Student Success
New Quality Enhancement Plan Focuses on Problem-Solving Skills
RALEIGH, N.C. (August 22, 2024) – Wake Tech is excited to launch a major effort to help students improve their problem-solving skills.
Solve It! Say It! Problem-Solving With an Emphasis on Communication is the college's new Quality Enhancement Plan, or QEP.
The QEP is a five-year institutional plan for improving an area of learning and is a cornerstone of the college's reaffirmation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). The plan aligns with Wake Tech's Reach and Rally strategic plan.
The QEP has a dual focus:
- Improving students' problem-solving skills
- Supporting faculty and staff in building problem-solving exercises and guidance into their courses and services
Both students and faculty will have the opportunity to earn competency-based recognition for their efforts through digital badging programs.
The QEP topic was chosen based on data that showed problem-solving is one of the top skills sought by employers in Wake County and beyond. However, data showed that half of Wake Tech's general education courses with learning outcomes that align with problem-solving did not meet proficiency targets, and surveys of Wake Tech students, employers and graduates indicate students' problem-solving skills need to improve.
Through Solve It! Say It!, students will learn how to solve complex problems and communicate solutions so that, as they climb their educational and career ladders, they will be able to thrive in a rapidly changing workforce.
Solve It! Say It! will teach students a standardized problem-solving process and provide them opportunities to develop their problem-solving skills.
Solve It! Say It! was developed through research, faculty focus groups and student surveys that identified problem-solving challenges and the most effective ways to improve it.
Wake Tech's Board of Trustees approved the plan in June, and the plan was submitted to SACSCOC this week for review. Once approved by SACSCOC, implementation will begin in January.
Learn more at qep.waketech.edu.
