WCU is hosting a Quality Enhancement Plan, or QEP, contest for students to give their ideas to faculty on how to develop student success and student quality.
Many colleges have QEP contests for their accreditation through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).
“The whole purpose of the QEP is to improve student learning or student success outcomes,” said Kathleen Brennan, a professor of sociology at WCU. Brennan also serves as the co chair for the QEP Steering Committee.
The first part of the QEP Contest was due Oct. 10, which was an open call for topic submissions. After that, the best topics are chosen by the QEP Steering Committee.
“We go through proposals and we make sure that they are meeting the different criteria that SACSCOC has laid out in terms of general structure,” Brennan said. “Then we choose the top three or five.”
The QEP Steering committee
After that, the top submissions will create more detailed proposals and then a 3-5 minute video presentation on the proposal. There will be a campus-wide viewing of the top proposal presentations in January 2026.
QEP ideas are not limited to just students, but faculty and staff are also able to submit proposals.
“From our perspective, we would love to see a student idea be one of the top choices because y’all are on the ground,” Brennan said.
During February 2026, there will be a University-wide vote to choose the final QEP topic. That topic will be launched in the Fall 2027.
QEP topics have had a wide range. According to the QEP website, “common QEP themes have focused on writing skills, research, global citizenship, critical thinking, experiential learning, student retention, and transferable skills for careers.”
Another big part of QEP topics is that they do not need to impact every student on campus. They can be focused on a certain group.
“I’m excited,” Brennan said. “There are a lot of different ideas that people can bring and I’m really looking forward to reading them.”
The last QEP was DegreePlus in 2017. DegreePlus is an initiative that focuses on developing career-related skills in leadership, professionalism, teamwork, and cultural responsiveness.
“It was decided in 2015 and piloted in 2017,” said Theresa Cruz Paul, the director of the Center for Career and Professional Development. “A new QEP is created every 10 years.”
The DegreePlus program is now a huge part of WCU with students acquiring skills from events sponsored by the DegreePlus program and developing their career-related skills.
