SACSCOC is an acronym that refers to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. While the full acronym is SACSCOC, a lot of people simply refer to SACS because it’s easier.

SACSCOC is the regional accrediting body for colleges and universities in 11 Southern states, including Virginia. Working under the purview of the U.S. Department of Education, SACSCOC ensures institutions’ educational quality and, by extension, the ‘legitimacy’ of the academic degrees they confer (i.e., associates, baccalaureate, masters, and doctoral). Beyond initial accreditation, SACSCOC also ‘re-affirms’ institutions’ ongoing compliance with educational standards, on a regular 10-year cycle. VCU's next reaffirmation (of which the QEP is a part) is scheduled to be completed in 2024. (Here is a current listing of SACSCOC-accredited institutions). Regional accreditation is required for a higher education institution to receive Title IV funding, or Federal Financial Aid.

In preparation for the reaffirmation process, VCU must provide the SACSCOC review team with two documents: a Compliance Certification report (CC) and a Quality Enhancement Plan (or, QEP). As a high-level summary, CCs provide information about the present, while the QEP provides a plan for the future. CC’s are submitted early in the process and QEPs are submitted six weeks prior to the on-site review. As such, QEPs are key to maintaining SACSCOC accreditation.

QEPs focus on one or more issues critical to improving student learning outcomes and/or student success and offer detailed plans of action to achieve stated goals. They are large and usually campus-wide projects designed to be carried out in congruence with institutions’ strategic plans. From topic selection to initial implementation, the QEP planning and development process can take anywhere from one to two (1-2) years, and should focus explicitly on enhancing the quality and effectiveness of the institution’s educational mission. Once developed and accepted by SACSCOC, the QEP implementation cycle is for a minimum of five (5) years. At the end of year five, the institution provides an impact report that is presented to SACSCOC assessing the success of the QEP, lessons learned, and plans moving forward. VCU has completed two previous QEPs, one in 2004 which focused on enhancing student engagement and one in 2014 which focused on general education.

Right! The goal of these 3-7 page briefs or concept papers is to help generate potential topics. Once the topic is selected this fall, a QEP Writing Team—led by faculty and content experts—will be charged with writing the actual Quality Enhancement Plan with support from Provost office staff.

Great question! Help us spread the word about this opportunity, pull together a team to collaborate on a proposal, or consider writing one on your own. VCU’s QEP Planning and Development Committee, which is comprised of faculty from each of the colleges and schools as well as ex-officio staff members from key stakeholder offices, wants faculty and staff to be maximally involved in identifying potential QEP topics, so that the selected focus for our next QEP truly reflects our core values and enhances VCU’s ability to meet our students’ needs.

The QEP Request for Proposals provides guidelines and the rubric that will be used to evaluate proposals. There is considerable documentation available online.

The QEP Planning and Development Committee will be offering informational workshops throughout the process. These sessions will also be recorded and available on-demand.

VCU faculty and staff are eligible to submit QEP topic proposals. Student input is highly valued but, given the scope and duration of these projects (i.e., 5+ years), faculty or staff should take the lead on these efforts.

Please begin by reviewing the QEP Request for Proposals document for guidelines, and the QEP Proposal Evaluation Rubric. When you’re ready, you'll submit your application through this online form.

All proposals submitted by the VCU community will be evaluated using the QEP Proposal Evaluation Rubric created by the QEP Planning and Development Committee. The deadline for receipt is 5 p.m. on September 23, 2022. From the initial pool of Proposals, several Finalist Proposals will be identified and cleared (for feasibility, impact, capacity for institutional assessment, and connection to VCU’s strategic direction). Finalist Proposals will then be announced and introduced to the VCU Community through campus-wide presentations. The final selection will be announced in early October.

Topic proposals should be specific and describe the amount of time needed, from implementation through assessment of outcomes and reporting of outcomes. In addition, a general / draft budget estimating costs for materials, staffing, space, and any additional resources should be noted.

Finalist proposals will be screened for feasibility, impact, capacity for institutional assessment, and connection to VCU’s strategic direction. Allocation of resources in the final plan submitted to SACSCOC will be based on a variety of factors including the scope and focus of the plan. It is a SACSCOC criteria for an acceptable QEP that sufficient resources be allocated to for the plan’s success.

Once the final topic is selected for the QEP, a writing team will be convened with subject-matter experts and administrative support from the provost’s office to assist with writing the full QEP (full QEP’s run 75 pages or more). You may be invited to be involved in this process, but are not obligated to do so.

We encourage you to sign up for an informational workshop, and you can email qep@vcu.edu to reach the Planning and Development Committee.

Yes! New or enhanced programming and initiatives can result from QEPs. We believe that the entire University Community, including students of all levels, as well as faculty and staff, can benefit from an innovative QEP.