the QEP development team works on creating our plan next year, having "global society" as part of the theme may help foster some creative initiatives that will stretch us beyond simply improving the status quo. As these key concepts are defined, demonstrable ties to student learning will emerge and specific assessment and evaluation strategies will become easier to design, implement and interpret.