QEP stands for Quality Enhancement Plan, a significant component of the SACSCOC (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges) reaffirmation of accreditation process. The QEP is defined as “a course of action for enhancing educational quality…focuses on learning outcomes and/or the environment supporting student learning.”
Members of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) are coming to SWTJC in October 2015 to “reaffirm” SWTJC’s regional accreditation. We provide two major reports to SACSCOC before that visit. The first, the Compliance Report, details how SWTJC meets all SACSCOC standards for quality. The second report, the QEP, gives Southwest Texas Junior College (SWTJC) faculty and staff the opportunity to develop a targeted five-year plan that improves some aspect of its students' education.

The SWTJC QEP is known as RISE (Resources + Interactions = Student Engagement). It is designed as a sustainable plan that will improve critical thinking and student success through high-impact practices.

Critical thinking at Southwest Texas Junior College is defined as a habit of mind characterized by the comprehensive exploration of issues, ideas, artifacts, and events before accepting or formulating an opinion or conclusion.
Research and assessment data show 92 out of 100 SWTJC students are not proficient in critical thinking skills. Results of the CCSSE (Community College Survey of Student Engagement) show SWTJC faculty and student interactions need improvement and that more collaborative learning would help with student engagement.

The purpose of the SWTJC QEP is to improve the quality of instruction by infusing high-impact educational practices throughout the college curriculum. High-impact practices lead to greater student engagement which leads to higher student success rates.

The SWTJC QEP will be submitted to SACSCOC in July 2015.

A QEP Advisory Committee comprised of select SWTJC administration, faculty, staff, and students was formed with the primary task of developing the QEP. The development process was built on campus-wide involvement of relevant constituencies: administration, alumni, board members, faculty, students, staff, and other individuals who were knowledgeable of the subject.

Remember that the SWTJC QEP is RISE (Resources + Interactions = Student Engagement). Keep checking this QEP website for announcements and additional information!!