Rice University is proud to introduce the focus area for its 2026 Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP). The QEP is an important element in Rice’s overall reaffirmation process and affirms our commitment to student learning and success. The topical area for Rice’s QEP emerged from the extensive conversations that occurred over the past several years related to institutional strategic planning and general education. These important conversations engaged stakeholders at all levels and played an important role in QEP topic selection. These conversations and planning processes embody Rice’s integrated institution-wide planning and evaluation process.
Topic and Rationale
The 2026 Rice QEP will focus on enhancing the education of Rice undergraduate students through global experiences. As the Rice Strategic Plan articulates, the university aspires “to develop leaders prepared to address the world’s complexities,” “to ensure Rice graduates will be well-rounded individuals who are prepared to advance and lead industry and societal change,” and “to develop global citizens who strive to advance the collective good through their scholarship, career, and life.” To do this, our students need knowledge of the global nature of the world and its diverse cultures, the ability to reason through and engage with the challenging moral and ethical issues we face daily, and the ability to communicate ideas about themselves and the world to myriad audiences.
Campus conversations around general education have identified an opportunity to strengthen our students’ abilities to step outside their comfort zones and explore the wider world, to think and dialogue about divisive cultural, political, and ethical issues, and to communicate in clear, organized, and powerful ways. A QEP on global experiences is an opportunity for Rice to focus significant attention on an experiential-learning pedagogy that can improve student learning outcomes in areas that connect general education with broader educational goals outlined in the strategic plan.
The QEP topic focusing on enhancing the education of Rice undergraduate students through global experiences emerged from conversations conducted by the General Education Committee with faculty, administrators, students, alumni, and staff about priorities for a revised Rice general education curriculum. Importantly, the topic aligns with priorities of the new Rice University Strategic Plan, Momentous. The QEP, once realized, will bring together pre-existing educational opportunities for students on campus to better spotlight and support them while developing new opportunities to serve more students. Ultimately, the QEP will meet the objective of enhancing student success and learning.
QEP Development Committee
A diverse team of faculty and staff comprise the QEP development committee. These individuals were selected because of their unique expertise in working on various initiatives that relate directly to the selected topic, and also for their prior experience with QEPs at Rice and elsewhere. Please feel free to speak with the committee members at any time to learn more about the QEP and contribute your thoughts.
QEP Committee Co-Chairs:
• Leslie Schwindt-Bayer, Thomas Cooke & Mary Elizabeth Edwards Professor of Political Science and Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education
• Carissa Zimmerman, Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence and Associate Teaching Professor
QEP Committee Members:
• Luis Duno-Gottberg, Lee Hage Jamail Professor of Latin American Studies
• Rodrigo Ferreira, Assistant Teaching Professor of Computer Science
• Elizabeth Hordge-Freeman, Associate Professor of Sociology
• Ed Nikonowicz, Department Chair and Professor of BioSciences
• Maria Oden, Full Teaching Professor of Biongineering
• Anastasiya (Annie) Zavyalova, Associate Professor of Strategic Management and Associate Dean for Degree Programs in the Business School
• Danika Brown, Executive Director of the Center for Civic Leadership
• Helade Scutti Santos, Teaching Professor of Portuguese and Spanish and Director of the Center for Languages and Intercultural Communication
• Jennifer Wilson, Director and Senior Lecturer, Program in Writing and Communication
• Caroline Quenemoen, Associate Provost for Strategic and Educational Initiatives, ex-officio
• Diane Waryas Hughey, Executive Director of Institutional Effectiveness, ex-officio
Learn More and Contribute to QEP Development!
Thank you to all members of the Rice community who, by participating in the countless hours of planning discussions which have occurred, have contributed to this QEP! We encourage your continued participation by participating in upcoming campus dialogues which will be announced in the fall semester. Please check back here for updates throughout the QEP development process.