It’s that time again for the University. Representatives of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools are touring the campus through Wednesday to evaluate UH in a reaccreditation process that occurs every 10 years.
As part of the SACS reaccreditation process, UH has proposed The Discovery-Based Learning Initiative as its Quality Enhancement Plan to address both training for research-related skills and research opportunities on and off campus.
"Along with added research-intensive courses coming next fall, our office will connect students with opportunities on campus and in the Houston community," said Veronique Tran, director of the Office of Undergraduate Discovery Programs, which implements the QEP.
UH students interested in undergraduate research will be given the opportunity to participate in real-world team projects, along with various paid research-related internships through the plan, she said. Some on-campus opportunities such as faculty labs and research institutes and centers are available to students now, Tran said.
The Discovery-Based Learning Initiative is a plan two years in the making, and upon approval by the UH System Board of Regents, it will go into effect in fall 2008, Tran said.
"The plan is comprehensive and was developed to meet the needs of our diverse student body, non-traditional and traditional: first-time-in-college and transfer students, academically excelling, average and below average students," Tran said.†"By offering tutorials, workshops, research-based courses and mentored research opportunities, students from all backgrounds will have an opportunity to learn research-related skills and apply them."
Since the implementation of the QEP will require a significant investment of new resources, QEP planning has been aligned with the institution wide annual planning and budgeting process for 2009 and will be part of UH’s 2009 Annual Plan and Budget, scheduled to be approved by the UH System Board of Regents in August 2008 and annually thereafter.
The University expects to invest approximately $5 million over the five-year implementation of the QEP, according to section 4.1 of the QEP plan.
The QEP process involved 145 preliminary plans submitted by faculty, departments and colleges, 16 forums in the University to get student feedback, more than 500 online submissions of ideas and feedback and the consideration of best practices, according to the plan’s executive summary.
"Last fall, I moderated 16 student forums across all the colleges," Tran said.
Summaries of common comments and suggestions from students across all disciplines were gathered and incorporated in the development of the QEP, Tran said.
"Developing such a program is an excellent idea," engineering junior Phillip Bannon said. "Students deserve to be exposed to as much field material as possible, and research and internship programs are great ways of making this happen."
Bannon submitted his thoughts to the QEP online feedback along with 525 other individuals, according to the QEP summary.
"I had not realized that undergraduates could even be eligible for these opportunities," liberal arts sophomore Jana Sharooni said after reading over the plan. "If you start students thinking early in their career, it would encourage innovation. Let’s have doors open for those that want to dream a better world."
Twelve students selected are meeting with SACS representatives today to discuss the Discovery-Based Learning Initiative. Among the students is Student Government Association President Samuel Dike.
"The Discovery-Based Learning Initiative†creates an active learning environment marked by increased research opportunities," he said. "These research opportunities†will give us†the†ability to apply knowledge acquired in the classroom to real-world applications, helping us develop new†ways to solve present problems†as well as†future ones."
For more information, visit www.uh.edu/discovery.
