[429] MT Engage celebrates student participation with inaugural reception

MT Engage, MTSU's most recent Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), is igniting interest in students across academic disciplines wanting to further their education beyond the classroom.

The program honored students who had gone through at least one MT Engage course from last fall to this spring with an inaugural Student Reception ceremony, held Thursday, April 20, in the Tom H. Building. They were provided with refreshments, complimentary professional headshots for the early arrivers and tokens of appreciation including water bottles and T-shirts.

The event also allowed the 80-plus students who attended to ask questions about what to expect if they were to continue with the process of MT Engage, which has a motto of “engage academically, learn exponentially, showcase yourself.”

University Studies professor Scott McDaniel, assessment coordinator for MT Engage, noted that students who enroll in MT Engage-based classes receive hands-on experience that allows them to apply the knowledge they already have.

"My colleague who teaches statistics had her students go to ‘Scholars Week’ and report on some of the posters and statistics that were used there and they had to reflect on it," McDaniel said.

Student learning outcomes that program officials expect in these courses include self-assessment, reflection and connections to experience.

"Other things we want professors to try to instill in students — making connections between disciplines, from statistics to biology or from history to English and even history to statistics," he said.

McDaniel shared one exciting aspect of MT Engage called the e-Portfolio, an electronic record created by students throughout their academic journey that will serve as an important tool for students in marketing themselves toward a career or graduate degree.

"It's hard to assess someone's knowledge from just one snapshot,” he said. “Now we enter the e-Portfolio."

As McDaniel explained, this “e-Portfolio” digitally adds all the artifacts and works through a student's time here at MTSU, allowing them to create presentations for different audiences or future employers.

"Say they want to apply for a job and send not only their resume but also their e-Portfolio — it's like the next best thing to meeting me."

Potential and existing students will be able to learn more about how the latest QEP could benefit them and the future of MT Engage through Customs new student orientation and during MT Engage Week that will be going on in the month of September.

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.

Joining McDaniel at the reception were said Dr. Mary Hoffschwelle, faculty fellow director of MT Engage and a history professor, and Lexy Denton, assistant director of MT Engage. Hoffschwelle said the student reception will become an annual event.

For more information about MT Engage, visit http://mtsu.edu/mtengage, email mtengage@mtsu.edu or call 615-904-8281.