QEP Guidelines

The following are excerpts from the SACS document Principles of Accreditation: Foundation for Quality Enhancement (http://sacscoc.org/pdf/2010principlesofacreditation.pdf)

QEP Description

The QEP is the component of the accreditation process that reflects and affirms the commitment of the Commission on colleges to the enhancement of the quality of higher education and to the proposition that student learning is at the heart of the mission of all institutions of higher learning. By definition, the QEP describes a carefully designed course of action that addresses a well-defined and focused topic or issue related to enhancing student learning. The QEP should be embedded within the institution's ongoing integrated institution-wide planning and evaluation process and may very well evolve from this existing process. The QEP is required under Core Requirement 2.12 and Comprehensive Standard 3.3.2

Core Requirement 2.12 The institution has developed an acceptable Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) that includes an institutional process for identifying key issues emerging from institutional assessment and focuses on learning outcomes and/or the environment supporting student learning and accomplishing the mission of the institution. (

Comprehensive Standard 3.3.2 The institution has developed a Quality Enhancement Plan that (1) demonstrates institutional capability for the initiation, implementation, and completion of the QEP; (2) includes broad‐based involvement of institutional constituencies in the development and proposed implementation of the QEP; and (3) identifies goals and a plan to assess their achievement.

Selecting a topic

Core Requirement 2.12 requires "a broad-based institutional process identifying key issues emerging from institutional assessment "    Keep in mind the following points:

• The QEP must focus on improving student learning outcomes.   
• The topic for the QEP does not have to be a brand new idea.  It can be developed from initiatives that have been in the planning stages prior to the beginning of preparations for reaffirmation but it may not be an initiative that is almost or is completely realized. 
• The concepts in the QEP have to be clearly defined so the focus will be clear to the On-Site Team Review Committee.
• SACS encourages institutions to base their selection of the topic for the QEP on empirical data and an analysis of these data.
• The QEP must be in process when the SACS On Site Review Committee visits campus and is expected to be ongoing.  A report on the QEP will be included  in  the Five Year Interim Report.  
• Scope of the QEP is very important. The topic needs to be sufficiently broad to be viewed as significant to the institution and as a major enhancement to student learning but it also needs to be focused enough to provide a manageable framework for development and implementation.
•  The college must demonstrate it has the capacity and resources to implement and sustain the initiative.

SACS encourages institutions to examine studies that have been done on best practices in higher education and other national and peer group data derived from carefully designed research.  A QEP topic based on a needs assessment will have more validity and credibility than one that does not.   SACS requires description of "the current status of the programs that are cited to be improved in order to better identify the need for the initiative. Data such as attendance figures, survey feedback, student satisfaction and nationally standardized measures are examples of information that can be used to justify the need for improvement."

 Potential QEP topics include, but are not limited to, enhancing the academic climate for student learning, strengthening the general education curriculum, developing creative approaches to experiential learning, enhancing critical thinking skills, introducing innovative teaching and learning strategies, increasing student engagement in learning, and exploring imaginative ways to use technology in the curriculum. In all cases, goals and evaluation strategies must be clearly and directly linked to improving the quality of student learning. For a list of sample titles of QEPs previously submitted for Commission review, go to the list of   QEP Summaries at  http://www.sacscoc.org/2007TrackBQEPSummaries.asp.