Several measures indicate needs for improved student learning at Southwest. For the past two years, scores for graduates completing the College BASE have fallen below those of our peer institutions and below our own previous levels, dropping from a composite mean of 260 in 2001 to a composite mean of 240 in 2002 and 2003, compared to national means of 275, 274, and 271, respectively. In major field exams in A.A.S. degree areas since 2001, composite scores for six of eleven tested programs have been below 70%. In 2002-2003, the college experienced an 8.6% reduction in fall-to-fall retention of first-time, full-time freshmen, from 55.4% to 46.8%. College records also show that for fall and spring semesters in 2002 and 2003, students registering on or after the first day of classes experienced a success rate of 52.4% as compared to a success rate of 64% for students registering before classes began.

Following up on these measures, the QEP Committee has solicited suggestions and concerns from all adjunct and full-time faculty, the Student Government Association, and deans, directors, and coordinators throughout the college, and continues to engage the community through meetings, online forums, and surveys.

Oral and written responses to the committee have repeatedly stressed concerns for responsibility and accountability. Many members of the college community have expressed concern about barriers to learning that are connected to student behaviors such as late registration, missed classes, late arrivals, neglect of assignments, inappropriate expectations, and insufficient preparation. Others have expressed concern that the college lacks sufficient data to analyze causes reliably, and lacks sufficient coordination between curriculum and measurements. An ad hoc committee studying performance on the College BASE identified needs for improved testing sites and conditions, improved connections between course instruction and testing, better communication of the importance of tests, and stronger motivation to help students perform more successfully.

External research suggests that a focus on student responsibility will improve student outcomes. Work on student responsibility reported by Davis and Murrell, Pace, and others, and studies of student engagement described by the NSSE and the CCSSE, show strong links between student effort and learning outcomes. At Sinclair Community College, a change to conclude late registration before the beginning of classes resulted in improved satisfaction among faculty and students, a reduced number of withdrawals, and an improved persistence rate.

Southwest’s QEP envisions changes in policies, curriculum design, learning resources, and communication to make learning responsibilities clearer and easier to fulfill. In some cases, improvements may flow from plans and policies already in place.

The plan will explore a variety of actions. A simple, concrete change will be to end late registration before classes begin, so that more students can avoid missing important early meetings of their classes. We plan to develop a process to re-examine our courses and programs so that we can better clarify and measure the skills and knowledge students need to bring to each course, and the skills and knowledge they should gain. To measure and improve learning outcomes, we are exploring departmental exit exams for key courses. We plan to provide students with better signals of how the college values responsible learning behavior--both through documents like catalogs, handbooks, and syllabi; and through practical signs like accurate clocks in the classrooms and testing rooms with convenient desks and sufficient light. We also plan to collect, analyze, and share data about student outcomes more systematically to help the college identify and encourage successful learning behaviors.

We believe the collected elements of our QEP over time will result in improved scores on the College BASE exam, improved pass rates on major field examinations, improved persistence rates, and increased student and faculty satisfaction with the climate of learning at Southwest Tennessee Community College.