Learning Assessment

A Quality Enhancement Plan is a long-term, college-wide project focused on the improvement, enrichment, and enhancement of the student learning experience – and a major part of our reaffirmation process through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), a regional accreditation agency for higher education institutions in the Southern states.

Every 10 years, the college must go through a process of reaffirming our accreditation with SACSCOC. This accreditation process is particularly focused on student learning and requires the development of a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) that is implemented over a five-year period.

The QEP describes a carefully designed course of action that:

• Is well-defined and focused on a topic or issue
• Is focused on enhancing student learning and/or the environment supporting student learning
• Is clearly connected to the mission of the college

Our QEP should be embedded within the college’s planning and evaluation process, evolve from existing work or from emerging concerns about student learning, and be evaluated based on relevant data.

Identified through Valencia College’s ongoing, comprehensive planning and evaluation processes, the Starting Right in Gateway Courses Quality Enhancement Plan represents a commitment to improving student learning and success in a set of courses that, based on analyses of college data, have the strongest connection to student persistence and graduation rates.

Many of the College’s programs and innovative solutions began as commonly held ideas about the way students learn and succeed in their education journey. Building on two of the College’s Big Ideas, 1) Anyone can learn anything under the right conditions, and 2) Start Right, our Gateway QEP will strive to create the optimal conditions for learning beginning with students' early experiences at Valencia College and throughout their gateway courses.

For our plan purposes, gateway courses were identified using three characteristics: 1) high enrollment (500+ students per term), 2) relatively low course success rates (<70% success), and/or 3) strong connection between student performance and re-enrollment.

In addition to their high enrollment and relatively low course success rates, gateway courses are also often the first classes students take, and students’ initial college experiences are crucial to their subsequent success. Project outcomes include improved gateway course success, which will result in increased Fall-to-Spring persistence; improved student achievement of gateway learning outcomes; and increased student engagement with faculty, peers, and support services.