QEP Report Card

for Academic Year 2006-2007

Purpose

The QEP Report Card called for in the Quality Enhancement Plan has three important functions.

•  It reports to all constituencies how CTC is meeting its goal to improve student learning.

•  It provides an account of how progress was evaluated and determined.

•  It is used to inform changes or improvements - creating a framework for the coming year's efforts.

Summary

This report documents the overall performance of the 2006-2007 Quality Enhancement Plan implementation at Central Texas College and proposes an agenda for the 2007-2008. 2006-2007 was a year of transition, with completing of Phase I initiatives, and research for Phase II.

•  Research included qualitative reviews by summer teams, surveys of faculty and staff regarding the QEP, faculty surveys addressing issues for Phase II, student focus groups, and a student Study Behaviors Inventory. Surveys of faculty, staff, and students revealed two areas for improvement: student preparedness to do college work, and student writing skills.

•  CTC continued to measure student learning outcomes each semester at the classroom level in order to focus on strengths or challenges for instructional delivery, curriculum planning, and improved student learning.

•  Communications included components of information and professional development.

•  Phase II, starting in AY 2007-2008, extends the QEP operation to CTC's locations at a distance. Samples of faculty and students from those sites were included in the Phase II issues surveys.

•  In Phase II, instructional units will focus on improving college success characteristics of students, particularly their writing skills. Desired outcomes are to increase student success in courses, increase enrollments into the next course in a sequence, and show growth in the proportion of students persisting toward completion of certificates and degrees. Service Excellence will continue to be the focus of Student Services units.

•  A new Director, Learning Outcomes Assessment was hired in late August, after a vacancy in the position of two months.

Review of topic, focus areas, issues

CTC's QEP topic is Creating a culture that focuses on enhancing student learning. CTC focuses its QEP efforts in two areas -- Instructional Services and Student Support Services, with action plans and outcomes addressed for both.

Phase I (2004-2007) issues were determined by surveys on the central campus.

•  Instructional units identified the need for earlier and more prescriptive feedback to students regarding their learning as they progress through a course, enabling them to benefit from intervention and assistance services.

•  Student support services units identified the need for better customer service to students during all of the processes for enrollment, participation, change, and completion of their college requirements.

After four semesters of intervention for these two topics, classroom assessments and surveys of faculty and staff indicated improvement in both areas. While these initiatives will continue, the original plan calls for issue selections to be revisited for each phase.

Research

QEP annual evaluation & improvement process

Summer Teams

In summer 2006, teams of QEP specialists reviewed the plan and several operational issues. They returned a variety of recommendations for AY 2006-2007 and future follow-up. Recommendations pursued during 2006-2007include faculty and adjunct professional development, awards for adjunct faculty, e-mail accounts for adjuncts, including all campuses in surveys, targeting of at-risk students for intervention, including QEP in new employee orientation, integrating QEP goals in syllabi, and development of common departmental exam question sets. These efforts are ongoing.

QEP Survey

The QEP Survey was was conducted in October 2006 to capture participant 's awareness, knowledge, and beliefs regarding components of the Quality Enhancement Process. Surveys were returned at the QEP Open House/Forum and through campus mail, and were analyzed by Tom Corll, Coordinator, Institutional Research. Survey results indicate that about two-thirds of respondents were knowledgeable and active on QEP initiatives. Another third expressed frustrations with the program at this point in the process. Comments revealed both successes and points of concern. (LINK)

Phase II Issue Development

During 2006-2007 potential Phase II issues were explored as Phase I was completed, using a series of surveys to identify and narrow the issue. All CTC campuses participated in the surveys, and included faculty, staff and students. Faculty and staff were surveyed concerning learning issues, and their concerns were followed up with a student Study Behaviors Inventory. Central-campus student focus groups provided additional insight into student issues.

Background:

•  In spring of 2006, faculty and staff were surveyed regarding ways to improve student learning. Faculty and staff had similar recommendations: to address the incoming study habits and college readiness of freshmen in all programs, and particularly their writing skills. In fall 2006 student focus groups conducted by Kirsten Brooks, Director of Student Life, revealed the same needs and interests.

•  A summer 2006 QEP team recommended an instrument to further define areas of need for the general population of CTC students, including Navy, Continental, Europe and Pacific Far East campuses. In spring 2007, the Study Behaviors Inventory by Andragogy Associates was administered to a sample of more than 1000 students by all CTC campuses. This institution-wide assessment also affirmed needs in the areas of study habits and writing skills.

2006-2007 projects:

•  In spring 2007 three questions were e-mailed to all faculty and staff at all locations, including adjunct faculty and distance learning faculty. Eighty-three responses (LINK) from main campus, locations-at-a-distance, distance learning, and Fort Hood identified strong consensus for improving student study skills for college level work, and particularly their writing quality. Comments provided additional insights and offers to assist on projects. Polling results showed that most faculties from all locations were interested in and would support some form of a "mandatory college success course."  Student writing skills were the second main concern.

•  In spring 2007, the Study Behaviors Inventory by Andragogy Associates was administered to a sample of more than 1000 students by all CTC campuses. This institution-wide assessment also affirmed needs in the areas of study habits. The writing skills profile indicated that students have higher opinions of their writing abilities than do faculty.

Learning Outcomes Assessment

CTC academic departments continued to measure and report student learning through Action Plans, which they developed around the original topic of student feedback or on a topic related to the unit's prior year Action Plan Report and Evidence-based Decisions.

Unit Action Plans ( LINKs to two folders - Action plans and Action Plan Reports) :
Continued from 2005-06, academic and support units completed action plans involving a student feedback intervention. Results of 05-06 interventions were reported in May 2006 along with an evidence based decision for the unit. The resulting Action Plan Reports were displayed at the annual QEP Open House and Forum event in September, 2006 (LINK) . The evidence-based decisions formed the basis of 2006-07 Unit Action Plans.

Each instructional unit chose additional outcomes to measure at the course level, or to repeat the measures of the previous year's outcomes if necessary. Reports for 2006-2007 are available at (LINK).

Support Services departments implemented a group plan and several individual unit plans. Their 2006-2007 reports can be found at (LINK) .

Communications

QEP Open House / Forum

The 2006 QEP Open House/Forum was held on September 14, 2006, with 315 faculty, staff and students attending. Posters explained Unit Action Plans and results. CTC's Radio and Television Broadcasting department developed a video of the event. Professor Jan Anderson served as the "Roving Reporter" in the video. This video is on the CTC-QEP website.

QEP Newsletter

One general information newsletter for faculty and staff (LINK) was published and disseminated with the pay stub envelopes. Two Student Life QEP Newsletters (LINK) and one Counseling Newsletter (LINK) for students focused on the QEP and its purposes and impact for students.

QEP Professional development

The Director, Learning Outcomes Assessment, Dr. Sharon Pate, continued to present new assessment information to QEP Specialists from her participation in state and national conferences in the field. CTC's Human Resources department also offers continuous training for support staff. Training PowerPoints are available on the QEP website to assist new staff and the other CTC campus sites. Phase II QEP Specialists for the Navy Campus, European Campus, Pacific-Far East Campus and Continental Campus instructed their personnel to refer to the training provided by the website. Usage information was not gathered at this stage.

Service Excellence Conference

The Service Excellence Conference (QEP Goal 3: "Develop and facilitate professional development/training related to . . . service excellence") was repeated in 2007. The conference is a QEP initiative led by CTC Human Resources, planned by Student Services departmental QEP Specialists, and substantially funded by QEP. It was held Feb. 23 and March 2, 2007, to provide opportunities for as many staff as possible to attend without closing offices.

The conference program shows topics and speakers (LINK). A fifth track was added this year to increase the number of slots for the training and to create new sessions for past attendees. Attendance was 193 and the conference was well executed and well-received (Link to survey results) . Comments to the new director in Fall 2007 revealed a widespread enthusiasm and continuing value for this conference. Planning for the 2007 conference includes methods for including distant sites.

AY 2007-2008 / QEP Phase II plan

CTC has had a change of Learning Outcomes Assessment directors at the start of AY 2007-2008, and will have a new Institutional Effectiveness director as well. This year will likely see some process changes driven by 'lessons learned.'  In keeping with our goal to embrace quality enhancements as part of our culture, we will look at mainstreaming QEP processes into academic operations at the dean and department chair level, to facilitate discipline-oriented quality enhancements throughout CTC's various campuses.

Proposed agenda (LINK)

•  Add the continental and international campuses, distance learning, and Ft. Hood / Service Area to QEP participation.

•  Add new academic initiatives regarding college study skills and writing performance and expand use of instructional feedback to all campuses.

•  Continue the departmental development of common course exam question sets.

•  Define and develop appropriate professional development for implementing QEP academic interventions.

•  Continue Student Support Services service excellence initiative, developing new departmental goals as needed and including global sites.

•  Roll out Phase II plan and topics using electronic media-based Forum.