Western Governors University

2017 ◽  
pp. 379-400
Author(s):  
Robert Mendenhall
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
High Quality Education ◽  
Competency Based Education ◽  
New Business ◽  
Western Governors University ◽  
Competency Based ◽  
Workplace Needs ◽  
The University ◽  
State Higher Education

The university was created as a non-profit, online, competency-based university to expand access to affordable higher education as a supplement to state higher education systems. It was created with two key guiding principles: 1) To develop a model for competency-based education that would measure learning rather than time, and tie the competencies being taught to workplace needs. 2) To use technology to create a new business model in higher education that would increase the productivity of higher education (high quality education at lower cost) while expanding access.

Weaving Innovative Threads Together

2018 ◽  
pp. 22-35
Author(s):  
Judee Richardson
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Skill Levels ◽  
Competency Based Education ◽  
University Of Wisconsin ◽  
Societal Needs ◽  
Specific Performance ◽  
Competency Based ◽  
The University

In the United States, institutions of higher education have been under mounting pressure to improve. In part, this is due to increasingly high-priced academies producing graduates who possess skill levels that are out of sync with employer and societal needs. Added to this is the fact that the United States spends more than other countries to educate its citizens but continues to perform more poorly on comparative measures of literacy, math, reading, and science. To stay globally competitive, changes need to be made. Competency-based education has re-emerged and taken root as one way in which to educate students more effectively. By focusing on demonstrable learning outcomes and discipline-specific performance, competency-based education is changing the fabric of higher education. Based upon experiences garnered from the University of Wisconsin Flexible Option, this chapter presents some of the challenges encountered when developing this type of program within a longstanding traditional educational system.

Experimentation With Competency-Based Education at the University of Phoenix

2021 ◽  
pp. 277-298
Author(s):  
Ward Wesolowski
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Student Experience ◽  
Iterative Approach ◽  
Curriculum Policy ◽  
Faculty Roles ◽  
University Of Phoenix ◽  
Competency Based Education ◽  
Large Institution ◽  
Competency Based ◽  
The University

The author of this chapter, Ward Wesolowski, served as the Dean of Operations in the Center of Competency-Based Education (CBE) at the University of Phoenix. In this role, a substantial amount of experimentation was conducted to uncover insights relating to technology, faculty roles, curriculum, policy, and most importantly, the student experience in CBE. In an endeavor as complicated as creating CBE offerings at a large institution of higher education, there was only one thing that was certain: failure. At University of Phoenix, it was important to fail fast, learn, improve, and try again. This iterative approach allowed Ward and his team to quickly see what worked and what did not, so improvement efforts could be focused on the elements requiring the most attention. Valuable insights and recommendations are contained in this chapter for anyone aspiring to produce CBE offerings for students in higher education.

Western Governors University and Competency-Based Education

2011 ◽  
pp. 2346-2352
Author(s):  
Douglas B. Johnstone
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
Regional Accreditation ◽  
American Higher Education ◽  
History Of ◽  
Western Governors University ◽  
Competency Based ◽  
Educational Paradigm ◽  
The University ◽  
Short Time

Western Governors University (WGU) was formally established in 1996 by the governors of 19 western states. From its inception it was committed to delivering all of its programs through distance technologies and to graduating its students only on the basis of their demonstrated competency. It is today the only regionally accredited university in the United States to award its degrees exclusively on this basis. Developing the university and proving its viability, however, have not been easy. The enthusiasm surrounding its launching in 1996 rapidly gave way to the hard realities of establishing a new educational paradigm. Within five years, after accreditation seemed slow in coming and enrollments in the new university even slower, many in the higher education establishment wrote WGU off as a failed experiment. Some even breathed a sigh of relief that the claims of competencybased education could be written off. But eight years after its formal incorporation, WGU is very much alive. It has received national accreditation from the Distance Education and Training Council (2001) and unprecedented regional accreditation by four of the nation’s regional accrediting associations.1 No other institution in the history of American higher education has received multi-regional accreditation, and given the complexities of such reviews, WGU achieved that milestone in a remarkably short time. By January 2005 the university had an enrollment just over 3,200 students and was growing by more than 200 students a month.

The Changing Mission and Nature of Partnerships in Public Universities

2013 ◽  
pp. 726-741 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianne Robin Russo ◽  
Kristin Brittain
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Public Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public University ◽  
Public Higher Education ◽  
The Public ◽  
Academic Mission ◽  
New Business ◽  
K 12 ◽  
The University

Reasons for public education are many; however, to crystalize and synthesize this, quite simply, public education is for the public good. The goal, or mission, of public education is to offer truth and enlightenment for students, including adult learners. Public education in the United States has undergone many changes over the course of the last 200 years, and now public education is under scrutiny and is facing a continual lack of funding from the states. It is due to these issues that public higher education is encouraging participatory corporate partnerships, or neo-partnerships, that will fund the university, but may expect a return on investment for private shareholders, or an expectation that curriculum will be contrived and controlled by the neo-partnerships. A theoretical framework of an academic mission and a business mission is explained, the impact of privatization within the K-12 model on public higher education, the comparison of traditional and neo-partnerships, the shift in public higher education towards privatization, a discussion of university boards, and the business model as the new frame for a public university. A public university will inevitably have to choose between a traditional academic mission that has served the nation for quite some time and the new business mission, which may have negative implications for students, academic freedom, tenure, and faculty-developed curriculum.

Measuring What Matters

2017 ◽  
pp. 268-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Brower ◽  
Sandra Kallio ◽  
Rebecca Karoff ◽  
Mark Mailloux ◽  
David Schejbal
Keyword(s):  
Student Success ◽  
Strategic Management ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
Academic Goals ◽  
Competency Based Education ◽  
Direct Assessment ◽  
Management Of Resources ◽  
Competency Based ◽  
The University ◽  
What Matters

This chapter demonstrates that competency-based education requires a different set of student success metrics, and introduces the metrics framework developed by and for the University of Wisconsin's UW Flexible Option (UW Flex). UW Flex is a direct assessment competency-based self-paced model for earning degrees and certificates from institutions in the UW System. It was supported by a grant from Lumina Foundation to develop a competency-based education blueprint for success and includes a set of student-centric metrics meaningful to the model, the curriculum, and the students who are being served in Flex programs. The framework defines student success as students moving through programs at their own pace, demonstrating mastery of subject matter, and meeting academic goals. Program-level metrics aggregate each of these three student-level metrics to provide useful information about the success of a program. The authors also build the case that strategic management of resources is required to overcome challenges inherent in implementing the UW Flexible Option metrics framework.

Building Competence

2017 ◽  
pp. 28-40
Author(s):  
Kristin A Jones ◽  
Steven G Olswang
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Instructional Approaches ◽  
Pedagogical Change ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Instructional Innovation ◽  
Historical Significance ◽  
Competency Based Education ◽  
Competency Based ◽  
Higher Education Instruction ◽  
Pedagogical Philosophies

A flurry of new instructional approaches has recently emerged in post-secondary education; one approach receiving the most attention is competency-based education (CBE). While many think CBE is relatively new, its roots are deeply seeded in decades-old pedagogical philosophies. The frequency with which CBE is now appearing in conversations about higher education instruction and reform gives the false impression that most practitioners actually know what CBE is, or how it contrasts with other instructional approaches. In fact, the modern dilemma faced by many in higher education is that few institutional leaders have a comprehensive understanding of what CBE is, how it differs from other instructional approaches, the historical significance behind it, and how it might be used to effect pedagogical change and instructional innovation. This chapter explores the historical basis of CBE, its benefits and detriments, and its operational elements.

scholarly journals Integrating competency-based education with a case-based or problem-based learning approach in online health sciences

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 683-696
Author(s):  
Ilse Johanna Sistermans
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Problem Based Learning ◽  
Health Science ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Learning Approach ◽  
Competency Based Education ◽  
Case Based Learning ◽  
Competency Based ◽  
Case Based

AbstractIn the current competitive and globalized economy, employers and professional organizations call for higher education institutions to deliver graduates with relevant competencies and skills. In response, a growing number of higher educational institutions is introducing competency-based education. This is particularly true for health science programs, which have a tradition of applying a case-based or problem-based learning approach. The effort to merge a problem- or case-based online learning approach with competency-based education offers various opportunities, while facing numerous challenges. To support these efforts, this paper aims at identifying suitable practices, as well as challenges for online course design and online learning activities for higher education health science programs, when integrating competency-based education with an online problem-based and/or case-based learning approach. It found various opportunities for online learning activities that support competency-based education, problem-based learning and case-based learning, whereas challenges relate to logistics, administration, and the affordances of an LMS.

Legal and Organizational Issues of the Transformation of Public Universities into Non-Profit Organizations in Kazakhstan

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 726
Author(s):  
Bakhyt ALTYNBASSOV ◽  
Zaure ABDUKARIMOVA ◽  
Aigerim BAYANBAYEVA ◽  
Sabit MUKHAMEJANULY
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Public Universities ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Civil Law ◽  
The State ◽  
Joint Stock Company ◽  
Stock Company ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
The Government ◽  
The University

This article discusses several legal and economic problems in the process of globalization of higher education in Kazakhstan. To date, the Government of Kazakhstan has issued a resolution on the transformation of 25 national and state universities into non-profit joint-stock companies, as well as amendments to the Civil Code and other current legislation. As a result of this study, it has been found that the concept of a non-profit joint-stock company was first used in Kazakhstan and contradicted the institution of legal entities in civil law. Such changes and amendments in civil law are an unprecedented phenomenon in the legal systems of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries. There is also a risk that the transfer of higher education institutions to non-profit joint-stock companies may become the legal basis for the illegal privatization of public universities. The authors suggest that the privatization of higher education institutions has been detrimental to the state, and that reform should be addressed based on administrative and legal considerations and through improved university governance models. The modernization of the governance model of public universities according to modern requirements is beneficial to the state and society. The study analyzes the relationship between the university and its stakeholders based on Freeman’s Stakeholder theory. It also identifies deficiencies in legislation that impede the establishment of partnerships between the university and industrial companies and suggests ways to address them.

Students at the center in emerging academic models: embedded information literacy and distance services in the University of Wisconsin System Flex degree

2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (7) ◽  
pp. 12-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin M. Woodward
Keyword(s):  
Information Literacy ◽  
Student Body ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Competency Based Education ◽  
University Of Wisconsin ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Competency Based ◽  
The University

Purpose – As a model of competency-based education (CBE), the University of Wisconsin (UW) System Flex options present a unique case study of challenges and opportunities for embedding student-centered library services and information literacy. Design/methodology/approach – In this paper, we describe strategies for engaging with the evolving Flex curriculum, the needs of an unknown student body and the role of new student support staff. The author notes the relevance of examining the library’s role in Flex at this time, given the potential for growth nationally in CBE. Findings – The challenges the author faced initially were closely tied with opportunities that once examined, formed the basis of the embedded library model for competency-based education. Further, the author found opportunities to articulate their role in Flex on their campus and share with other institutions. Originality/value – This case study is based on the author’s experiences embedding Information Literacy and Distance Services in the Flex option at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document