• Submission of a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) is one of the new requirements in the SACS Reaffirmation process.
• Beginning in 2004, institutions reviewed for reaffirmation of their accreditation will be required to develop a plan for the engagement of the institution in an effort to improve the quality of its efforts, with a particular focus on student learning. The Principles of Accreditation state:

  “The Commission on Colleges expects institutions to dedicate themselves to enhancing the quality of their programs and services within the context of their missions, resources, and capacities, and creating an environment in which teaching, research, and learning occurs” (2001, p. 3).

  “Engaging the wider academic community and addressing an issue or issues that contribute to institutional improvement, the plan should be focused, succinct, and limited in length (no more than seventy-five pages of narrative text and nor more than twenty-five pages of support documentation or charts, graphs, and tables)” (2001, p. 8).

• An institution’s QEP should be consistent with its strategic planning processes and be based on a comprehensive and thorough analysis of the effectiveness of the learning environment for supporting student achievement and accomplishing the mission of the university.
• The QEP must include a description of specific goals related to student learning and strategies for evaluating the success of planned initiatives.
• Development of a QEP should be regarded as a tool for institutional improvement and an opportunity to think creatively about ways to target student learning within the context of the institution’s mission and ongoing planning activities.
• The QEP should be feasible, given the institution’s human, financial, physical, and practical resources.
• The QEP should reflect “best practices” as indicated in the research literature related to the theme selected.
• The QEP will be implemented over a 5-7 year period, with regular progress reports submitted to the Commission on Colleges.
• The QEP will be “the” major focus of the SACS on-site review team.

WKU’s Quality Enhancement Plan is due January 15, 2005.