SACS-COC Documents
about the
Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP)
In 2004, the Commission on Colleges (COC) of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) first began requiring institutions undergoing reaffirmation of accreditation to complete a Quality Enhancement Plan, or QEP. The QEP is the institution's response to Core Standard 2.12, stated as follows in the 2008 Principles of Accreditation:
The institution has developed an acceptable Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) that (1) includes a broad-based institutional process identifying key issues emerging from institutional assessment, (2) focuses
on learning outcomes and/or the environment supporting student learning and accomplishing the mission of the institution, (3) demonstrates institutional capability for the initiation, implementation, and
completion of the QEP, (4) includes broad-based involvement of institutional constituencies in the development and proposed implementation of the QEP, and (5) identifies goals and a plan to assess
their achievement.
The Resource Manual for the Principles of Accreditation (2005 edition; currently under revision) gives the following rationale for requiring institutions to create a QEP:
The Principles of Accreditation attests to 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. The Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) is a component of the accreditation process that reflects and affirms both of these commitments. Developing a QEP as part of the reaffirmation process is an opportunity and an impetus for an institution to enhance overall
institutional quality and effectiveness by focusing on an issue or issues the institution considers important to improving student learning.The QEP describes a carefully designed and focused course of action that addresses a well-defined topic or issue(s) directly related to enhancing student learning. Student learning is defined broadly in the context of the QEP and may address a wide range of topics or issues but, in all cases, the goals and evaluation strategies need to be clearly and directly linked to improving the quality of student learning. In order to ensure that the QEP is implemented, the institution integrates it into its ongoing planning and evaluation process.
The COC has just recently published a manual specifically on the QEP to help institutions in the creation and documentation of the QEP: the QEP Handbook.
To examine the titles of the QEPs from the reaccreditation classes of 2004 and 2005, click here.
To read the executive summaries from the institutions with graduate programs in the 2007 reaccreditation class, click here.
Several institutions have posted their QEPs online. Here are a few to look at:
North Georgia College and State University