Western Governors University (WGU) is a private, non-profit, private American online university based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The university was founded by 19 US governors in 1997 after the idea was formulated at the 1995 meeting of the Western Governors' Association. The University uses a competency-based learning model, with students working online. Scott D. Pulsipher is the current university president, after joining the WGU on April 11, 2016; WGU's first President, Robert Mendenhall, is emeritus president and remains a member of the WGU Watchdog Board. WGU offers courses accredited by NWCCU, NCATE, CCNE, CAHIIM, and ACBSP.
The September 2017 federal audit concluded that many WGU programs do not offer regular and substantive interaction with an instructor, and many curricula fail to meet federal eligibility standards for financial aid. The school denied the findings, and the Ministry of Education was reviewing the audit. A spokesman for the Ministry of Education and others has noted that the school has enjoyed bipartisan support and has been hailed as innovative, and it has been reported that the Department "will not follow up on the inspector general's recommendations".
Video Western Governors University
History
The WGU was formally established in 1997 in the United States by governors from 19 US states. It was first proposed by Utah's governor Mike Leavitt at the annual meeting of the Western Governors' Association in June 1995. Officially proposed in November next, and in June 1996 each state signing of the state governor committed $ 100,000 towards the launch of new university-based competencies. While seed money is provided from government sources, the school should be established as a non-profit private non-profit organization. In January 1997, 13 governors in hand to sign the articles of establishment formally started a new university.
In 2001, the US Department of Education awarded $ 10 million to establish Teachers College, and the first program offered in Information Technology. In 2003, the university became the first school to be accredited in four different areas by the Inter-Regional Accreditation Committee. In 2006, the fourth college, College of Health Professions, was established, and Teachers College school became the first online teacher preparatory program to receive NCATE accreditation. In 2010, the first state branch established by WGU Indiana, was founded by Mitch Daniels, the governor of Indiana, and the school reached 20,000 students for the first time. In 2011, Bill & amp; The Melinda Gates Foundation provides $ 4.5 million for WGU Indiana and WGU Texas and WGU Washington creations.
On January 8, 2013, Bill Haslam, governor of Tennessee, announced the creation of the Tennessee WGU. On January 28, 2013, Governor Jay Nixon of Missouri, in his annual state address in the State, announced the establishment of WGU Missouri, creating a fifth state-based subsidiary of WGU. And on June 16, 2015, Governor Brian Sandoval of Nevada launched WGU Nevada, the sixth state WGU. The WGU subsidiaries share the same academic model, faculty, service, accreditation, tuition, and curriculum with the WGU and are established to provide official state support and enhance name recognition for WGUs in those countries, as well as student qualifications from affiliates to aid-based countries. The WGU does not maintain a physical campus for these institutions.
As of December 31, 2017, the university has 91,436 currently enrolled students, and over 100,000 people have graduated from the institution.
The average age of WGU students is 37 .
President of WGU
Affiliate
In addition to being established by the governor, some states have online school affiliations. Although state funding in some instances is used for making, each school is self-sufficient through tuition and donations and is overseen by the WGU board with the local state advisory and advisory councils. The WGU branch online campus offers the same curriculum and programs as accepted by the national WGU student body, and accreditation is done through the WGU.
WGU Indiana
WGU Indiana is WGU's first satellite school, founded on June 11, 2010, on the orders of executive governor Mitch Daniels. At its founding, Daniels stated "Today we mark the beginning of, in the truest sense, Indiana's eighth state university." With this partnership, WGU Indiana is approved for state grants and Indiana scholarships offered through the Indiana State Student Support Commission (SSACI). Students graduating from Ivy Tech, state public university systems, can take advantage of articulation agreements that allow them to transfer all credits, waive registration fees, and receive a 5% discount on tuition fees. The school is based in Indianapolis. Dr. Allison Barber is the school chancellor.
WGU Washington
WGU Washington was formed in April 2011, with the approval of House Bill 1822. It was signed into law by Governor Christine Gregoire. Former governor of Washington State, Mike Lowry is one of the founding governors of the university. A bill passed in April 2013 makes students eligible for state grants such as schools in the country. Transfer agreements allow students who graduate from state universities to receive a 5% discount. Founder of the Washington Chancellor is former President of Bellevue University Jean Floten. Floten retired in 2017. Richard Cummins, Ph.D., who is President of Columbia Basin College, became Chancellor today in April 2017.
WGU Texas
Governor Rick Perry of Texas founded WGU Texas in August 2011 with Executive Order RP 75. His predecessor Perry George W. Bush was one of the founding governors of the university. Creation is supported by Rep Dan Branch, the Republican House Education Committee leader and Senator Judith Zaffirini, Chair of the Democrats of the Senate Education Committee. It calls on the Board of Higher Education Coordination of Texas, Texas Education Agency and the Texas Workforce Commission to assist its establishment. The state school will have a Governor-appointed Council of Advisors and based in Austin. Dr. Steven Johnson is the current Texas Chancellor.
WGU Missouri
Governor Jay Nixon first announced the creation of WGU Missouri in his annual state speech in the State in January 2013. He signed Executive Order 13-04 officially starting a new school. He stated "(Missouri) has a great chance for higher education, and I'm proud to say that we just added another one.WGU Missouri." It was created using funds from the Federal Community Development Grant Fund and a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The school has its own local advisory and advisory board, Dr. Angela (Angie) Besendorfer. Students are eligible for state grants. It's based in Jefferson City.
WGU Tennessee
Governor Bill Haslam announced the creation of the Tennessee WGU in January 2013. The initiative is part of a "Drive for 55" plan to bring state graduation rates up 55%. The school begins with grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and $ 5 million in one-off state funds. Students are eligible for state financial aid. The school, based in Franklin, has a local chancellor, Kimberly K. Estep, Ph.D., and advisory board. WGU Nevada
Governor Brian Sandoval created WGU Nevada with a proclamation and memorandum of understanding with WGU, launching its sixth online WGU campus on June 16, 2015. It was made with a $ 2 million grant from the United Student Aid Funds and does not require state startup funding. At launch, WGU has more than 900 students and more than 850 alumni in Nevada. Dr. Spencer Stewart was appointed Chancellor of the WGU Nevada.
WGU North Carolina
North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest announced WGU North Carolina along with WGU President Scott Pulsipher, launched the seventh WGU online campus on October 5, 2017. The establishment of WGU North Carolina was authorized by the North Carolina General Assembly and the Governor in October 2015. The State took $ 2 million and the University garnered $ 5 million of committed contributions by Strada Education Network, the LEAF Golden Foundation, and Dell Loy Hansen, private donors. Catherine Truitt will lead WGU North Carolina.
Maps Western Governors University
Government
The WGU is governed by the Board of Trustees and many state governors. The Supervisory Board provides corporate governance above the university. The Trustees establish a policy for the university, and serve as the legitimate owner of the WGU and the final authority. Overall the Board of Supervisors holds the agency's resources in trust and is responsible for ensuring that resources are used efficiently and effectively.
Composition of the Supervisory Board
Academics
All students in the WGU are assigned mentors who work who are faculty members, and together they create a personalized Academic Action Plan (AAP) for the student's degree plan. Mentor advises and helps students from enrollment through completion of a degree. AAP's private students are based on courses agreed between the student and the assigned mentor. The AAP tracks the progress of the course students completed through the six-month term. Students at WGU have control over how many courses they complete per semester, but are required to complete a minimum number of courses each semester to maintain full-time status. The requirement consists of a six-month "rolling" semester, which begins for individual students in each of the first months. Classes are given each term for six weeks but students can proceed at their own pace. Many classes have "groups", or students working in the same general timeframe, to facilitate online meetings and discussions, even though students in each group progress to the next course as soon as they can prove their knowledge. Mentor courses provide group and individual instruction as well as moderate online discussions.
WGU consists of four colleges, each offering undergraduate and master programs. In October 2014, 55 undergraduate, master, and post-graduate programs, as well as teacher support preparation programs, were offered among four universities.
Military Advanced Education & amp; Transitions and Viqtory Media have repeatedly referred to WGU as a military-friendly institution in their annual report.
Colleges
WGU offers online undergraduate and master programs through the following colleges:
Ratings
WGU is listed as "Not Unranked" in the 2018 News and World Report 's 2018 ranking of colleges and universities.
In 2015, the National Council for Quality Teachers (NCTQ) rated the WGU secondary education program scored highest in the best grades in teacher education and the National League for Nursing named College of Health Professions WGU, Center of Excellence. In 2014, the US News and World Report , in the academic rankings of teacher education programs with NCTQ, placed WGU # 1 in the country for secondary teacher education among online and traditional universities. In 2013, WGU was named one of the 50 most innovative companies in Fast Company 'Most Inovative Companies Issue, ranked # 28. In recent years, WGU has become the nation's premier producer, in terms of number of licensed graduates, science teachers and mathematics. The WGU has also received the 21st Century Award for Best Practices in Distance Learning from the Association of USA Distance Learning on several occasions.
Methodology
WGU has a competency-based program to complete the degree and certificate requirements. Competency-based programs enable students to demonstrate through an assessment that they have obtained a set of competencies (level of knowledge, skill or ability) required for a particular degree or certificate. WGU is the first accredited school to use a competency-based approach, fostering a growing trend toward competency-based higher education. Former Secretary of the United States Department of Education Arne Duncan has stated, "Although such programs [like WGU] are now exceptions, I want them to be the norm."
All aspects (with the exception of demonstration teaching for teacher licensing programs and clinical experience in pre-licensed programs for nurses) were completed completely online. The university states that "learning resources come in many forms, including textbooks, web-based tutorials, simulations, [and] online classes." The university does not develop its own program, but only module licenses from commercial providers such as Pearson and McGraw-Hill.
Performance-based assessment is usually accomplished by submitting written assignments through online services. Delivery is checked for integrity by comparing it with other document databases submitted to the WGU and other universities and other documents available online. The objective assessment component is the test that is achieved. Trials are usually taken online and monitored by a proctoring company such as ProctorU or Examity using a university-provided webcam. There are no open-book exams.
Reception
WGU has a multi-step acceptance process. Admission requirements differ depending on which academic program the student chooses to attend. Many programs require an Associate degree from an accredited college or a certain amount of related and verifiable work experience in a field where students want to study. Schools do not need a SAT or ACT score to enter. Undergraduate programs require students to have a high school or GED certificate and pass a School Collegiate Readiness Assessment, and entry into all courses requires interviews with WGU enrollment counselors to determine whether a competency-based approach is appropriate for students.
Passing rate
The US Department of Education lists graduation rates in the WGU as 26%. This rate tracks college students' first graduation, which is less than 1% of all WGU students. Internal tracking rates for all students as reported by the university are 49%.
Student demographics
The University of Westerners students of mature students include military, federal and state civil servants, working adults pursuing a first or second degree, and students who take additional courses in preparation for graduate school. WGU students are 63% female, 37% male and average age 37.
University governance
As a private, non-profit university, the WGU is governed by a supervisory board composed of state governors, educators, and business and industry leaders. In addition, the National Advisory Board of the university consists of leaders from private companies and foundations that support the university. Current members include Google, Microsoft, Bill & amp; Melinda Gates Foundation and AT & amp; T among many others. Each satellite school also has a local advisory and advisory board within the state. Course competencies are determined with input from third-party boards comprised of business, academic, and industry leaders, who guide the university in determining successful graduates in a particular degree program must know to be a valuable employee.
The university has no physical campus and does not participate in inter-college sports.
Faculty
The WGU's disaggregated faculty consists of student mentors (faculty members who advise and guide students throughout their degree programs), mentor courses (course material experts, teachers, and guiding students through special courses), program faculty (who oversee the course content) and the evaluation faculty (which assess/assess the task). The University has more than 2,000 faculty members, most of whom work full-time (exceptions as part-time assessment evaluators).
Academic integrity
Some Western Governors University programs require students to take the exam with an online supervisor looking at the students as they complete the exam. Online surveillance is the monitoring or input of the assessment made remotely. The online lawyer verifies the identity of the test taker and monitors to prevent cheating using a variety of methods, including live views, record-and-reviews, and automated authentication. Online proctoring services for WGU offer identity verification and monitoring assessment services.
Some courses require an assignment to be completed using the Taskstream software package and Turnitin service to check the assignment for plagiarism.
Accreditation
WGU is regionally accredited by the Northwest Commission at Colleges and Universities. The WGU says it is the first and only university to be reviewed and awarded accreditation by four different regional accreditors.
In 2006, WGU Teachers College became the first exclusive online school to receive accreditation from the National Council for Teacher Education Accreditation (NCATE).
In May 2009, the WGU nursing education program was accredited by the Collegiate Nursing Education Commission (CCNE). The initial accreditation, which has a period of five years, is awarded after a process which includes site visits as well as a review of the WGU's nursing curriculum. In May 2014, CCNE expanded WGU accreditation by June 2024. "Western Governors University Acquired CCNE Accreditation for 10 Years Again".
In 2011, WGU's B.S. in Health Informatics Degree received accreditation from the Accreditation Commission for Informatics of Health and Education Information Management (CAHIIM).
By 2018, WGU High School is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Schools and Business Programs (ACBSP).
2017 audit of US Department of Education
The audit by the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Education, released on September 21, 2017, "concludes that Western Governors University does not comply with institutional eligibility requirements that limit the percentage of regular students who can enroll in correspondence courses" and that "at least 69 of 102 programs are not designed to offer regular and substantive interaction with instructors and, therefore, does not meet the definition of distance education regulation. "As a result, the audit found that most of the programs at the University fell short of the standards required for Title IV of the Federal Financial Aid Act as outlined in a 1992 law that defines the feasibility of financial assistance. The Office of the Inspector General of the US Department of Education recommends that WGU pay back the federal government more than $ 712 million.
Liz Hill, a spokesman for the Department of Education, said in a statement to the Salt Lake Tribune that they are reviewing the Inspector General's report, while also saying "the first innovative student model used by this school." and others like it have received bipartisan support over the last decade. "
In response to the WGU attached to the final audit report, WGU President Scott D. Pulsipher said "The findings in the OIG report are based on misinterpretations and misappropriation of legal and regulatory guidelines." He said "OIG has implemented arbitrary definitions and archaic interpretations of the instruction and role of faculty" which "are not aligned with the law or consistent with current online-and technology-enabled models".
Paul Fain, news editor for Inside Higher Ed, said the "much anticipated high-risk audit" had begun more than four years earlier and the findings were "unsurprising to most observers", because of their dependence on legislation 1992 which defines the eligibility of assistance for distance education programs. He noted that the Inspector General had previously criticized the accreditation assessment for a competency-based education program by 2015, in part due to concerns about the number of interactions between faculty and students. He reports that "Experts say the Trump Administration is unlikely to follow up on the inspector general's recommendations, which the department can reject," and that "WGU enjoys a good track record with its accredited and bipartisan broad supporters in Washington, with the Obama administration often praising the university as an innovator. "
Tuition Fee
By 2018, the tuition fee for WGU is $ 3.190 per six-month term for most undergraduate programs. Tuition fees are subject to a flat rate per six months, regardless of the number of courses taken or credits completed except in the last term of the degree plan when the tuition fee is projected for credit taken.
Alumni Association
The Western Governors University Alumni Association is the official alumni association for Western Governors University. This organization runs a number of programs. In January 2018, there were over 98,000 total alumni for Western Governors University. Western Governors University alumni can be found in all 50 states and many countries around the world. In addition, more than 350 serve in the United States Armed Forces.
References
External links
- Official website
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments