SCAD Atlanta officials pulled out all the stops to increase student understanding of this quarter’s buzz phrase — Quality Enhancement Plan.
On Feb. 25, the university held a QEP rally in the Hub, complete with ice cream, giveaways and even a drumline performance in which Art Malloy, SCAD’s dean of student success, made a cameo.
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During the rally, Vice President P.J. Johnson gave a presentation to explain the ins and outs of SCAD’s QEP, dubbed a Triptych for Collaboration. The idea behind it is to bring together students, professors and outside partners, allowing students to create real-world projects for course credit.
The rally came just a day before SCAD’s reaffirmation visit from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges. SACS requires that SCAD and other degree-granting institutions in the region have a QEP in place to stay in line with SACS’s Principles of Accreditation.
To make sure rally attendees grasped the main points of Johnson’s presentation, Malloy quizzed students for a chance to win prizes.
Chris Parker, a second-year graphic design major won a hat for answering correctly the name of SCAD’s QEP. But Parker said he already had an understanding of the plan because his professor had explained it to the class just two days before the rally.
“It’s a wonderful idea, Parker said. “I think it’ll help me get my foot in the door at some of the outside organizations.”
Parker also said he has experience with collaborative learning.
“It’s something that was pushed in [my] high school, so it’s good to see it here,” he said.
After the rally, though, a few said they still had a couple of unanswered questions.
Jennifer Crane, a first-year advertising major, said she was confused about the collaborative process itself.
“I want to know more about how it would actually come about and how to get involved,” Crane said. “But I’m sure I’ll figure it out.”
And it’s a good bet she will, as professors are already introducing collaborative projects to their students.
Professor Catherine Ramsdell, who is also chair of the liberal arts department, said students in her writing for Web course are currently creating the Brownie Mix blog to promote the play “Brownie Points.”
But, as Ramsdell noted, the current collaborative projects are on a small scale and contained within their respective departments.
“The QEP is going to allow projects on a much larger scale,” Ramsdell said, adding that it could also bring together students from different majors to work on bigger projects.
Such efforts will move forward once the QEP gets the OK from SACS.
The approval process is expected to be completed Wednesday, March 3.