The QEP’s comprehensive professional development program will support effective teaching practices and encourage cross-college collaborations to enhance student success through three initiatives:

1. Introduce and Reinforce Effective Teaching Practices. This initiative focuses on providing coordinated, foundational learning to support faculty in adopting shared effective teaching practices that create more engaging learning environments. Initially, SF will use proven professional development programs, including the Association of College and University Educators (), Transparency in Learning and Teaching (), and Sense of Belonging practices.  As the project evolves and as additional information about challenges to student success present themselves, SF will offer new professional learning opportunities through the SF Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence (CTLE).
2. Implement and Assess Departmental Action Research Projects. Once faculty strengthen their effective teaching practices, they will collaborate within and across departments to review student success data, apply effective teaching practices to courses, and assess the impact of various approaches. The resulting departmental action research projects will be implemented and assessed through an annual cycle to surface effective approaches.  Successful teaching practices will be shared and scaled across the College to benefit more students and faculty.  
3. Partner with QEP-Sponsored Student Fellows. Learning from students and collaborating with them to promote success are important features of effective teaching. This initiative employs students as partner consultants. Student fellows will lead and participate in campus panel discussions and forums, raising greater awareness of academic challenges and student experiences.

Uniting for Student Success is a five-year project extending from Summer 2023 - Spring 2028 and has three phases.

• Phase I: Pre-Implementation Preparation and Capacity Building - Summer 2023 – Fall 2023
  • Conduct action-research training for Department Chairs, staff, and related personnel.
  • Prepare professional development programming.
  • Launch faculty professional development.
• Phase II: Implementation - Spring 2024 – Fall 2027
  • Develop Departmental Action Research Projects.
  • Conduct student panels, focus groups, and feedback campaigns.
• Phase III: Project Assessment - Spring 2028
  • Although project assessment will be ongoing throughout the project cycle, in Year 5 project personnel will:
  • Review and analyze institutional data.
  • Discuss lessons learned.
  • Develop plan to institutionalize.
  • Identify next steps.

Evidence suggests that effective teaching practices improve course success and retention rates for all students while narrowing performance gaps for students who face challenges to academic success.

Uniting for Student Success

• Advances successful educational outcomes for all SF students.
• Supports excellence in teaching by providing faculty targeted, ongoing professional development.
• Fosters increased collaboration among faculty and staff in supporting student success.
• Empowers students by amplifying their voice in assessing learning and support.
• Improves our understanding of challenges faced by our students and the communities SF serves. 

Additionally, Uniting for Student Success advances key tactics of ÇàÇà²ÝÊÓƵ's 2025-2030 Strategic Plan:

• Expand robust professional development offerings appropriate for a learning college.
• Ensure professional development opportunities and training remain up to date with emerging technologies and current best practices.
• Identify successful pedagogical practices through assessment and research and scale these practices across the institution to benefit more students and faculty.
• Amplify student voices in assessing learning and support.

The QEP supports ÇàÇà²ÝÊÓƵ's mission as a higher-education institution that "adds value to the lives of our students and enriches our community through excellence in teaching and learning." 

The QEP further supports the College's commitment to:

• Be a student-ready college.
• Advance student success through assessment and continuous improvement of programs.
• Employ professional development to enable faculty and staff to contribute fully to achievement of mission.

Direct measures include:

• Improved course success in Liberal Arts and Sciences courses in aggregate and by department.
• Improved FTIC student retention (fall-to-fall enrollment)
• Narrowed LAS course success and FTIC student retention gaps (fall-to-fall enrollment) for students who face challenges to academic success. 

Indirect measures include:

• Faculty participation in QEP initiatives
• Student engagement with the College as measured by SENSE benchmark scores and end-of-course feedback completion rates
• Other faculty and student qualitative assessments and reflections 

Additionally, the QEP Advisory Workgroup will consider the operational effectiveness of Uniting for Student Success to help keep the project on track and adjust as needed to meet student success goals.

To promote ongoing, campus-wide conversation about Uniting for Student Success, annual QEP reports will be made to the College community, to the District Board of Trustees, and to the Resource Planning Council.

In year five, the QEP Director will submit an Impact Report that includes:

1. Initial goals and intended outcomes of the QEP.
2. Discussion of changes made to the QEP and their rationale.
3. Description of the QEP's impact on student learning and/or student success, as appropriate to the design of the QEP, including the achievement of identified goals and outcomes and any unanticipated outcomes.
4. Reflection on what the institution has learned as a result of the QEP experience

Year Two Impact Report