WICHE ICE enables students, through their home institutions, to seamlessly access high quality online courses and programs offered by other four-year and two-year ICE member institutions. The collaborative model fosters faculty engagement, resource sharing, and innovation.

Collaborative Initiatives

Collaborative Online Workforce Education and Training Portal Demo Project

The U.S. Dept. of Labor and Employment, Employment and Training Administration (U.S. DOL/ETA) awarded the Colorado Dept. of Labor and Employment, Special Projects Unit, a two year grant (6/2008-6/2010) to conduct a demonstration project for the purpose of creating a web presence for online courses in the industry sectors of Energy, Healthcare and Information Technology on the www.e-Colorado.org portal. This project seeks 250 Colorado adults from the targeted populations of veterans, unemployed, incumbent workers, underemployed or career changers to participant in one to two industry identified courses in high growth, high skilled areas. Some scholarship monies are available (up to $3,000 per individual for online courses).

Working through local Colorado Workforce Centers, CDLE will connect with industries to learn what their most pressing high growth and high skilled education and training needs are. It will also look to the Workforce Centers to provide it with the 250 adult participants.

The first priority of this project is to connect the industries and participants initially with online courses available at Colorado community colleges, universities and technical schools. If however, the courses identified are not available within the state, CDLE will work with WICHE ICE and Sloan-C to identify courses within their networks.

At the end of this project, CDLE will work with its national partners – departments of labor in Pennsylvania, Maine, Mississippi, Penn State University, and the Sloan Foundation and Rutgers University to roll out a national model for other states to build from.

WICHE ICE Project Partner Institutions

Adams State College
Regis University
University of Colorado Denver

Areas of Interest

Information Technology
Energy
Healthcare
Transportation

How ICE Works in Project

Students will apply and register with one of the participating Colorado institutions to be his/her home institution for this project. If that institution does not offer the course(s) CDLE seeks, the institution will select an appropriate course to import from an ICE member offering one matching CDLE needs. The student may work with his advisor at his home institution to determine in advance whether the course(s) will apply to a degree program the college offers before registering for it and also whether he can use financial aid. For example, if students are admitted to Adams State College in Colorado and the course they need is offered only by University of Alaska Anchorage (a WICHE ICE member) then Adams State will arrange for students to register for the course just as they would any other Adams State course and it will show on their transcripts as an Adams State course. It is hoped that these students will develop a relationship with Adams State and that they may continue to take additional courses after the conclusion of the project.

Benefits to Partner Institutions

Opportunity to be involved in planning higher education response to state workforce needs
Opportunity to attract new students
ICE membership and administrative fees included in project costs through June 2010

For more information, contact Pat Shea at 303.541.0302 or pshea@wiche.edu

Expand your online academic offerings....

Join WICHE ICE now!

Check out our special promotions for FY 2013!

"Looking for a way to offer online courses that provide your students more choices, stretch your funding, and keep low enrollment programs running? Check out WICHE ICE which provides a proven framework that supports inter-institutional collaboration, pairing providers with institutions that are looking for ways to enhance options."
Sam Gingerich, ICE Chair and System Vice President for Academic Affairs, South Dakota Board of Regents
"While universities and colleges have probably never been able to afford the faculty expertise and course diversity that would best benefit student learning, now during bad economic times it is essential for institutions to share resources in order to enhance learning opportunities and reduce costs. WICHE ICE is a proven organizational and financial structure that allows institutions to share courses and programs effectively, while ensuring that students have enhanced access to learning opportunities without additional administrative burdens."
Maggi Murdock, Associate Provost and Dean, Outreach School, University of Wyoming
ICE supplements the curriculum, allowing students to tap into expertise from around the region. It both broadens and deepens a program’s offerings.

John Dede, Interim Director of the Faculty Technology Center, University of Alaska Anchorage
"There are increasingly compelling reasons for certain programs to be developed and delivered collaboratively, and WICHE ICE provides the logistics for doing so."

Mark Wheeler, Dean, Extended Studies, Boise State University
"I have enjoyed teaching WICHE ICE students through an online course at UAA. They tend to be very engaged throughout the courses."

Becky Porter, Instructor, Center for Behavioral Health Research & Services, University of Alaska Anchorage
(Becky Porter is an instructor for the Center for Behavioral Health Research & Services at the University of Alaska Anchorage. During Spring 2011 and 2012 semesters, she taught a series of three workshops on the topic “fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.” Typically 10 students from another institution enroll in each workshop through ICE.)

"While universities and colleges have probably never been able to afford the faculty expertise and course diversity that would best benefit student learning, now during bad economic times it is essential for institutions to share resources in order to enhance learning opportunities and reduce costs. WICHE ICE is a proven organizational and financial structure that allows institutions to share courses and programs effectively, while ensuring that students have enhanced access to learning opportunities without additional administrative burdens."

Maggi Murdock, Associate Provost and Dean, Outreach School, University of Wyoming

Internet Course Exchange (ICE)