QEP Topic Selection

Need
The current state of advising at The Citadel is fragmented and decentralized with a focus on course selection with little consistent training on holistic advising practices across campus. The data from the 2020 NSSE, cadet seniors, report The Citadel as performing lower than our peers and southeast public institutions in providing a supportive environment. Seniors also report the quality of interaction with academic advisors as lower and rated advisors lower than our comparative Carnegie Class institutions at respecting their identity and culture. “Academic advising is an essential contributor to the success and persistence of postsecondary students” (CAS, 2020). Best practices indicate academic advisors “work with students to enable them to be confident and assertive in their own abilities to learn, generate, and apply new knowledge and to empower them to embrace their own knowing, learning, thinking and decision making” (White, 015, p. 272). Advisors help students “become members of their higher education community, think critically about their roles and responsibilities as students, and prepare to be educational citizens of a democratic society and a global community” (NACADA, 2006, Preamble, para. 7). The institution understands the vital role advising plays in retention and degree completion across all student populations. However, faculty feel overworked and have little time, resources, and training to address career goals, academic success issues, and broader discussions with their advisees.
White, E. R. (2015). Academic advising in higher education: A place at the core. The Journal of General Education, 64(4), 263-277.

Vision
The QEP would develop a centralized, holistic advising model that provides a consistent and appreciative method of advising for all students from matriculation to degree completion. It would include the development of a small, professional advising office staffed with full-time advisors supplementing faculty and staff by carrying a caseload of high-need students and providing training across campus.
This plan would include:
• Assess the state of advising at The Citadel and research best practices
• Build on prior experiences to respond to new and challenging contexts
• Develop a standardized advising model that integrates skills, abilities, theories, or methodologies that functions across disciplines and for all students
• Infuse best practices in diversity and inclusion as integral to the model
• Train and support faculty and staff in the advising model adopted for our student populations

Goals and Objectives
• Develop students’ ability to think critically and reflectively, which empowers students in their own abilities
• Reduce misadvising
• Provide a supportive model for faculty advisors through supplemental advising and training
• Increase opportunities for students to participate in multiple high impact practices
• Provide graduate students a comprehensive and clear path to success
• Reduce graduate student attrition rates
• Improve graduate completion rates

Connections to Our Mighty Citadel 2026 (Strategic Plan)
Strategic Initiative 1 (Objective 1.1, 1.2, 1.3)
Strategic Initiative 2 (Objective 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5)
Strategic Initiative 3 (Objective 3.1, 3.3)
Strategic Initiative 5 (Objective 5.2, 5.3)

Assessment
• Exit survey / student satisfaction survey
• NSSE Engagement Indicators
• Institutional retention and completion
• Self-assessment instruments: utilization of academic support programs, proficiency in explaining registration polices and procedures, ability to create long-term academic plan that includes high-impact practices

HIPs include the following: study abroad, undergraduate research, first year seminars and experiences, capstone courses, writing intensive courses, internships, project/problem-based courses, and service learning

Need
High-impact practices (HIPs) promote meaningful learning in students and prepare them for life after college. Making a variety of HIPs available makes it possible for the students in all programs to participate in life-changing experiences as a part of their degree requirements. Research shows that educators who use HIPs see deeper learning and improved engagement (NSSE 2020). Employers want to hire people who have broad-based intellectual skills, as well as job-specific knowledge. The 2020 NSSE results showed that a low proportion of students were participating in high impact practices such as learning community and research with a faculty (NSSE 2020). Only 5% of first year students and 28% of seniors participated in research with a faculty member. In addition, only about 50% of seniors completed a culminating senior experience such as a capstone or a project.
National Survey for Student Engagement, (2020) High Impact Practices. NSSE Interactive Reports. Retrieved from nsse.indiana.edu. 25 October 2021.

Vision
The QEP specifically promotes the following HIPs: study abroad, undergraduate research, first year seminars and experiences, capstone courses, writing intensive courses, internships, project/problem-based courses, and service learning. The QEP would organize, develop, expand, and communicate the role and impact of HIPs. The QEP would:
• Increase the number of HIPs offered to students.
• Improve student participation in HIPs across all academic programs.
• Require a minimum of four HIPs in all degree programs.
• Improve students’ perceptions of the value of reflective and integrative learning.
• Improve students’ perceptions regarding the climate of student-faculty interactions.
• Enable students to engage in meaningful self-reflection that leads to self-awareness and the ability to respond to new and complex challenges.
• Enable students to connect applied experiences derived from participation in HIPs with relevant knowledge acquired in the classroom setting.
• Enable students to adapt and apply skills, abilities, theories, or methodologies acquired in the classroom setting to address novel situations or problems in applied settings.
• Integrate skills, abilities, theories, or methodologies among disciplines and perspectives.
• Build on prior experiences to respond to new and challenging contexts.

Goals and Objectives
• Enhance critical thinking skills, produce new knowledge, and communicate results to faculty and administrative stakeholders.
• Improve student engagement through HIPs.
• Improve student success outcomes and retention by creating and promoting a culture of HIPs.
• Enhance student learning through professional development opportunities for faculty focusing on HIPs.

Connections to Our Mighty Citadel 2026 (Strategic Plan)
• Strategic Initiative 1

Assessment
• Exit survey / student satisfaction survey
• NSSE Engagement Indicators: Higher Order Learning, Reflective and Integrative Learning, Collaborative Learning, Student-Faculty Interaction, Quality of Interactions, Research with Faculty, Internship or Field Experience, Culminating Senior Experience.
• Direct and indirect, formative and summative assessments will provide the means to analyze how participation in HIPs affect student learning, how the faculty and staff development activities lead to changes in the learning environment, and how the integration of HIPs into the academic fabric of The Citadel leads to improvements in student success measures.
• E-Portfolio and a guided reflection on the experience.

Need
Develop core critical thinking and information literacy skills for all students as a part of their core education. These skills build a well-rounded and well-informed citizen and leader, one who is able to discern factual information from misinformation/disinformation and use that information to create appropriate plans to lead others into the future.

Vision
Develop an information-literate student body able to identify useful, accurate, and factual information, resulting in applied knowledge products such as academic research, project planning, strategic readiness, etc.

Information Literacy defined
“To be information-literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.”
ALA Presidential Committee on Information Literacy: Final Report, released January 10, 1989. Accessed April 7, 2021.

Goals and Objectives

1. Ability to navigate library resources and services
   a. Learning to use library facilities
   i. Learning basic Library of Congress Classification system to find materials on shelves
   ii. Makerspace use
2. How to effectively search databases for books and scholarly journal articles
   a. Acquire skill in requesting interlibrary loan service for materials at other libraries
3. Ability to understand the research process
   a. Identify information needs & develop research questions
   b. Review & synthesize search results
   c. Sharing results in a professional manner (posters, presentations, publications, etc.)
4. Ability to identify different types of sources and apply those sources to various research needs appropriately
   a. Primary, secondary, tertiary sources
   b. Monograph, journal article, webpage, etc.
   c. Scholarly vs. Non-Scholarly
5. Ability to build search strategies using appropriate techniques (keyword, Boolean, cited reference, etc.)
   a. How to use Boolean Operators
   b. Learning the difference between Keyword, Subject, Author, Title searching
6. Ability to evaluate sources appropriately based on currency, authority, accuracy, relevance, & purpose.
7. Ability to avoid plagiarism in all of its forms
   a. Know when and how to appropriately cite the works of others.
   b. Learn how to use multiple citation styles based on the information being cited (or at professor request)

Connections to Our Mighty Citadel 2026 (Strategic Plan)
Objectives 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4.

Assessment
Information Literacy VALUE Rubric

Need
Writing-Intensive Courses can support student learning and engagement, student persistence, and prepare students for a successful future. In addition, employers routinely demand strong writing and communication skills (AAC&U, 2015, National Commission on Writing, 2004). The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU) has named ten High-Impact Practices (HIPs) to improve quality instruction and student learning (Kuh, 2008). There are ten HIPs, but Writing-Intensive Courses have a ripple-effect throughout several other practices. Furthermore, The AACU explains that students need to practice writing for multiple purposes, for different audiences, and in different disciplines (Kuh, 2008). Thus, the real benefit occurs when writing is not only taught in the first year and as a stand-alone course, but also when writing is thoughtfully integrated into major courses throughout the program. Consequently, not only will students gain more knowledge and practice with discipline-specific writing, but with writing as a vehicle for thinking and learning more deeply, learning outcomes for all course content will be supported as well.

Kuh, G. D. (2008). Excerpt from high-impact educational practices: What they are, who has access to them, and why they matter. Association of American Colleges and Universities, 14(3), 28-29.

Vision 
The QEP would ensure that students are asked to write substantially throughout their time at The Citadel and provide students with guidance and support. Further, a QEP-driven vision for writing-intensive courses provides support and development for faculty in designing graded and ungraded writing activities, helping students improve their writing in measurable ways, and assessing student writing. The QEP would:

• Study best practices in Writing Intensive courses at other institutions
• Research the writing that faculty in General Education courses and major courses are currently assigning, both formal writing assignments and informal writing-to-learn activities, such as journals
• Study the writing demands of students in their majors and careers as well as what genres and discipline-specific writing conventions each student major needs to learn
• Create and define a “writing intensive” course designation for courses across the disciplines
• Create a Fellows program to educate and support students and faculty in writing intensive classes
• Invest in expansion of the Writing Center so that the Center can work directly with more faculty and students
• Invest in grants and released time for faculty to develop writing-intensive courses and research best practices for writing in their disciplines
• Publicize writing initiatives and instruction on campus

Goals and Objectives 

• Enhance student learning by improving student writing
• Convey explanations, analyses, and arguments effectively through students’ written assignments
• Synthesize information and/or multiple viewpoints related to the problem, question, or topic
• Apply appropriate research methods, theoretical frameworks, and /or genre conventions to the problem, question, or topic
• Reflect on or evaluate what was learned

Connections to Our Mighty Citadel 2026 (Strategic Plan)

• Strategic Initiative 1 (Objective 1.2, 1.3)
• Strategic Initiative 2 (Objective 2.2, 2.3)
• Strategic Initiative 5 (Objective 5.3)

Assessment 

• AAC&U’s VALUE Rubric
• NSSE
• Exit Survey
• Changes in program requirements and syllabi that indicate that students are being required to do more writing
• Writing portfolio