A Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) is required of all member institutions accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools - Commission on Colleges. WCU developed a STLR-based program for its QEP named DegreePlus. DegreePlus is a holistic approach to education that sets out to strengthen student competency in the areas of leadership, cultural responsiveness, teamwork, and professionalism. The focus on these four transferrable skill areas represents an intentional enhancement to the curricular and co-curricular experience at WCU. DegreePlus is a voluntary three-level program. Students advance through one to three levels with incentives for completion at each level. As students “level up,” their activities are logged in an experiential transcript and organized according to student learning outcomes.

Learning outcomes for this session: Attendees will understand how DegreePlus was developed, how it is operationalized, and how it meets accreditation requirements.

A Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) is required of all member institutions accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools - Commission on Colleges. WCU developed a STLR-based program for its QEP named DegreePlus. DegreePlus is a holistic approach to education that sets out to strengthen student competency in the areas of leadership, cultural responsiveness, teamwork, and professionalism. The focus on these four transferrable skill areas represents an intentional enhancement to the curricular and co-curricular experience at WCU. DegreePlus is a voluntary three-level program. Students advance through one to three levels with incentives for completion at each level. As students “level up,” their activities are logged in an experiential transcript and organized according to student learning outcomes.

Learning outcomes for this session: Attendees will understand how DegreePlus was developed, how it is operationalized, and how it meets accreditation requirements.

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American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers and NASPA: Student Affairs Administrators. (2015, June). A framework for extending the transcript. Retrieved from http://www.aacrao.org/docs/default-source/PDFFiles/extending-the-transcript-framework-final-draft-.pdf?sfvrsn=2.

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Glover, I. (2016). Student perceptions of digital badges as recognition of achievement and engagement in co-curricular activities. In D. Ifenthaler, N. Bellin-Mularski, & D.-K. Mah (Eds.), Foundation of digital badges and micro-credentials (pp. 443–455). Springer International Publishing.

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Hughes, R. L., & Jones, S. K. (2011). Developing and assessing college student teamwork skills. New Directions for Institutional Research, 2011(149), 53–64.

Ito, M., Guti´errez, K., Livingstone, S., Penuel, B., Rhodes, J., Salen, K., & Watkins, S. C. (2013). Connected learning: An agenda for research and design. Irvine, CA: Digital Media and Learning Research Hub.

Kahu, E. R. (2013). Framing student engagement in higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 38(5), 758–773.

Kolb, A. Y., & Kolb, D. A. (2005). Learning styles and learning spaces: Enhancing experiential learning in higher education. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 4(2), 193–212.

Kratzke, C., & Bertolo, M. (2013). Enhancing students’ cultural competence using cross-cultural experiential learning. Journal of Cultural Diversity, 20(3), 107–111.

Mangan, K. (2015). Making transcripts more than 'a record of everything the student has forgotten’. The Chronical of Higher Education. Retrieved from
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McClellan, C. (2016). Teamwork, collaboration, and cooperation as a student learning outcome for undergraduates. Assessment Update, 28(1), 5–15.

McTighe, J., & Seif, E. (2010). An implementation framework to support 21st century skills. In J. A. Bellanca & R. Brandt (Eds.), 21st century skills: Rethinking how students learn (pp. 149–174). Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

Messum, D., Wilkes, L. M., Jackson, D., Peters, K., et al. (2016). Employability skills in health services management: Perceptions of recent graduates. Asia Pacific Journal of Health Management, 11(1), 25–32. 

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National Association of Colleges and Employers. (2016b). Job outlook 2016: Attributes employers want to see on new college graduates’ resumes. Retrieved from http://www.naceweb.org/s11182015/employers-look-for-in-newhires.aspx.

Neves, J. S., & Nakhai, B. (2016, December). A model for developing and assessing students’ teamwork competencies. Research in Higher Education Journal, 31, 1–21.

Oakley, B., Felder, R. M., Brent, R., & Elhajj, I. (2004). Turning student groups into effective teams. Journal of Student Centered Learning, 2(1), 9–34.

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Pillay, S., & James, R. (2015). Examining intercultural competency through social exchange theory. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 27(3), 320–329.

Posner, B. Z. (2009). A longitudinal study examining changes in students’ leadership behavior. Journal of College Student Development, 50(5), 551–563.

Quaye, S. J., & Harper, S. R. (2014). Student engagement in higher education: Theoretical perspectives and practical approaches for diverse populations. Routledge.

Ramaley, J. A. (2014). The changing role of higher education: Learning to deal with wicked problems. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 18(3), 7–22.

Salisbury, M. H., Pascarella, E. T., Padgett, R. D., & Blaich, C. (2012). The effects of work on leadership development among first-year college students. Journal of College Student Development, 53(2), 300–324.

Shim, W.-j. (2013). Different pathways to leadership development of college women and men. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 50(3), 270–289.

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Thompson, L. J., Clark, G., Walker, M., & Whyatt, J. D. (2013). ‘It’s just like an extra string to your bow’: Exploring higher education students’ perceptions and experiences of extracurricular activity and employability. Active Learning in Higher Education, 14(2), 135–147.

Tymon, A. (2013). The student perspective on employability. Studies in Higher Education, 38(6), 841–856.

Van Velsor, E., & Wright, J. (2015). Expanding the leadership equation: Developing next-generation leaders. Retrieved from https://www.ccl.org/wpcontent/uploads/2015/04/ExpandingLeadershipEquation.pdf.

Western Carolina University. (2008, August). BCSSE 2007-NSSE 2008 combined report: Cross-sectional and longitudinal results. Retrieved from
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Western Carolina University. (2015). National survey of student engagement. Retrieved from http://www.wcu.edu/learn/office-of-the-provost/oipe/surveys/
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Wilkey, S. R. (2013). Evaluating the effectiveness of the international dimension in an undergraduate curriculum by assessing students’ intercultural sensitivity (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Oklahoma State University.

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Zhang, W., & Brundrett, M. (2010). School leaders’ perspectives on leadership learning: The case for informal and experiential learning. Management in Education, 24(4), 154–158.

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30-Minute Roundtable Session

Launching Transformative Learning