Building Success through Discovery will be the theme of UNA’s quality enhancement plan (QEP) during the next five years.

University officials held two student-focused meetings Nov. 16-17 in the GUC Performance Center. Dr. Lisa Keys-Mathews, director of the QEP, addressed students about what the QEP is and what it is going to do for the university.

The focus of UNA’s QEP is going to be research literacy, which was defined by the Development and SACS Leadership teams as “the specific writing, research and critical thinking skills required to pursue a career in any given discipline.”

The QEP will be implemented at every level of the undergraduate’s college career during the next five years. The baseline courses for Level I of the QEP will be English 112/122, where basic research skill development will take place. Level I will begin in the fall of 2012.

Lowic Dimithe, a senior economics and finance major, is a College of Business ambassador and has been working closely with the QEP development team.

“This is going to bring about several good opportunities for students, including chances to get undergraduate research published,” Dimithe said. “One of the short-term goals with the QEP is developing an interdisciplinary student research journal on campus.”

Keys-Mathews also feels that the QEP is going to be beneficial for students.

“The QEP is only making an emphasis on what we already do,” she said. “It’s taking research and learning how to do it better. Research is something that you never stop doing. If you’re not researching, you’re not learning. If you’re not learning anything new, you’re not advancing.”

Both student meetings were well attended, and there was a high level of student feedback and interaction during the question and answer time. Keys-Mathews and other QEP team members are encouraging students and faculty to learn more about the QEP by visiting the Facebook and Twitter pages, where information is routinely added and updated.

Anyone with further questions about the QEP can contact Keys-Mathews at [email protected] or 256-765-4640.