WICHE Publications : Technology and Innovation

  • WICHE 2013 Workplan

    WICHE and its 15 member states work to improve access to higher education and ensure student success. Our student exchange programs, regional initiatives, and research and policy work allow us to assist constituents throughout the West and beyond. In fiscal 2013 WICHE's four units - Programs and Services, Policy Analysis and Research, Mental Health Program, and WCET - will strive to assist the West's institutions and students, focusing on five areas: finance; access and success; workforce and society; technology and innovation; and accountability. In the 2013 Workplan, we describe existing activities, as well as initiatives that are new directions or on the horizon, by unit. Along with a brief narrative of each project, we include its focus area/s; priority in terms of WICHE's mission; funding source and amount; staffing level; timeline; organizational partners; and state institutional partners.

    2012 ~ 29pp. ~ PDF ~ 515 kb~ DOWNLOAD

  • Crisis/Opportunity — WICHE 2011 Annual Report
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    In the face of dwindling state support to adequately fund higher education, we know we still need to produce more postsecondary graduates; and because we need to reach deeper into the low-income and minority communities to do so, controlling costs and keeping tuition affordable is critical. Along with challenging economic circumstances (and in some cases because of them), four issues have come to the forefront in the West, in addition to the key issue of productivity: performance funding; governance changes; accountability; and innovation. It is clear that the demands on our higher education systems and our institutions will continue to grow and that state funding levels will not keep pace. Let's hope the last year, challenging though it was for many states, yields more such innovations in the future.

    2011 ~ PDF ~ 949 KB~ DOWNLOAD

  • Crisis/Opportunity : WICHE 2011 Workplan
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    Even while funding to our colleges and universities has declined, a college degree has retained its value. As a nation, and as individuals, we can’t afford to be poorly educated today. As President Obama said in his state of the union address, “In the 21st century, the best anti-poverty program around is a world-class education.” The opportunity, then, for the West is one that generations of Americans are familiar with: to do more with less. Dealing with scarcity – whether of institutions or programs or dollars – has been at the heart of WICHE’s mission since the beginning.

    2010 ~ 20pp. ~ PDF ~ 563 KB~ DOWNLOAD

  • WICHE ICE Operations Manual
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    The goal of WICHE ICE is to benefit students through increased access to courses and programs in a variety of disciplines while they continue their interactions with the faculty and advisors of their home institution without interruption. The majority of this operations manual focuses on the exchange of individual courses, and this is also the mechanism by which the sharing of programs among institutions will be conducted. The appendices provide sample documents for WICHE ICE, such as the memorandum of agreement between WICHE ICE and institutions, procedures for joining WICHE ICE, a detailed course record form, and more information regarding student agreements and student services. They also include a growing repository of resources for those engaged in course or program exchanges.

    2009 ~ 51pp. ~ PDF ~ 577 KB~ DOWNLOAD

  • Are Your Online Students Really the Ones Registered for the Course? A WCET Briefing Paper

    This is a WCET Briefing Paper on the pending federal legislation concerning the authentication of distance education students. The paper provides an overview of the proposed legislation and describes some strategies to promote academic integrity in distance education (e.g. prevention approaches, compliance approaches). It provides a general overview of ways to promote academic integrity.

    2008 ~ 3pp. ~ PDF ~ 30 KB~ DOWNLOAD

  • Higher Education : The Engine of Economic Opportunity - WICHE Workplan 2009
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    In fiscal 2009 WICHE and its four units - Public Policy and Research, Programs and Services, WCET, and Mental Health - will work to build a better education engine via our efforts in our five areas: finance, access and success, workforce and social issues, technology and innovoation, and accountability.

    2008 ~ 19pp. ~ PDF ~ 256 KB~ DOWNLOAD

  • The Funding of Academic Collaborations
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    This paper presents the results of a survey “Academic Collaborations,” which are defined as inter-institutional organizations that share resources to increase institutional capacity for, sharing of, and access to technology-mediated courses and programs. Findings focus on sources of revenue, amount of funding, and effective funding models. U.S., Canadian, and multi-state/province organizations were included in the study

    2008 ~ 52pp. ~ Pub #2A366 ~ PDF ~ 1.6 MB~ DOWNLOAD

  • WICHE ICE Implementation Guide
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    WICHE's Internet Course Exchange (ICE) enables institutions to meet student, state, and workforce needs cost-effectively by exchanging high quality, Internet-delivered courses and programs.The WICHE ICE Implementation Guide is designed to provide more detail on the processes outlined in WICHE ICE Operations Manual — How to Begin, Developing a Timeline, Questions to Consider.

    2007 ~ Web page ~ LINK

  • MIT & EduTools: Peer Comparison of Course/Learning Management Systems, Course Materials Life Cycle, and Related Costs

    Results of a benchmarking study, performed under contract for MIT, provides comparative data from ten peer institutions regarding their use and support of Course/Learning Management Systems.

    2006 ~ 90pp. ~ PDF ~ 444 KB~ DOWNLOAD

  • WICHE ICE Database User Manual

    Online instructions to help faculty and administrators list their shared courses in the WICHE ICE online catalog.

    2006 ~ Printed copies available ~ Web page ~ LINK

  • The Distance Learner's Guide

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    A comprehensive guide introduces prospective students to distance education providers and options, strategies and tips to be a successful distance learner, and types of student services and online resources available. To purchase a copy of the book, go to: Prentice Hall or Amazon.com.

    2005 ~ 176pp. ~ Pub #ISBN-10: 0131145401 / ISBN-13: 9780131145405 ~ Printed copies available

  • Technology Costing Methodology CD-ROM
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    The Technology Costing Methodology (TCM) project, a collaboration between WCET and NCHEMS, is an authoritative tool for analyzing costs of instructional approaches that make heavy use of technology. This CD-ROM includes all of the procedures, spreadsheets, and tools to conduct your own analysis.

    2004 ~ CD ~ LINK