Academic Coaching for Excellence Has Been Chosen as the Quality Enhancement Plan at the University of Memphis!

Beginning of fall 2015, the extension of academic coaching will be the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) accreditation.

The University of Memphis’ Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) is designed to improve students’ retention and success by implementing an academic coaching program for students who have been placed on Academic Warning and other student subpopulations who are at high risk for non-retention. The Academic Coaching for Excellence (ACE) program will pair at risk-students with an academic coach for individual bi-weekly meetings throughout a semester. Graduate students specializing in counseling-related fields and selected faculty and staff will receive professional development and mentoring to equip them with the tools necessary to guide students in the development of their academic and career goals.

The three interrelated goals of the ACE program are:

1. to help students to develop a clear vision of their own goals and degree path,
2. to assist students in developing skills related to academic success, such as study skills, time management, and self-efficacy; and
3. to connect them to other university resources and support personnel as needed.

These goals are accomplished through the following five student learning outcomes in which students will:

1. demonstrate improvement in academic self-efficacy;
2. show an increase in resiliency (grit);
3. demonstrate an increase in educational commitment;
4. demonstrate improvement in time management; and
5. identify an academic pathway to degree completion. 

The QEP topic emerged from campus-wide discussions related to the institution's strategic plan as well as increasing student retention and success. Within this institutional context, the QEP Selection Committee carefully considered several proposed topics, and endorsed academic coaching as the QEP theme based upon the encouraging results of a pilot study that provided academic coaching to at-risk freshmen.