The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) is the regional body for the accreditation of higher education institutions in the southern states that award associate, baccalaureate, master’s, or doctoral degrees. For more information, visit www.sacscoc.org.

Each institution seeking reaffirmation of accreditation is required to develop a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP). The QEP is a five-year plan which addresses a well-defined topic or issue related to enhancing student learning and/or the environment supporting student learning. Developing a QEP as a part of the reaffirmation process is an opportunity for the institution to enhance overall institutional quality and effectiveness by focusing on an issue or issues that the institution considers important to improving student learning. At the end of five-years, SACSCOC will evaluate the results of UAB’s QEP.

In recognition of the important role UAB holds in the city of Birmingham, and the powerful learning that can occur as students engage with their community, UAB has selected The City Is Our Classroom as the theme of the 2025-2030 Quality Enhancement Plan. Through high-impact curricular and co-curricular practices such as community-based learning, research, and service opportunities, the QEP will help students engage with their community, study its rich history, and develop a better understanding of the value of the University as a part of the City of Birmingham.

UAB’s 2025-2030 Quality Enhancement Plan, The City Is Our Classroom

• Goal 1: To provide the infrastructure and resources for faculty and staff, students and community partners to engage in meaningful and mutually beneficial community-engaged learning experiences.
• Goal 2: To expand student involvement in community-engaged learning opportunities through curricular and co-curricular activities.
• Goal 3: To encourage, increase, and assess meaningful student reflections regarding their involvement in community-engaged learning.
• Goal 4: To help students develop the skills to become engaged members and leaders of any community.

• Understanding their community and its cultures
• Being able to connect knowledge from various academic disciplines to civic life
• Participating in civic engagement activities
• Developing civic communication skills
• Reflecting on civic participation
• Working collaboratively across civic structures

Our proposal will be evaluated on five components. See SACSCOC QEP Guidelines for details.

• An Institutional Process. The institution uses an institutional process for identifying key issues emerging from institutional assessment.
• Focus of the Plan. The institution identifies a significant issue that (i) focuses on learning outcomes and/or environment supporting student learning and (ii) accomplishes the mission of the institution.
• Institutional Capability for the Initiation, Implementation, and Completion of the Plan. The institution provides evidence that it has sufficient resources to initiate, implement, sustain, and complete the QEP.
• Broad-Based Involvement of Institutional Constituencies. The institution demonstrates the involvement of its constituencies in the development and proposed implementation of the Plan.
• Assessment of the Plan. The institution identifies goals and a plan to assess the achievement of those goals.

UAB’s QEP efforts are lead by QEP director, Dr. Scott Phillips, with support and assistance from the QEP Advisory Council, the office of Innovative Teaching and Academic Engagement, and the office of Institutional Effectiveness and Analysis. QEP efforts are also supported by the Center for Teaching and Learning, the office of the Blazer Core Curriculum, the office of Service Learning and Undergraduate Research and other university-wide organizations focused on teaching and student success.

The QEP will be implemented beginning in the Fall of 2025.

The on-site visit by the SACSCOC team will be April 7-10th, 2025.