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Programs and Services

Programs and Services is responsible for several initiatives that foster regional collaboration and resource sharing. We manage WICHE’s three Student Exchange Programs and work with member states to broaden student participation; develop innovative initiatives that support the region’s students and institutions; and work with legislators to find out how to best meet the needs of our member states.

WICHE’s Student Exchange Programs provide financial assistance to students in the West and opportunities for resource sharing to the region’s institutions. In 2003-04, some 20,000 students and their families saved more than $90 million in reduced tuition costs by participating in the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE), the Professional Student Exchange Program (PSEP), and the Western Regional Graduate Program (WRGP).

More institutions and programs continue to join WUE, which had a record 18,850 students participating last fall. In 2003-04, we simplified annual WUE enrollment reporting by providing electronic access for institutions to input data; we also developed a regionwide database for states to use as an academic planning tool via the WICHE Web site. In addition, we launched a study on the impact of WUE to better understand how institutions, states, and students benefit from this regional program; Christopher Morphew, a visiting faculty member from the University of Kansas, leads the project, which will determine if there are specific state or institutional policies that could foster increased student use of the program and identify ways to support states’ access and enrollment needs.

PSEP, our first exchange program, currently enrolls over 700 students. In PSEP, students usually pay resident tuition (or reduced tuition in private institutions) and sending states pay an additional “support fee” for each of the professional fields. Thirteen Western states provide support for students in 14 fields: in addition to graduate nursing, which was added in 2003, the fields include architecture, dentistry, medicine, graduate library studies, occupational therapy, optometry, osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, physician assistant, physical therapy, podiatry, public health, and veterinary medicine. Another postgraduate program, WRGP, makes high-quality, distinctive graduate programs available to students at resident tuition levels. WRGP now includes 148 programs in some 38 institutions in all WICHE states except California.

WICHE has launched another innovative project that’s designed to provide students and states with new professional-education options. NEON (Northwest Educational Outreach Network) works with the higher education systems and institutions in nine WICHE states, helping them to utilize distance learning to respond to their unmet educational needs. Last year, we started developing the first three NEON programs: a nursing Ph.D.; a graduate-level certificate program in logistics/global supply chain management; and a graduate-level certificate program for library media specialists. NEON was created in partnership with the Northwest Academic Forum (see below) and funded by a three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE). Programs and Services also partnered with WCET to develop the consortium and foster regional academic collaborations. Participating states and higher ed institutions partner with other states to offer programs at a distance or to jointly create new programs. Developing distance-delivered programs in high-need professions – such as a Ph.D. for nursing educators – is a top priority.

WICHE is the secretariat for the Northwest Academic Forum (NWAF), a 10-state group of institutions and state policymakers which fosters regional resource sharing and promotes innovative and collaborative efforts among its member institutions. WICHE worked with the forum’s executive committee to plan its annual meeting, “Spurring Innovation and Collaboration in Higher Education,” held in April at the University of Nevada, Reno, and attended by the provosts, academic vice presidents, and chief academic officers of member institutions and states.

Another technology-focused project is the American TelEdCommunications Alliance, an initiative created by the four regional higher education compacts (the Midwestern Higher Education Commission, the New England Board of Higher Education, the Southern Regional Education Board, and WICHE) and MiCTA, a nonprofit technology association, to promote the joint procurement of educational telecommunications and advanced technology. Programs and Services is working to inform colleges and universities, the K-12 sector, and other nonprofit organizations in the 15 Western states about opportunities to become members and purchase telecommunications services and technology at lower costs, as well as to gain access to information about state-of-the-art telecommunications services. The mix of products and services available includes voice, video, and computer network and Internet products; computer hardware and software; power and energy management programs; library equipment; office supplies and equipment; and training. In 2003, ATAlliance members were offered an array of e-learning course management system software, as well.

During 2003-‘04 we continued to communicate with our key constituencies to broaden their understanding of WICHE's programs and services. One way we keep in touch is via our Legislative Advisory Committee, which convened its annual meeting in mid-July in conjunction with the annual meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures to discuss the fiscal challenges states are facing throughout the region and other important higher ed issues.

Another way we connected with our constituencies last year: throughout 2003 and into early 2004, we hosted celebrations of WICHE’s 50th anniversary in each of our member states to commemorate their participation in the commission. The celebrations included an anniversary dinner at the University of Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium (home of the 2002 Winter Olympics), with an address by former Utah Governor Mike Leavitt and with most of the WICHE commissioners in attendance. WICHE’s other 14 states held their anniversary galas throughout the year, with several – Alaska, Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, and Wyoming – hosting legislative receptions. Resolutions honoring WICHE’s partnership with the states were passed by the legislatures of California, Colorado, Hawaii, and New Mexico. A short version of “A History of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education,” by former Student Exchange Program chief Frank Abbott, was published in time for the November commission meeting (the full-length version will be published this summer).

One last area we focus on is our region’s workforce needs. Our Student Exchange Programs offer options to export and import students based on current economic and social needs and to provide students with access to high-demand, high-cost disciplines, particularly in health care professions, some of which are seriously understaffed in a number of states. Two years ago we worked with states and institutions to identify emerging workforce needs in high-demand areas and to assess institutional capacity within the region to meet those needs. Last year, we addressed those needs through our Student Exchange Programs (in particular, through the addition of graduate nursing to PSEP); NEON’s academic programs; and through an initiative we’re working on with the Mental Health Program to boost the number of mental health professionals in rural areas.

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