Dr. Shea Tuberty named director of 5-year Quality Enhancement Plan

BOONE, N.C. — Dr. Shea Tuberty has been named director of Appalachian State University’s 2024–29 Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) — a five-year plan to enhance institutional quality and effectiveness by focusing on an issue considered important to improving student success.

The QEP is an integral component of the reaffirmation of accreditation process with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.

Tuberty is a professor in the Department of Biology who teaches several classes and has published in a range of academic journals, including Aquatic Ecology, Environmental Processes, the Journal of Environmental Protection, and Science of the Total Environment. As director of the Aquatic Ecotoxicology Lab and a member of the Appalachian Aquatic Science Research Team (AppAqua), he leads an interdisciplinary research cluster of students focused on sustainable management, toxic impacts and land-use change on water resources and aquatic biodiversity. He also is assistant chair for student affairs in the Biology department, supporting a full range of activities — from curriculum development to student recruitment, orientation and advising.

Since joining App State’s faculty as an assistant professor in biology in 2002, Tuberty has built a strong record of service to the university, as well as local and professional communities. This includes participating on numerous App State committees, councils and task forces, organizing annual STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) outreach events for hundreds of Watauga County eighth graders and serving as the president and/or meeting organizer for three regional organizations — the New River Symposium, the Carolinas Area Benthologists Workshop and the Carolinas Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.

Tuberty holds a Ph.D. and an M.S. in ecology and evolutionary biology from Tulane University and a B.A. in general biology from Vanderbilt University.

According to the QEP proposal — selected by the university’s QEP Steering Committee following months of development and review — the plan “will build on existing university strengths and commitments and address documented knowledge gaps by equipping students to shape a just and resilient future.”

As QEP director, Tuberty will lead the plan's implementation, reporting to Dr. Mike McKenzie, vice provost of academic program development and strategic initiatives.

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Quality Enhancement Plan

The Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) is an integral component of the reaffirmation of accreditation process and is derived from an institution's ongoing comprehensive planning and evaluation processes. It reflects and affirms a commitment to enhance overall institutional quality and effectiveness by focusing on an issue the institution considers important to improving student learning outcomes and/or student success.

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About Sustainability at Appalachian

Appalachian State University’s leadership in sustainability is known nationally. The university’s holistic, three-branched approach considers sustainability economically, environmentally and equitably in relationship to the planet’s co-inhabitants. The university is an active steward of the state’s interconnected financial, cultural and natural resources and challenges students and others think critically and creatively about sustainability and what it means from the smallest individual action to the most broad-based applications. The university offers both undergraduate and graduate academic degree programs that focus on sustainability. In addition, 100 percent of Appalachian’s academic departments offer at least one sustainability course or course that includes sustainability, and all students graduate from programs that have adopted at least one sustainability learning outcome. Learn more at https://appstate.edu/sustainability.

About Appalachian State University

As the premier public undergraduate institution in the Southeast, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives as global citizens who understand and engage their responsibilities in creating a sustainable future for all. The Appalachian Experience promotes a spirit of inclusion that brings people together in inspiring ways to acquire and create knowledge, to grow holistically, to act with passion and determination, and to embrace diversity and difference. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Appalachian is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System. Appalachian enrolls nearly 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and graduate majors.