TSTC Harlingen's location is in the region of Texas with the highest poverty levels for adults and children, the lowest rates of educational achievement, and where more than half of the population speaks Spanish as their primary language. TSTC Harlingen's students' level of exposure to the world beyond the southernmost four-county area in the state is limited, unless they have visited Mexico or the northern U.S. when they migrate with their families. This cycle of poverty has resulted in a generation of students who have been indoctrinated to become dependent on what "the system" provides them with at each stage of their life. As a result, students have had to work for little, including grades, during their high school experiences. Public funding for higher education, free child care assistance, and free room and board are needed and accessed by many TSTC students in support of their educational goals. However, second only to very low basic skill levels of new students, the next most crucial barrier TSTC students face is their overall lack of commitment to completing an education, and worse still, to learning, in general. TSTC Harlingen's Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) is intended to enhance student learning and improve the learning environment for new students by developing the necessary foundations for college-level learning through individual commitment and academic preparedness. TSTC Harlingen will support the development of foundations to learning through:

• Improvement of new students' basic skills (reading, writing, math) before they attempt identified college-level courses; and,
• Development of a value system that emphasizes commitment to students' goals, as well as attitudes and behaviors that represent appropriate principles of professional conduct and practice.

The dynamics of the secondary public education system in Texas requires all high school graduates to pass a mandated basic skills test. The irony of this scenario is that over half of these same high school graduates cannot pass the basic skills assessment exam administered by Texas colleges that is designed to predict student readiness for college-level work. The basic skills of students entering TSTC Harlingen has declined significantly in the past decade. Of the 1,594 new students enrolling at the college in Fall 2002, 53% failed the basic skills assessment test in math, while 38% of them failed the reading portion. The lack of these skills has a direct impact on the success students in all courses. Currently, there are 1746 students, or 46% of the population enrolled, that have a grade of D or F in at least one course during at mid-term of the Spring 2004 semester. Basic skills provide the foundation for further study. Students cannot benefit fully from participation in a course for which they are unprepared to read the text, compute basic math, or fully understand the language the instruction is provided in.

In a QEP survey administered to all TSTC Harlingen faculty and staff, employees overwhelmingly responded that the lack of student commitment to their education or the achievement of their goals had the most significant impact on student learning. Moreover, a consensus was formed that students were just not open to learning, not committed; and their lack of preparation for college-level courses has made higher education just another cog in the operations of the bureaucratic public assistance machine.

The QEP will focus on evaluating the direct impact of low basic skill levels on student success in college-level courses and adopt a system aimed at directing new students to coursework appropriate to their skill levels; investigating and development of a program to implement a "commitment and character development" program that is emphasized and supported throughout the curriculum and in all programs, services and activities; and extending attention to new students that enables them to better cope and prepare for the challenges of college.

The advantages of this approach are that the Plan...

1. Will be limited in scope and targeted toward only the new student population;
2. Will produce measurable results and thus lend itself to assessment;
3. Will embrace a new approach to basic skills development and new instruction in the character development of students;
4. Will entail manageable costs to implement; and,
5. As mandated by the Principle, will directly address student learning.