The waterfall in Lullwater Park (courtesy of Atlanta Trails).

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is coming March 17-19, beginning that Monday at the Oxford Campus. SACS tours the southeast providing ongoing assessment of educational improvement via accreditation; more info here – http://www.sacs.org/

On Tuesday and Wednesday they will be on the Emory Campus, conducting spontaneous ‘walk up’ interviews with students, faculty and staff all around the campus. They will be assessing the Emory populations’ awareness of the QEP (Quality Enhancement Program).

What’s our QEP? It’s called the Nature of Evidence and is geared to the enhancement of our first year students on the main campus. The goal is to teach identification and handling skills for working with evidence that will then prepare them for formal research projects in their academic pursuits. Rather than waiting for this experience to happen in the 3rd or 4th year as students become focused on their major course of study, this prepares students for research much earlier, promoting analytical skills concertedly.

There will be activities beginning with orientation, the classroom experience, co-curricular programs, “Encounter with Evidence” events, evidence at Lullwater preserve and Carlos Museum and much more! This is a fully vested program dedicated to enriching and empowering first year students like never before.

Bonna Wescoat can be credited with the early iteration “Primary Evidence” – http://news.emory.edu/stories/2012/05/er_primary_evidence_qep_topic/campus.html. Pamela Scully is now heading up the current effort – http://news.emory.edu/stories/2014/01/er_spring_qep_launches/campus.html

Be ready in case you are the person they walk up to! Let SACS know we are an engaged campus indeed!