Valdosta State University April 7, 2010

1. Undergraduate Engagement in Discipline-Based InquiryA Quality Enhancement Plan presented to the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Valdosta State University April 7, 2010

2. VSU’s Mission The mission of VSU is to prepare students to meet global opportunities and challengesthrough excellence in teaching and learning; expand the boundaries of current knowledge through excellence in scholarship and creative endeavors; and promote the economic, cultural, and educational progress of our community and of our region through excellence in service outreach. VSU seeks to accomplish this mission in a dynamic, student-centered learning environmentmarked by respect for the diverse abilities, backgrounds, and contributions of all members of the university community.

3. VSU is a University Making a Major Transition • Over the next three years VSU will: • Add 40 new tenure-track faculty positions • Add 100 graduate assistantships • Develop university-wide promotion & tenure guidelines • Offer new faculty start-up grants • Offer reassigned time to any faculty member engaged in scholarship with students • The QEP plays a critical role in this transformation.

4. SACS Leadership Team & Task Forces • Task Force I: responsible for soliciting input and ideas for the QEP from the VSU community • SACS Leadership Team: comprised of the President, Vice Presidents, SACS Liaison, Director of Information Technology, and the Compliance Certification Coordinator. Their roles include: • guiding institutional accreditation efforts • providing guidance to the QEP taskforces • overseeing QEP implementation • Task Force II: responsible for researching, conceptualizing, writing, and planning for implementation of the QEP

5. Selection of QEP VSU’s QEP topic, Undergraduate Engagement in Discipline-Based Inquiry, was selected based upon: • Information collected from institutional assessments to identify key issues at VSU • Analysis of results from national surveys conducted at VSU • A review of literature on undergraduate research and inquiry

6. QEP Goals Each Discipline-Based Inquiry Model Demonstration is guided by faculty and three QEP Goals : • Goal #1: Students will develop knowledge of discipline-specific inquiry skills. • Goal #2: Students will apply discipline-specific inquiry skills from the classroom to resolve a specific question or problem. • Goal #3: Students will learn why and how to present the results of discipline-based inquiry in a professional or academic forum.

7. Conceptual Framework Iteration One Chemistry History Women’s and Gender Studies Communication Sciences and Disorders Nursing Art

8. Conceptual Framework (cont.) Iteration Two ? ? ? ? ? ?

9. Selected Discipline-Based Inquiry Model Demonstrations: Iteration 1

10. Cutting Edge Cancer Research with Undergraduates Under guidance of a faculty mentor, undergraduate chemistry majors learn and apply advanced lab techniques and protocols in cutting edge cancer research.

11. Summer Archival Field Experience Undergraduate history students learn about and engage in hands-on archival research at the oldest military base in the United States.

12. Investigating Social Inequalities of Hispanic Immigrants through the U.S.-Mexico Borderland Experience Students study globalization, community diversity, and the social construction of race, ethnicity, class, and gender on the US-Mexico border and at home from an interdisciplinary perspective.

13. Preparing Scholars of Tomorrow to Effectively Analyze Language Sample Data for Parent-Child Turn Taking Undergraduate students learn and apply research methodology through collecting and analyzing samples from parent-child dyads to investigate communicative turn-taking.

14. Evidence-Based Practice Strategies for Nursing and Health Care Undergraduate nursing students learn to generate evidence-based clinical questions and to collaborate with health care professionals involved in clinical research projects.

15. Discovering Unrealized Generational Differences in Kitchen Design Preferences Between Next Generation Interior Designers and Current Resident Users Undergraduate students in Interior Design explore the differences between their designs and the residents’ preferences for kitchen layouts in assisted living residences.

16. FUSE Implementation Page 33 EXHIBIT 1: FUSE IMPLEMENTATION TIMELINE BY TASK AND PERSON RESPONSIBLE

17. Offices/Persons Supporting FUSE Page 34

18. Financial Resources Page 36 EXHIBIT 2: FUSE BUDGET

19. Detailed Budget The total budget for FUSE is $1,437,549 over a six month planning period and the five years of the QEP. • Discipline-Based Inquiry Model Demonstrations: $383,528 over the five-year period. • Personnel: $926,321, including faculty salaries and benefits of $630,622 and staff salaries and benefits of $295,699, over the five-year period. • Supplies, Materials, Travel (FUSE Coordinator): $21,500 over the five-year period • Supporting QEP Activities • Graduate Assistant to Support FUSE: $56,000 • Annual Campus-Wide Undergraduate Research Symposium: $25,000 • Assessment: $25,200 over the five-year period

20. Shadow Projects • FUSE will be transformative for VSU • The model demonstrations in the QEP serve as models to be replicated throughout campus, resulting in shadow projects. • VSU will also support the shadow projects through the Planning & Budget Committee’s Funding Pool infrastructure.

21. Funding Pools

22. Funding Pools

23. Funding Pools

24. Funding Pools

25. Assessment of FUSE The purpose of assessing FUSE, including each Discipline-Based Inquiry Model Demonstration, is two-fold: • to evaluate the extent to which students have achieved the intended student learning outcomes identified for each model demonstration, and • to identify opportunities for improvement in subsequent iterations of Discipline-Based Inquiry Model Demonstrations.

26. Assessment of FUSE (cont.) Page 41

27. Assessment of FUSE (cont.) EXHIBIT 3: FUSE ASSESSMENT PLAN Page 41

28. Assessment of FUSE (cont.) Intrasubject replication tests each student multiple times at prescribed intervals before and after manipulation of an independent variable. • Content areas are identified and will be measured repeatedly, using brief evaluation (e.g., quiz, short answer, etc.). • Performance in each area will be charted separately for each student. • Following a stable baseline phase, instruction will begin in the first content area. • The effectiveness of instruction will result in a performance increase for the specific content area assessment.

29. Assessment of FUSE (cont.) EXHIBIT 4: EXAMPLE OF INTRASUBJECT REPLICATION RESULTS Page 63

30. Assessment of FUSE (cont.) EXHIBIT 5: FUSE ASSESSMENT PLAN (CONT.) Page 41

31. Dissemination and Use of Data • The purpose of the QEP assessment component is to generate information that will assist VSU in continuously improving opportunities for Undergraduate Engagement in Discipline-Based Inquiry. • The results from the QEP will be used by internal audiences, including the SACS Leadership Team and the Planning and Budget Council, and by external audiences such as regional and professional accreditors. • Information gained from the results of Iteration 1 will be shared and utilized in making modifications for improvement in Iteration 2. • The results of the five-year QEP will be prepared for the Fifth-Year Interim Report will be shared with the campus community and external accreditors.

32. Questions, Comments, and Discussion