Release Date: Monday, December 12, 2011
Charleston, WV – The University of Charleston today announced it is one of only 25 institutions selected to participate in a national initiative ensuring consistent quality in higher education. The Degree Qualifications Profile (DQP) Consortium, directed by the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), will explore ways in which Lumina Foundation’s DQP might ensure consistent quality in academic programs of liberal arts-oriented independent colleges and universities and clarify student learning outcomes. More than 80 independent colleges and universities applied to participate in the consortium.
Each of the selected institutions in the DQP Consortium will be engaged in an individual campus project that is consistent with its mission and strategic plan and that tests the applicability of the DQP. UC will work to articulate its six Liberal Learning Outcomes (LLOs) at the associate degree level and at the graduate degree level, using Lumina Foundation’s DQP as a model. The University’s LLOs (Citizenship, Communication, Creativity, Critical Thinking, Ethical Practice, and Science) are established at the bachelor level, and through this consortium UC will ensure they are met at all levels of education.
According to UC President Ed Welch, “The University is proud of our outcomes-based curriculum. We welcome the opportunity to further align it with the needs of all UC students, and ensure that it prepares them to be contributing citizens once they graduate. Being selected for this prestigious consortium is further evidence of the quality of our distinctive academic program.”
In announcing the formation of the consortium, CIC President Richard Ekman said, “For CIC institutions, the DQP Consortium has great potential to bring together several strands of the contemporary discussion of higher education issues—accountability; assessment; achieving smooth transfer from one institution to another; awarding credit for prior learning; equalizing the proportion of students from racial, ethnic, gender, and income groups who earn baccalaureate degrees; and concerns about America’s world leadership in higher education—and could lead to valuable insights about the connections among these different issues.”
UC and other institutions selected to participate in the CIC/DQP Consortium will explore the degree qualifications framework with others in the network through consortium meetings in March 2012, October 2012, and August 2013; campus consultations by national experts Paul Gaston, the Trustees Professor and former provost at Kent State University, and Peter Ewell, vice president of the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS); periodic web conferences; and support from CIC and Lumina staff.
“Lumina Foundation is very pleased that CIC institutions will join our other partners in testing the Degree Qualifications Profile,” said Jamie Merisotis, president and CEO of Lumina Foundation. “We think the DQP has great potential as a tool to help ensure educational quality, but that potential can’t be realized without sufficient testing by all types of institutions. Involving independent colleges in the exploration of the DQP is an important and welcome step.”
Participating institutions are: Baldwin-Wallace College (OH), Bay Path College (MA), Berry College (GA), Bethel University (MN), Chatham University (PA), Concordia University Wisconsin (WI), Daemen College (NY), Davis & Elkins College (WV), DePauw University (IN), D'Youville College (NY), Franklin College (IN), Golden Gate University (CA), Holy Names University (CA), Juniata College (PA), Marymount College (CA), McKendree University (IL), Nebraska Methodist College, Point Loma Nazarene University (CA), Saint Augustine's College (NC), Southern New Hampshire University, Tiffin University (OH), University of Charleston (WV), Virginia Wesleyan College, Westminster College (UT), and Wofford College (SC).
More information is available on CIC’s website at www.cic.edu/DQP .