In an effort to improve student learning on campus, all freshmen will be required to take a faculty-led freshman seminar course by the fall of 2011.

The initiative to improve the first-year experience of students fulfills a new accreditation requirement by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, called the Quality Enhancement Plan.

“I think the hope is that by designing a program that engages all incoming freshmen with the academic roots of what university life is, that that will get students started out on the right foot,” said Rodney Mauricio, a genetics professor and chair of the QEP Team, in a phone interview Monday.

The Quality Enhancement Plan is due for submission in fall 2010 and must meet the standards of SACS, the regional accrediting body for all Southeast institutions, said Bob Boehmer, provost for institutional effectiveness and SACS liaison, in a phone interview Monday.

The majority of the seminar classes will be taught in the fall by tenured or tenure-track faculty, according to the proposal of the initiative. The average class size will be 15 students.

At least one serious writing exercise will be included, such as a five- to 10-page paper, and one oral presentation.

“The thought being that if you want to give students some tools for dealing with college, it’s best to reach them in the fall,” Mauricio said.

However, he said some students, such as athletes or members of the Redcoats band, may have to petition to waive the seminar class until the spring if they have a busy fall schedule.

The Quality Enhancement Plan Team, composed of 30 faculty, staff, student and alumni representatives, is looking at surveys, the best practices at other institutions and research on the first-year experience to inform their design of the QEP.

Student surveys showed the greatest need for improvement at the University is increased interaction with faculty members.

One of the expected learning outcomes of the QEP is for students to form lasting relationships with tenured or tenure-track professors and become more active in their learning approach.

“The major goals of the QEP are to quickly foster what we hope will be lasting relationships between entering students and faculty and peer mentors, as well as to make new students aware – in a comprehensive way – of the many resources and opportunities available at the University in areas such as research, service and international education,” said David Lee, vice president for research and chair of the subcommittee for designing the plan, in an e-mail Monday.

One challenge of the QEP will be reaching the 4,500 incoming freshmen each year, Mauricio said.

It will require 350 seminar classes to be taught each fall on a volunteer basis by the faculty, although they may receive monetary compensation, he said.

“How do you balance that and give meaningful experience to freshmen students and make sure you’re not taking faculty out of the classroom in upper division classes?” Mauricio said.

After four years, the academic environment may be changed on campus, he said.

In 2016, the University will submit a five-year progress report on the QEP initiative to SACS.