Quality Enhancement Plan

Rio Grande College Sets Goals for Better Student Communication Skills

“Walk the talk” is a phrase that Rio Grande College doesn’t take in stride.

It’s the basis of an action plan that the College has designed to put the teaching of essential communication skills high on the agenda of each of RGC’s 19 programs of study.

Measurable improvement in its students’ abilities to write and speak effectively is the goal of RGC’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP).

“QEP’s are designed to enhance student learning and to cultivate within students habits of mind and action that lead them to positions of professional leadership and civic responsibility,” explains Dr. Sarah Moreman, associate professor of English and chair of Rio Grande College’s QEP committee.

According to Dr. Moreman, hundreds of the nation’s leading institutions of higher learning have initiated educational Quality Enhancement Plans in order to become reaccredited by the Commission on Colleges/Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). The reaccreditation of RGC provides assurance to its constituents, the public and the Federal Department of Education of the quality and integrity of the institution and its educational programs, she adds.

Doors to high-paying professions swing wider to college graduates who are not only prepared to apply their academic skills, but who can express themselves clearly and effectively.

Rio Grande College’s Quality Enhancement Plan has just been submitted to SACS for approval. Meanwhile, RGC professors have started emphasizing written and verbal communications in their courses. For the student, these changes mean only that the feedback on some of their assignments will be altered. Course workloads will not be increased.

Dr. Moreman provides an example where an examination may require more written answers instead of multiple-choice questions. She explains that a business administration student may be required to take to the podium to unravel a theory or solution to an accounting problem.

Grading will be more consistent because all faculty will adopt a baseline – a “rubric” – for written and oral communication assignments. RGC faculty will adapt the rubric to each course of study, so each item may be weighted differently according to the objectives of the course.

Rio Grande College’s QEP committee will monitor and fine-tune the application of the program among all of its academic departments on a semester-by-semester basis. In order to maintain accreditation by SACS, the College’s progress is evaluated on an annual basis, with major reviews scheduled after five and ten years.

“We are totally committed to the success of our Quality Enhancement Plan,” says Dr. Joel Vela, RGC vice-president. “Its design and goals are the result of nearly two years of effort by the College, along with community and educational leaders, to prepare our graduates for the world with not only a diploma but two essential tools for getting by in the world – the ability to express themselves clearly and effectively in writing and speaking.

Rio Grande College English students at the Eagle Pass campus and their professor, Dr. Don Walden, display their enthusiasm for the College’s educational New Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) with a display of “QEP-awareness” posters. The program is focused on improving student written and verbal communications in each of RGC’s 19 courses of study.