Welcome to the Southern Miss QEP (Quality Enhancement Plan)
Finding a Voice: Improving Oral and Written Competencies

The University of Southern Mississippi is engaged in a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) titled Finding a Voice: Improving Oral and Written Competencies.  This initiative will span multiple years and address academic concerns and employer preferences for stronger writing and speaking competencies of Southern Miss graduates.

To improve oral and written competencies, the QEP Leadership Team collaborated with faculty in English and Speech Communication to design two interventions:  (1) faculty training in methods to teach and assess writing and speaking competencies and (2) creation of writing and speech labs for student instruction. 

Faculty training is accomplished through a 10-week seminar series. The seminars were developed during summer 2005 and are designed to assist faculty in (1) integrating speaking and writing components in their courses and (2) developing assessment techniques to measure oral and written competencies.  

The Writing Lab is located in the International Center, Room 201. It is a writing-dedicated laboratory outfitted with up-to-date computers equipped with a standard writing software program and Internet access. The Writing Lab may be used by students to produce their ideas with recourse and guidance from trained writing assistants.

The Speaking Center is located in Cook Library, Room 114, just past Starbuck's. Students have access to personalized assistance with oral communication projects at any stage of the process, from generating topics to delivering the presentation. The Speaking Center is staffed by trained graduate students and undergraduate peer tutors.

QEP 2006-2007

QEP Plan (PDF)
QEP Plan (DOC)