Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP)
QEP ONE: Our New Experience
In order to bring first-generation students and employees together, the QEP committee created “Our New Experience” or ONE Mentor program. The program will foster a sense of community through collaborative mentoring instead of traditional advising and focus more on creating places, spaces, and events where knowledgeable, passionate, first-generation mentors can share their experiences and insights with First-Generation Wildcats.
Our Goals
Northwest Vista College’s (NVC) Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), “ONE: Our New Experience” will improve first-generation student retention and success through targeted and personal partnered mentoring. Upon reviewing student data for the formation of the NVC 2024-2026 Strategic Plan, it became clear that while we have a diverse student population, 52% of NVC students are entering our college as first-generation students. Retention and completion rates for our student population (34% 3 year completion rate in 2018), are some of the highest completion rates for a community college in Texas, but clearly demonstrate room for improvement. The goal is to help NVC first-generation students celebrate where they are on their academic journey while understanding how the NVC community can support them and their families along the way. The QEP Team also wants to recognize and celebrate NVC employees who are first-generation college graduates by asking them to mentor our first-generation students.
Our Objectives
1. Persist:
Students who participate in mentoring activities will be more likely to persist from fall-to-fall.
2. Connect:
Students who feel like they belong at NVC and participate in mentoring activities will increase their use of existing on-campus resources (advising meetings, tutoring services, advocacy center) and be better prepared resulting in increased persistence.
3. Transfer:
Transfer rates to other institutions of higher ed will increase for ONE Mentor Program Mentees.
Our Measurement
The impact of our QEP will be measured by the following student learning outcomes:
- First-generation students will demonstrate an increase in their self-reported sense of academic and social belonging on campus;
- First-generation students will self-report an increase in trust of NVC faculty and staff;
- First-generation student data will reflect an increase in self-efficacy by students reenrolling in next semester courses and successfully completing coursework while engaging in campus activities/seeing advisors resulting in increased completion and transfer rates.
- First-generation student data will reflect an increase in academic help-seeking behaviors.
Our Focus
By fostering a sense of community through collaborative mentoring via the Our New Experience (ONE) Mentor Program, we will focus on creating places, spaces, and events where trained mentors will serve as knowledgeable, passionate, guides for NVC first-generation college students. NVC first-generation students will be offered various opportunities and experiences to develop academic and career paths through reflection assignments, campus events such as Lunch and Learns, and monthly one-on-one collaborative meetings with their mentor using Mentor Collective, a student engagement platform that cultivates community and offers NVC critical insight into students’ needs along their higher education journey.
ONE Mentor Program Registration
Our New Experience (ONE) Mentor Program Registration Links