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How Government and Educational Institutions in the West Can Save Money
There’s strength and economies in numbers, especially when it comes to institutional expenses in areas such as health insurance and information technology. Thanks to collaboration with the Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC), one of four U.S. regional higher education compacts, WICHE-region educational institutions, nonprofits, and public education entities all benefit from MHEC programs, including:
Health Insurance
MHECare Student Health Solutions provides student health insurance plan options from national carriers.
Technology
Technology contracts enables more than 1,600 WICHE-region institutions and organizations (including K-12 districts, government entities, and education nonprofits) to buy hardware, software, and IT services through competitively bid cooperative agreements.
Contracting and Procurement Community of Practice
Request for Participation
WICHE seeks participation from up to 20 institutions of higher education (be they universities, community colleges, or associated state boards of higher education) in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawai’i, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, and the U.S. Pacific Territories and Freely Associated States for participation in a community of practice focused on the rising operational costs of technology contracts. The community of practice will meet on a quarterly basis for discussion, problem-solving, learning, and resource-sharing.
Please notify Olivia Tufo, otufo@wiche.edu, no later than June 2, 2025, if interested.
| WHO | Chief Finance Officers (CFOs) and their staff, Chief Business Officers (CBOs) and their staff, and Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) and their staff, Chief Learning Officers (CLO) and their staff, procurement officers, or risk managers
Institutional participants will be asked to invite key stakeholders from across campus to different community of practice activities (for instance, WICHE may ask that you invite your Vice President of Student Success and their staff to a specific meeting focused on the impact of rising operational costs on students) |
| WHAT | Quarterly community of practice meetings
Virtual learning and workshop opportunities Based on interest, possibility for facilitated working groups based on specific concerns or institution types |
| WHEN | Participation from June 2025 to June 2026 |
| WHERE | No travel required; Will use online platform |
| WHY | There is an ongoing need for transparency and resource-sharing as technology and other operational costs continue to rise unpredictably. Institutions facing unanticipated price increases and service decreases in the essential technology solutions that facilitate operations at their institutions are faced with difficult decisions about how to prioritize their budgets and avenues by which they can defray rising costs. |
For more information, please contact:
