The Quality Enhancement Plan is a critical component of our SACSCOC Reaffirmation of Accreditation process. Each institution seeking accreditation or reaffirmation of accreditation must develop a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) that 1.) includes an institutional process for identifying key issues emerging from institutional assessment; 2.) focuses on student learning outcomes that furthers the institution's mission; 3.) reflects the institution's core values; and 4.) supports the institution's strategic plan.

Bethel's new Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) is focused on improving our undergraduate students' writing proficiency by embedding writing activities in the existing curricula of the majority of Bethel's bachelor's degree programs. Select classes will be designated as "Writing Enrichment" courses, and virtually all students will take two of these classes before graduation.

The decision to focus on writing was based on two primary facts.

• In a 2015 survey commissioned by the American Association of Colleges & Universities, 82% of 400 employers believe that their employees' "ability to effectively communicate in writing" is very important to their organizations.
• Bethel student performance levels on standardized exit exams suggest that they can benefit in their professional lives if they are provided with additional guided opportunities to practice their writing.

A Writing Enrichment Class is a class that provides students with additional opportunities to practice and improve their writing proficiency. Here is what is involved:

1. During the term of the class, there will be at least four writing assignments.
2. At least one assignment needs to be at least 1000 words. That is a bit more than four pages.
3. The combined length of the writing assignments will be at least 15 pages or 4000 words.

During the term of the class, there will be at least four writing assignments.

At least one assignment needs to be at least 1000 words. That is a bit more than four pages.

The combined length of the writing assignments will be at least 15 pages or 4000 words.

Whereas in composition classes students learn about writing in general, the Writing Enrichment classes will focus on developing skills in writing that are important for success in the major and its career area. For example, in business, students write a business proposal for their Business Policy and Strategy Class. In most classes it is expected that some writing will involve research and proper citation methods of the discipline.

A good writer is one who is able to produce high quality written works. For the QEP, this means that a good writer is one who:

1. creates written works that are appropriate to the audience and purpose.
2. creates written works centered on a main idea and includes relevant content that explains the idea.
3. creates well-structured and clearly written paragraphs.
4. incorporates credible information into writing as appropriate.
5. spells words correctly, uses proper grammar, and uses words in accordance with their dictionary definitions.

The learning goal of the QEP is to produce materially significant increases in students' mastery of skills that make for good writers.

Ordinarily, Writing Enrichment classes will be selected from classes that already required for graduation in your major.

Writing Enrichment classes will be designated by including a 'W' in the course offerings list.

In most cases, no additional costs are expected.

One good reason is that your chances of landing a good job will increase if you are able to write well.

Recent studies have shown that employers expect their prospective employees to possess general skills that "cut across majors" in addition to the technical skills acquired in their major classes Among the general skills, writing is was ranked number 3 out of 28 of those desired general skills, in applied career fields like business management, education, finance, healthcare, information technology, marketing and sales (e.g., Hart Survey Report Burning-Glass Survey Report)

So, writing is not just for the liberal arts. Rather, it is considered to be essential for success in many professional careers.