Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources

WICHE is closely monitoring the outbreak of “SARS-CoV-2,” and the disease it causes, which has been named “coronavirus disease 2019” (abbreviated “COVID-19”). To inform and facilitate your response to a rapidly changing situation, WICHE has compiled the following set of resources, which will be updated as new information becomes available.

WICHE 2019 Annual Report

This WICHE Annual Report is a thorough recap of our work in FY 2019 (July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2019), with detailed information on our projects, policy work, student access programs, behavioral health initiatives, and financial information. Check out the full report

WICHE, WCET part of efforts to develop national network to support scaling, adoption of OER

Boulder, CO – College and university leaders are working across state lines to reduce barriers faced by students and to empower faculty with access to a wide range of instructional materials. WICHE and its sister regional higher education compact organizations (MHEC, NEBHE, SREB) and WCET (WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies) are exploring the development of a national network to support scaling and adoption of Open Educational Resources (OER).

WICHE elects new officers for 2019-20

Camille Preus, of Oregon, named chair; Susan Anderson, of Alaska, named vice chair; Ray Holmberg, of North Dakota, to serve as immediate past chair

Camille Preus, executive director of the Oregon Community College Association (OCCA), has been elected as the 2020 chair of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) at WICHE’s biannual commission meeting, held in Denver on Nov. 7-8, 2019. Preus most recently served as the WICHE Commission vice chair. She replaces the outgoing chair, North Dakota State Senator Ray Holmberg, who will serve as immediate past chair. Susan Anderson, president and CEO of The CIRI Foundation and a WICHE commissioner representing the state of Alaska, was elected vice chair. The chair, vice chair, and immediate past chair serve as officers of the WICHE Commission.

Jessica Rowland Williams named director of Every Learner Everywhere

BOULDER, Colo. – Jessica Rowland Williams has been named director of Every Learner Everywhere (Every Learner), a network of 12 partners strengthening digital learning in postsecondary institutions. WCET (WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies) serves as the intermediary for Every Learner Everywhere.

“Every Learner Everywhere’s focus on using digital and adaptive learning technologies to improve collegiate outcomes for underserved students is a very important mission in today’s world,” said Russ Poulin, WICHE’s vice president of technology-enhanced education and executive director of WCET. “I’m confident Jessica Williams will be a great leader who will bring our Network partners together to achieve these goals.”

A Tale of Two Pities: Revisited

A dozen years ago, David Longanecker wrote an article in Change, “A Tale of Two Pities,” that described the colliding perspectives of two communities—those who provide higher education and those who create and sustain the policy environment in which it functions. Each of these communities is committed to ensuring that Americans have broad access to high-quality postsecondary education. But each often perceives the other’s views and actions as antithetical to its own, thereby undercutting progress toward their shared goal.

This article, with two knowledgeable and experienced coauthors, reviews the evolution of the “two pities” dynamic presented 12 years ago and describes the current situation. Unfortunately, not much has changed.

The Chicago School of Professional Psychology Joins Groundbreaking College Transfer Network

BOULDER, Colo. – The Chicago School of Professional Psychology (TCSPP) becomes the first institution in Illinois to join the Interstate Passport Network (IPN), a nationwide network of two- and four-year colleges and universities that allows students to transfer lower-division general education credits as a block to any IPN member institution. With TCSPP’s membership, the network consists of 32 institutions across 14 states.