Selected publications from WCET, a WICHE program. Contact WCET for a complete list of publications and audio-visual materials. The following publications may be ordered from WICHE:

Over the next few years, MIT will post on the Web the core material for more than 2000 of its courses. Thanks to this OpenCourseWare (OCW) program, an academic treasure trove will be available for noncommercial use, free of charge, to anyone with Internet access, anywhere in the world.

In December 2001 WCET, with the support of the Hewlett Foundation, convened a forum of higher education leaders to discuss the implications of such an initiative. The issues ranged from institutional policy to intellectual property to the program's promise for the developing world. The report of this forum is available here in PDF format.

In July 2002, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation supported a meeting hosted by UNESCO and chaired by WCET staff to examine the implications of MIT’s OpenCourseware and other open educational resource projects with representatives from universities in developing countries. Read the UNESCO report here.

WCET's official newsletter provides members with updates on WCET projects, the activities of WCET members, and feature articles on policy development or member accomplishments. Available free online.

George P. Connick, Editor

The Distance Learners' Guide (ISBN 013939513X), published by Prentice Hall is available on amazon.com for $20.00.

Prentice Hall published this comprehensive student guide, developed and written by members of the Western Cooperative and its staff.  Together with its companion Web site, the user-friendly guide explores the complex and rapidly expanding field of distance learning and the issues that are key to being a successful student in this environment.  Copies can be ordered through your local bookstore or directly from Prentice Hall via a school account at 800.922.0579 or as an individual purchase at 800.282.0693.  ISBN:  0-13-939513-X

Peter Dirr

This report is available online and gives an in-depth examination of the results of a survey of 417 higher education institutions.  The survey asked which services institutions are currently providing distance learners, how they are providing those services, and how they value their current services.

Appendices to the report are also available online and include the survey instrument, a list of data tables, and the actual data tables used to analyze survey responses.

Barbara Krauth, Jennifer Carbajal

The Guide is intended to help higher education institutions develop effective online approaches to delivering student support services. It provides tips for designing effective online student services, guidelines for basic good practice in delivering these services via the Internet, and examples of effective institutional implementations of online student services. The report is available online only.

No charge

The 2001 and 2000 annual reports highlight the Western Cooperative's project activities, publications, grant awards, services, and membership. Available online.

Pub. 2A322, December 1998, videotape, $25.

This is a videotape of a national satellite teleconference on "On-line Education" produced by the Western Cooperative.  Representatives from Archipelago, International Thomson, and Pearson Education (formerly Simon & Schuster) displayed their on-line syllabus/course organizers, web-formatted textbook content, CD-Rom's, on-line lessons, on-line test facilities, animated simulations, grade books, and on-line research resources.  Order from WICHE Publications.

John Witherspoon

Pub. 2A283, July 1997, $15 members of Western Cooperative, $22 nonmembers.

This casebook is intended for those involved in planning their own institution's future in distance education.  Built on the experience of nearly two dozen American institutions and organizations, the book is organized around contrasting approaches to issues ranging from students' "time and place" problems to the growing role of the university in career-long professional education.  Major themes include faculty issues, management of student services, technologies and their purposes, and the ways in which institutions organize their distance education programs.  Introductory chapters discuss the changes taking place in higher education, technologies that are increasingly important to education, and practices necessary to maintain quality.  Throughout, the emphasis is not on the machinery, but on offering effective programs to students who need them.  Order from WICHE Publications.

Pub. 2A300, April 1997, no charge for first 10 copies, $.25 per copy for quantities of more than 10

This is a primer on distance education for prospective distance learners.  It emphasizes the questions to ask of distance education programs a student might be considering and points to some pitfalls to avoid.  The "Principles of Good Practice in Electronically Offered Academic Degree and Certificate Programs" are included.  Available online or order from WICHE Publications.

Pub. 2A299, May 1997, $5 members and nonmembers.

This document illustrates the range of approaches that can be taken in implementing the "Principles of Good Practice in Electronically Offered Academic Degree and Certificate Programs."  Specific examples are provided of how institutions and programs in the West are putting the Principles into practice.  The programs highlighted in the document were nominated by the higher education agency in the states in which they are located as exemplifying good practices in distance education.  Order from WICHE Publications.

Pub. No. 2A281, May 1996, $18 members of Western Cooperative, $25 nonmembers.

The California State University System's California Young Scholar Program (CYSP) offered college-credit classes via distance education technologies to rural high schools throughout the state. This report documents the results of the Western Cooperative's quantitative and qualitative Project evaluation.  Narratives describing student, parent, high school staff, and evaluator reactions provide insight into how universities can work with rural schools.  Order from WICHE Publications.

Pub. No. 2A260, 1995, free to members, $5 non-members.

This inventory describes the licensing and approval procedures and required filing fees that an out-of-state institution would need to meet to recruit students and offer programs (via telecommunications or not) in states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.  Order from WICHE Publications.

Pub. 2A272, 1995, $3 members of Western Cooperative, $6 nonmembers.

The audience for this workbook is institutions that are just beginning to offer (or still considering) distance learning courses and programs.   The author suggests that these institutions must first examine campus policies pertaining to traditional on-campus programs and then consider how these policies may need to change to support distance learning.  The essence of this workbook is fifty questions to guide this self-examination.  Order from WICHE Publications.

Pub. No. 2A237, September 1993, $8 members of Western Cooperative, $12 non-members.

Key planning and management issues related to facilities, library collections, costs, personnel, and services are presented in an easy-to-use checklist for distance educators and library directors. Brief case studies from California State University, Chico, Colorado State University, University of Alaska Southeast, University of Maine at Augusta, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and University of Wyoming are included.  Order from WICHE Publications.

Updated 11/13/2002