Draft 12-Worked on with Jason Brewer, Lisa Cobb, Josh Hayden in Lisa S Office

CumberlandUniversity - QEP

Quality Enhancement Plan

SCHOLARSHIP,LEARNING

andACADEMICMENTORING:

SLAM

CUMBERLANDUNIVERSITY

On-Site Visit: March 30 – April 2

Harvill C. Eaton, President

Lisa Cobb, SACS Liaison

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CumberlandUniversity - QEP

Table of Contents

QEP Steering Committee...... ii

Charge and University Mission...... iii

Executive Summary...... iv

Process of Development...... 1

QEP Topic...... 6

Student Learning Outcomes...... 10

SLAM, Visual Diagram...... 12

Implementation and Assessment...... 13

Timeline...... 20

Organizational Structure...... 24

Resources...... 25

Assessment of Student Outcomes...... 27

References...... 28

Appendices...... 32

1. QEP Pre-Proposal Challenge
2. QEP/Faculty Brainstorm Session – Fall 2007
3. QEP/Faculty Brainstorm Session – Fall 2009
4. Academic Mentoring Presentation 2010; Joe Cuseo, Ph.D.
5. Examples of On-Campus, Co-Curricular Activities
6. University of Tennesseeat Martin – QEP Presentation
7. Dawg Days Summer Registration Agenda – Fall 2009
8. CU Freshmen Orientation Agenda – Fall 2009
9. CU StudentLeadershipAcademy – Fall 2009
10. Student Success Program Overview
11. Academic Integrity Tracking Information
12. CU Student Interview Protocol
13. LASSI Pilot Results Graph – College Success Strategies (Fall 2009)
14. NSSE Results Graph (Spring 2008)

Quality Enhancement Plan Steering Committee (QEPSC)

January 2010 membership

Co-Chairs of the Committee

Lissa Gill, (Co-chair 2009-2010), School of Music and Arts2007-2010

Jason Brewer, (Co-chair 2009-2010), Student Affairs, CU Alumnus2007-2010

The Committee

Justin Bradford, Development & Interim Public Relations, CU Alumnus2007-2010

Russ Cheatham, School of Liberal Arts and Sciences2007-2010

Lisa Cobb, Associate Vice-President for Academic Affairs,

SACS Liaison2007-2010

Lane Crockarell, Student Affairs, CU Alumna2007-2008

Laurie Dishman, (Chair, 2007- April, 2009),

Dean, School of Liberal Arts and Sciences 2007-2010

Idris Dosky, President, Student Government Association2007-2008

Brian Harville, Public Relations and Marketing, CU Alumnus2007-2009

Eloise Hitchcock, Director, Vise Library2007-2010

Brad Iftner, Director, ACECenter, Student Affairs2007-2009

Pat Lawson, Athletic Director2007-2008

Keeley Locke, President, Student Government Association2009-2010

Lisa Macke, Director, Counseling Center2009-2010

John Markert, School of Liberal Arts and Sciences2007-2010

Kathy McDearman, RudySchool of Nursing2007-2008

Bill McKee, School of Education and Public Service2007-2010

Max Melnikov, LabrySchool of Business and Technology2007-2008

Pete Peterson, Vice-President for Academic Affairs2007-2010

Danny Rogers, Athletics 2010

Paul Stumb, Dean, LabrySchool of Business and Technology2080-2010

Claire Walker, Vise Library2009-2010

Amber Woodard, Vise Library, CU Alumna2009-2010

The SACS Charge and Institutional Mission

Core Requirement 2.12: The institution has developed an acceptable Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) that

(1)includes a broad-based institutional process identifying key issues emerging from institutional assessment,

(2) focuses on learning outcomes and/or the environment supporting student learning and accomplishing the mission of the institution,

(3) demonstrates institutional capability for the initiation, implementation, and completion of the QEP,

(4) includes broad-based involvement of institutional constituencies in the development and proposed implementation of the QEP, and

(5) identifies goals and a plan to assess their achievement.

This requirement launches a process that can move an institution into a future characterized by the development and/or modification of creative, engaging, and meaningful learning experiences for students.

Student Learning Defined

Within the context of the QEP as a requirement for reaffirmation, the Commission on Colleges broadly defines student learning as changes in knowledge, skills, behaviors, or values.

Within the context of their own particular Quality Enhancement Plans, member institutions must specify realistic, measurable student learning outcomes appropriate for their focused topic. (SACS Principles of Accreditation, pp. 7 – 8).

Mission of CumberlandUniversity

The mission of Cumberland University is to provide a contemporary liberal arts education to students seeking a high-quality, personalized college experience, which will allow them to not only have a successful and productive career, but to thrive intellectually, professionally, personally, and spiritually for a lifetime. Our core curriculum will require students to undertake programs of study in the cultural arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and natural sciences. In addition, our elective curricula will afford students the opportunity to pursue majors in these liberal arts areas as well as in one of several modern professional programs.

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CumberlandUniversity - QEP

Executive Summary

Several characteristics set Cumberland University (CU) apart from other small private four-year colleges.Institutional research data from 2007–2009 reveals that 42% of freshman are the first in their families to pursue post-secondary education; 20% of freshmen are identified as “at risk” of academic difficulty at CU; 43% of all students are athletes; 74% of students living on campus are athletes or in other performance areas; and 59% of students are commuters. In 2008, CU's retention rate was 55%, and a four-year graduation rate of 21%, according to institutional data reported to IPEDS. These facts, along with retention data, four year graduation rate, faculty/staff discussions, and recent NSSE and ACT student survey results, identified the University’s need to: 1) offer freshmen a thorough orientation to university life; 2) encourage increased student engagement in educational activities; and 3) provide intensive academic mentoring, initiated in the freshman year.

In order to build a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) that will improve learning for the student population described, as well as support the University mission to offer and build “a high quality, personalized educational experience” and encourage intellectual and personal growth for all, it was important that Athletics, Student Affairs, and Academic Affairs cooperate in planning. Research of best practices helped us develop a plan that meets the need to guide and support incoming students and promises to enhance the quality of all students’ learning. The Goal of CU’s QEP is to encourage student SCHOLARSHIP and LEARNING, and to support these processes through ACADEMIC MENTORING (SLAM).

CU proposes these initiatives to meet the identified needs:

College Success Strategies (CSS) course– CSS focuses on the critical first-year of college. In Fall 2010, all freshmen will be required to enroll in this two-credit hour course, a semester-long orientation to life at CU and to scholarship and learning at the college level.

Co-curricular Activities– In Fall 2010, all freshmen will be required to participate in

selected academic activities. Student Affairs and Academic Affairs personnel will

cooperate to monitor student attendance and to encourage faculty to participate in

activities as models of scholarship and learning.

Academic Mentoring – Intensive advising for all students is crucial to the success of SLAM. Focused faculty/staff development will raise awareness of how we are all part of a university community with a common goal of guiding students to improved Scholarship and Learning through Academic Mentoring. Academic Mentors (primarily faculty advisors, with support of all faculty and staff) will reinforce student engagement in the scholarship and learning introduced in CSS by modeling scholarship and suggesting or planning educational experiences that align with students’ interests.

CU will assess the goals and learning outcomes of QEP initiatives using select national benchmark surveys, student interviews, rubrics and strategic CSS assignments related to students’ experiences in co-curricular activities and other academic initiatives.

Contact:

Dr. Lisa Cobb, Vice-President for Academic Affairs (),

Lissa Gill, Assistant Professor of Art (),

Jason Brewer, Director of Student Success & Retention ()

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CumberlandUniversity - QEP

Process Used to Develop SLAM

During January 2007 Faculty Development, Cumberland’s SACS Liaison presented information about the shift in “the learning paradigm” recommended by researchers (Barr andTagg, 1996), from assessing what professors teach to measuring what students learn and are able to do after being taught. This raised awareness of the need to document and assess student learning and for creating a campus-wide plan for enhanced student learning, a Quality Enhancement Plan.

The process used to develop our topic of Scholarship, Learning and Academic Mentoring began in an effort to build consensus for a unified campus plan to improve learning at CU. A QEP Steering Committee (2007) organized and followed best practices for identifying and developing a QEP topic appropriate to the particular culture of CumberlandUniversity (Commission on Colleges, 2007). All essential campus constituents were represented on the committee, including Athletics and Student Affairs, since they play a critical role in the lives of our unusually high on-campus student population of athletes and student performers (band, choir, theatre), and are therefore essential in successfully achieving the institutional goals of enhanced student learning.

It was important for the QEPSC to analyze the composition of the student body at CU. Cumberland’s culture is set within a 168-year-old institution of higher learning, on a small campus in Middle Tennessee. Recent Institutional Research indicates a student population made up of the following:

• 42% are first generation freshmen
• 59% are commuters
• 43% are student athletes
• 74% of residential students are student athletes or student performers (band, choir, other performance groups)
• 20% are under-prepared freshmen, defined as students who did not meet automatic admission criteria, were admitted to CU by the University Admissions Committee, then enrolled in the pilot phase of CSS.

First generation students are important to track because of the sometimes overwhelming transition these students need to make to understand and succeed in the college environment (Somers, Woodhouse & Cofer, 2000; Hsaio, 1992). First generation students are more often minorities, have lower socioeconomic status, and have lower [college entrance test] scores (Bui, 2002). In 2008, the gap between black and white student graduation rates at CU was 15%, favoring white students.

A high number of commuters also influence the nature of a college culture, often due to outside commitments such as work and family (Braxton, Hirschy & McLendon, 2004).

Consequently, they are not as involved in campus activities as residential students. College is no longer for eighteen-year-olds only, and Cumberland has a large share of students older than 24 years. Older students experience insecurity, as well as problems balancing complex family and work arrangements.

Student athletes have demands of practice, fitness routines, travel and playing time, as well as injuries, that students who are not athletes do not have to consider. Students who perform in other areas have similar needs to schedule practice time, travel time, and balance all this with academic demands. Any kind of performance creates time management concerns.

With this core student population in mind, the QEPSC began the search for its relevant topic. Faculty and staff proposals for a QEP topic were solicited. The requirements for an appropriate QEP stated by SACS (Commission on Colleges, 2007), along with a request for topic proposals were sent to all faculty and staff members. QEPSC held a Brainstorming Retreat during Summer 2007, led by an experienced Committee member who served as facilitator and trainer, using the Nominal Group Technique. The results led to a more concise and realistic list of possible topics.

QEPSC members conducted similar brainstorming groups in daylong sessions with faculty (including the important adjunct faculty),coaches, staff and administrators during Fall 2007 Faculty/Staff Development. These succeeded in narrowing the topics to five: Student Success, Improved Study Skills,Improved Writing Skills, Academic Integrity, and AcademicCommunityBuilding.

These sessions reinforced a sense that all faculty and staff take part in an academic community where the goal of guiding and supporting students as they learn is paramount. Discussion also helped clarify what might be practical at CumberlandUniversity. For example, Residential Learning Communities, programs that house students who share common or linked academic classes together, were considered. Variations of this idea are promoted at several four-year institutions. Research (Henscheid, 2004; Swing, 2004) shows that such programs increase bonding, persistence and increase GPAs, but the residential learning community model was not seen as practical at Cumberland due to our freshmen athletes preferring to live with members of the team with whom they share pre-season practice, workout, and travel schedules.

QEPSC presented the top five topics to Student Leadership Council during their Fall 2007 meeting. The Council consists of the Student Government Association officers and students who are president or vice president of their respective student organizations. The topics of Improved Study Skills and Student Successwere ranked as most important to students.

The QEPSC began gathering data to indicate the issues that needed to be addressed. ACT student surveys were administered in 2007, and the National Survey of Student Engagement was administered in 2008, while LASSI was administered to at-risk freshmen (CSS) in 2009. These assessment tools helped further define what areas the University needed to address. The surveys also provided data that served as the baseline for assessing the success of possible pilot projects and plans.

During 2006-07 the ACT Survey of Academic Advising, CU students ranked their satisfaction with their advisors’ assistance in selected areas:

ACT Survey of Academic Advising (SAA)

Satisfaction with Advisor's Assistance; Ranked by Satisfaction 1-18 (high to low)

Bottom six items are listed in Table 1.

Table 1. My advisor helped me with:

Agree/Disagree with Statements about current advisor

Ranked by Agreement 1-36 (high to low)

Bottom seven items are listed in Table 2.

Table 2. My advisor:

The National Survey of Student Engagement was administered to freshmen in spring of 2008, showing the following data:

NSSE (2008 freshmen)

NSSE measures five different domains of student experience: Student-Faculty Interaction; Level of Academic Challenge; Active and Collaborative Learning; Enriching Educational Experience; and Supportive Campus Environment. The QEPSC was especially concerned with the low level of meaningful interactions with faculty and academic advisors reported by students on the NSSE.

Table 3. NSSE selected items concerning student-faculty interactions

The LASSI data from at-risk freshmen students indicated that their attitudes and interests in academic success, concentration and attention to academic tasks, time management skills, and use of support techniques and materials were well below national norms. The QEPSC decided to explore these same issues with all freshman students.

ACT, NSSE and LASSI data confirmed topic ideas already taking shape. Our students need support in the first year of college, improved study strategies, and intensive academic advising and mentoring.

In May 2009, Dr. William Ritchie, from Florida’s KeiserUniversity, was invited to Cumberland’s campus to consult on several aspects of the SACS process, including the assessment of programs such as the QEP. His suggestions concerning QEP best practices included the following:

• Narrow the topic
• Choose a topic appropriate for your institutional culture
• Include multiple assessments for student learning outcomes
• Choose an affordable project
• Include all personnel in budget
• Establish a realistic timeline for implementation

With these suggestions in mind, QEPSC reappraised proposed topics, ranking them in terms of relevance to CumberlandUniversity students, financial feasibility, and practicality of implementation and assessment. The process helped distill the consensus in favor of fostering first-year student success through improved study skills (Scholarship and Learning) and practical ways to bring students into the academic community at Cumberland