If you have an idea about how to boost students’ academic success on campus, UT Dallas wants to hear it.

A committee is gathering suggestions from the campus and the community on ways to improve student learning. The process is part of the latest reaffirmation process by which the University is evaluated for accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).

Offer Your Ideas

Visit qep.utdallas.edu to submit your ideas and learn more about the positive changes a high-quality QEP can make possible. The deadline to submit ideas is early spring.

“Right now, we are collecting ideas about ways to improve student learning or the environment that supports student learning,” said Dr. Jessica C. Murphy, associate professor in the School of Arts and Humanities. “We are gathering as many diverse ideas from as many students, staff, faculty, alumni and community stakeholders as we can.”

A five-year quality enhancement plan, or QEP, will grow out of ideas generated by this feedback that has the potential to become a permanent addition to UT Dallas.

In 2008, the University established a program called Gateways to Excellence in Math and Science that included group workshops, one-on-one tutoring and other strategies that boosted student success in courses such as chemistry, physics and math.

“That program is now such an integral part of the campus that most newcomers do not know that it began its life as part of a reaffirmation project,” said Murphy, who also heads the QEP Topic Selection Committee. “It’s now called the Student Success Center, and it offers students a variety of resources to help them achieve their academic goals.”

Murphy said that there are no parameters on suggestions. People may give short or long responses at qep.utdallas.edu. Once the process is complete, the committee will review the suggestions and narrow down the field of possibilities. Once a final topic is chosen, UT Dallas will work to roll out a pilot program by 2017.

“We have big shoes to fill, but I am confident that our changing campus offers us an abundance of new challenges that we can take on in this next QEP,” Murphy said.