Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP)

Career Readiness through Experiential Learning

The University of West Georgia’s proposed Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP)—Career Readiness through Experiential Learning—seeks to strengthen the connection between experiential learning and the development of career readiness competencies for undergraduate students, beginning in their very first semester and continuing through their senior-level courses as they transition to their careers. The QEP will focus on two specific types of experiential learning: undergraduate research and work-based learning. This proposed QEP directly supports the institution’s 2021-2026 Strategic Plan—Becoming UWG, including the goal to “launch or advance each student’s career before graduation” by providing students with access to high-quality experiential learning opportunities.

UWG’s proposed QEP sets forth the following goals and outcomes that will direct the plan’s work. Each goal or outcome is summarized by an action verb and will be discussed in great detail later in this document:

• Institutional Goal 1 – ACCESS: Increase student access to experiential learning opportunities.
  
  
• Institutional Goal 2 – CONNECT: Increase educational development opportunities for faculty and staff to learn and engage in evidence-based teaching strategies that connect experiential learning to students' development of career readiness competencies as defined by National Association of Colleges and Employers (2023).
  
  
• Student Learning Outcome 1 – ENVISION: Within their first year, students will identify and describe experiential learning opportunities and career readiness competencies relevant to their professional goals.
  
  
• Student Learning Outcome 2 – ENACT: Students will analyze and reflect on the career readiness competencies cultivated through their participation in experiential learning opportunities.
  
  
• Student Learning Outcome 3 – SHOWCASE: Before graduation, students will create a resume that articulates the integration between their experiential learning activities and the career readiness competencies that they developed.
  
  
• Student Success Outcome – ACHIEVE: Increase the percentage of graduates who pursue employment, additional education, or other experiences that make use of career readiness competencies.