UNA Quality Enhancement Plan Team Hosts Student Information Sessions

Nov. 14, 2011

FLORENCE, Ala. — The Quality Enhancement Plan planning team at the University of North Alabama will host two public information sessions in the Guillot University Performance Center Nov. 16-17 to give students the opportunity to learn more about UNA’s 10-year reaccreditation process with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Caleb Banks, student representative of the QEP planning team and UNA senior, said many students at the university have expressed confusion about the QEP and SACS reaccreditation process, which will go up for official review in 2012.

“A lot of students are still confused as to what is exactly going on with the QEP or what it even is,” he said. “Next week, we will have two student information sessions where they will get to ask questions and get to hear directly from people in charge of the whole process.”

The QEP focuses strongly on research literacy and evolved through a series of revisions with team members and SACS officials. The team, along with the help of new QEP director Dr. Lisa Keys-Mathews, has worked in recent months to spread awareness of the QEP through social media, such as Twitter and Facebook.

The renewal of SACS accreditation is a process that requires several years to complete. The QEP team will submit its official plan that focuses on UNA’s goals for research literacy in January, a few weeks prior to the on-campus SACS visit in late February.

“The whole (QEP) process affects the entire campus,” Banks said. “We are asking people to come to the sessions to spread the word more and have a great impact on the student body in knowing what’s going on.”

The Nov. 16 session will take place from noon to 1 p.m., while the Nov. 17 session will occur from 2-3 p.m. Free refreshments and T-shirts will be provided.

For more information, contact officials at the Quality Enhancement Plan team at 256-765-4625 or e-mail SACS@una.edu.