Finalists selected for QEP

Leadership, Engagement, and Professionalism (LEAP) and the Academic Community Engagement (ACE) have been selected as finalists for the Quality Enhancement Plan.

“After reviewing the proposals, the QEP Core Team felt these two best embodied the theme of experiential learning as well as met the SACSCOC expectations for a QEP,” said Cathy Tugmon, QEP Project Co-Leader and Associate Professor of Biology.

LEAP is a supra-disciplinary program concentrated on professionalism, responsible inquiry, effective communication, critical and creative reasoning, and community engagement. The program has three levels of involvement — innovative courses, service learning, and a certificate of completion. The goals for all students who participate in the courses are to:

• demonstrate habits that distinguish competent professionals
• evaluate the quality and credibility of various sources of information
• develop and defend critical and ethical viewpoints using clear, evidence-based reasoning
• communicate effectively in oral, written, and visual forms of expression
• collaborate effectively to develop creative solutions to problems
• develop themselves by soliciting feedback and devising a clear plan for self-improvement

The Academic Community Engagement Program is designed to foster student engagement and leadership within three contexts: the academic department, the Augusta community, and a study away community. The components of the ACE Program include local service-learning research days, a study away experience, INQR 1000 paired with a core course (for rising sophomores), and a newly developed one-credit leadership course (for juniors and seniors).

During the ACE study away experience, students increase awareness of their leadership and scholarship potential, while exploring cultural competency. The study away programs will be student-led by trained juniors and seniors who received leadership training during the spring semester prior to the summer study away trips.

The authors of the proposals will present their concepts for consideration to the leadership panel during the first week of January. The panel is comprised of the President, Provost, Deans, University Senate Vice Chair, Vice President for Administration and Finance, key officers from academic and student support units, and subject matter experts on the selected themes.

Following the presentations, the QEP topic will be selected by the President and Provost. Once selected, Phase II, the development phase of the QEP, will begin.

To read the proposal abstracts on LEAP and ACE or to submit comments, visit gru.edu/qep/abstracts.php.