[345] What is MT Engage? Get more info about MTSU’s next QEP

MTSU students will have the opportunity to learn more about the University’s next Quality Enhancement Plan, or QEP, through a series of informational tables set up around campus in the coming weeks.

MT Engage is the name of MTSU’s next QEP to improve student learning through enhancing the curriculum. Officially launching this fall, MT Engage will be a five-year initiative and will impact the entire campus. Learn more at http://www.mtsu.edu/mtengage/.

With a tagline of “engage academically, learn exponentially, showcase yourself,” MT Engage will encourage students to not only think in a more integrative way about their academics, but to reflect on their experiences inside and outside of the classroom from the time they set foot on campus.

Participating students will have the opportunity for scholarships, cash awards, a recognition reception, electronic badges, and the opportunity to mentor other students, according to Dr. Dianna Rust, associate professor in university studies who is heading the QEP process.

MT Engage information tables will be set up as follows:

• Feb. 29, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Keathley University Center

• March 2, 10 a.m.-noon, Student Union Building atrium

• March 3, 1-3 p.m., Walker Library

• March 14, 9-11 a.m., Walker Library

• March 21, 10 a.m.-noon, Student Union Building atrium

• March 23, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Keathley University Center

• March 24, 9-11 a.m., Walker Library

Pilot MT Engage courses were launched last fall and during the spring semester, and students will now be able to register for courses for the Fall 2016 semester.

The QEP is a requirement by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, or SACSCOC, the regional accreditation body for higher education institutions in the South. A SACSCOC review committee will visit campus in late March to do a campus assessment.

Rust organized town hall meetings in the fall and spring to get faculty and staff input on the MT Engage concept, which was developed by a committee and subcommittees representing a cross-section of faculty, staff and students.

MT Engage follows the popular Experiential Learning, or EXL, program, which emphasizes learning that takes place beyond the traditional classroom. MT Engage expands academic engagement beyond EXL to include practices that may be more suited to lower division instruction and may exist only within the classroom.

A key aspect of MT Engage is an ePortfolio created by students throughout their academic careers. These electronic documents could be critical for students in marketing themselves as they prepare to pursue a career or graduate degree. Students are asked to consider attending an ePortfolio workshop in Fall 2016, with dates to be announced in August.

Students are also asked to like the MT Engage Facebook page to receive updates. For more information, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/mtengage/.