Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education

Michelau appointed new president of WICHE

Dr. Demarée Michelau
WICHE president

At WICHE's Fall Commission meeting November 9, Dr. Demarée Michelau was appointed president of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, a role she will assume by January 1, 2019. Michelau will lead WICHE’s 65-member staff from WICHE’s Boulder, Colo. office and manage WICHE’s $27+ million annual budget. 

A 16-year veteran of WICHE, Michelau brings outstanding higher education and leadership acumen to this role, most recently in her current role as WICHE's vice president of policy analysis and research in which she has led the thought-leadership and production of numerous higher education initiatives on behalf of state and institutional partners throughout the Western United States. 

Student savings surpass $417 million through WICHE Student Access Programs in 2018-19

America’s largest interstate higher education tuition-savings programs set records in 2018-19 for students enrolled and dollars saved. More than $417.7 million was saved by 42,579 students on three programs managed by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) across its 16 member states and territories.

WICHE awarded $900,000 for recognition of learning research initiative

Thanks to a $700,000 grant from Lumina Foundation and $200,000 in funding from Strada Education Network, WICHE is embarking upon “Recognizing Learning in the 21^st Century: A Research Initiative to Inform Policy and Practice,” a national 18-month effort led by WICHE's policy analysis and research team.

This WICHE effort, which launched in December 2018, incorporates a landscape analysis of postsecondary education recognition of learning policy and practice, and an evaluation of primary learning assessment methods and their impact in relation to student and workforce outcomes. Much of this work will be conducted with partners including the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL), which will play a core role evaluating learning assessment methods using student data. Read more about this initiative here.