QEP Preparing the Pride: Experiential and Work-Based Learning

In the fall 2022 semester, The University of North Alabama (UNA) launched its new Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP): Preparing the Pride: Experiential and Work-Based Learning. Part of UNA’s reaffirmation process for accreditation, Preparing the Pride is a five-year plan that aims to increase opportunities and student engagement in undergraduate experiential and work-based learning across four domains:

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Work-based Learning

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Mentored Research and Creative Activities

Service-learning

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Immersive Learning

The overarching goal of Preparing the Pride is to create a culture where students embrace curricular-based experiential and work-based learning and, upon graduation, are more prepared for the world of work or to continue their post-graduate education. A thorough analysis of UNA’s institutional framework, strategic plan, and priorities led to the development of the QEP, and it reflects the institution’s commitment to continuous improvement. UNA has established major student learning outcomes (SLOs) for the QEP and will engage in continuous assessment of the SLOs over the next five years to determine the impact of student engagement with experiential and workbased learning. Central to the assessment of the student learning outcomes will be the inclusion of a critical reflection assignment, whereby students will consider how their experiential and work-based courses build expertise and the ways in which new skills can be applied to other situations, courses, and their career.

Your University of North Alabama Career Center staff is happy to announce the return of a campus wide, all majors career fair this spring semester, currently scheduled for April 12, 2023 When asked about what one would like to see in relation to career events, one dean responded “bigger, more, and more relevant.” In response, the Career Center is looking forward to collaborating with all colleges, deans, faculty, and staff to deliver precisely those outcomes in a variety of opportunities for our students.

To meet the “bigger” challenge, the Career Center sent out a “save the date” to over 3,000 employer contacts as a result of a collaborative effort of shared contacts among the colleges, with almost immediate feedback from employers like Lockheed Martin, Big River Broadcasting, and Alabama Broadcasters Association.

Regarding “more relevant,” we are aware that financial firms employ not only finance and accounting majors, manufacturers employ not only engineers, and medical facilities employ not only doctors and nurses.

All of these organizations, including public and non-profit, hire for creative positions in marketing or public relations, for psychologists in human resources, and for business management in medical or even governmental agencies. An event like this can provide opportunities for a diverse group of students with a wide variety of majors to interact with a diverse group of employers. This event also aligns with the goals of the university to increase experiential learning which is a probable outcome from interactions with these employers on our campus, the goal to increase diversity and inclusion evidenced by connecting students from varied curricula with many different employers, and the goal of defining our institutional identity as work-force focused by increasing the potential for students to intern or work with fellow UNA students and alumni locally, regionally, and globally.

In response to “more,” we plan to host more college and degree specific events for the fall semester such as panels, employer classroom visits, and networking mixers, while the spring semester will feature the larger campus-wide all-major fair. Of course, these events need active participation to be successful. In addition to our current students, we would welcome any of our alumni to joy us as exhibitors or to enhance your own careers. We hope you will consider participating in this opportunity to collaborate and interact with our deans, faculty, staff, and students!

If you run into Dr. Cindy Stenger at a basketball game, she may start to brag about one of her student’s research accomplishments. Helping students learn to engage in original research, make conjectures, and eventually present their findings is one of the most rewarding aspects of her work at UNA. “A few years back, we had a QEP that was oriented toward undergraduate research, and we got a lot of support to work on projects with students and to take them to speak at conferences,” Stenger said. “So, we started doing that, and, looking back, that focus on working with undergraduates on research projects was a defining moment for me.”

As a professor of mathematics, her passion for student engagement is no secret, specifically, she prefers working across disciplines and with teams of likeminded scholars. Her prior career, working in the tech industry as senior research analyst and then as an applied mathematician, set this course. “I have seen a lot of changes in my 20+ years at UNA, I would not have predicted that undergraduate research and a masters in math would eventually consume 75% of my teaching load,” she said. “My time working in industry over in Huntsville showed me how mathematics could be applied to real world problems. Working with a team and using my training in higher level mathematics, generalizing the results in order to solve a practical problem, brings me a lot of satisfaction.”

In 2018, Dr. Stenger began working on the CODE project with faculty at HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology to crowdsource bioinformatics research. So far, she has led over 50 undergraduate research projects, with paper publications for five students to date, and prestigious internships such as deCode genetics in Reykjavík, BioTrain at HAIB, and the Prokop Lab at MSU. For a comprehensive list of student projects: https://www.una.edu/math/undergraduate-research.html. Dr. Stenger has coauthored with CODE faculty on several papers with 57 citations of their contributions. “This March we have an article in Comprehensive Physiology that names our work here at UNA,” she said. “I am so proud of what we have accomplished.”

Philip is a senior and a non-traditional, pre-med student majoring in Spanish with a minor in chemistry. He had been living in central Alabama and working in emergency medical services (EMS) for ten years when he decided to move back home to the Shoals to attend UNA. While working in EMS, he found a desire to work with medically underserved and economically disadvantaged populations.

He chose UNA because of its outstanding reputation, proximity to family, and its specific course offerings that facilitated his specific academic goals. During his time at the school, he has found an excellent mix of didactic offerings, experiential learning opportunities, personalized and in-depth career and academic advising, incredible teachers, and amazing extracurricular activities When asked what his favorite thing about UNA is, he can confidently answer “the relationships I’ve built here.”

He loves UNA and notes that in his home department, the Department of Foreign Languages, he has learned to speak Spanish and is in the process of refining his linguistic skills in a desire to be part of the solution in meeting the growing healthcare need for Spanish speakers. He says that he is proud to be a member of a department and school that provides such a wide array of offerings beyond the classroom ranging from internship to study abroad and experiential learning opportunities tailored to the student. In the Department of Chemistry and Physics, he has found teachers willing to go the extra mile to support their students, develop relationships, provide personalized feedback, and leave each of their students feeling like an individual and not simply a number.

Philip and his family are very happy they chose UNA as their home for his undergraduate education. His experience has been extremely positive, and he is proud to consider himself part of the UNA Pride!

Hi everyone! My name is Jasmine Sherman, and I am so excited to start my graduate journey here at UNA working for CASE. I recently received my undergraduate degree from UNA in Criminal Justice with a minor in Psychology. During my time as an undergraduate student, I worked for the university’s Housing and Residence Life Department as a Senior Resident Advisor for three years. I also had the pleasure of working for the SOAR program for the past two years. This past summer I was fortunate enough to become Head SOAR Counselor. One of my proudest accomplishments was during the fall of 2020 when I pledged Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated. I am very grateful for those experiences because I met many amazing individuals. My initial journey started five years ago in the Summer of 2018 while I worked as a summer employee for one of Birmingham’s YWCA Programs. One Friday they drove the summer interns to Florence, AL to visit UNA’s campus. I was fortunate enough to have met a Lagrange tour guide who was a Criminal Justice major. This was important, because I was able to connect with him and envision my UNA experience through his story. He detailed how amazing the campus was and how the university’s size allowed for better access to his professors anytime that he needed help. This was important to me, because I wanted to attend a university where I was a name and not just a number. Ever since that day I was sure that UNA was the right place for me. During my time here I have grown tremendously as an individual, and part of that is due to the amazing leadership/mentorship that I was blessed to have found right here on campus. I love the university so much that I am now in pursuit of my Master of Science in Family and Community Services. I have a passion-filled purpose for helping others and I cannot wait to go out into the world and change lives, all while expressing how UNA has changed mine. I would encourage anyone who is looking for a home away from home where the professors genuinely care for you and pour into your life to please consider UNA The people, experience, and opportunities here are truly one of a kind.