The Programs and Services unit is where students thrive and institutional leaders collaborate. The unit’s primary goals are to broaden student access and success and to foster higher education collaborations that address institutional strategic goals. The Programs and Services unit manages WICHE’s three Student Access Programs and other initiatives that help institutions and students — undergraduate, graduate, and health professional — save money and efficiently use available resources. The unit also oversees initiatives that bring together the West’s higher education leaders to address shared goals and concerns and develop a new cadre of college and university leaders. The Programs and Services unit notes when a particular topic or issue warrants further exploration. The unit works with campus leaders to create communities of practice, often grant funded, to examine these issues and explore solutions. Additionally, the unit helps institutions achieve cost savings through several programs in collaboration with the Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC), which created and administers the joint purchasing programs.

The Policy Analysis and Research unit supports better informed decision-making by providing policy analysis and data resources and leveraging its convening power to foster regional collaboration. The unit leads research projects and collaborative initiatives focusing on open educational resources, the West’s workforce challenges, and supporting postsecondary education and completion. WICHE staff provides expertise on higher education issues, including demographic change, governance, equitable opportunity in higher education, adult learners, state and federal financial aid, finance, articulation and transfer, federal policy, and college completion initiatives. WICHE is responsible for implementing the Western region’s State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (W-SARA). The unit’s publication series, WICHE Insights, explores a wide range of significant policy issues. The unit also undertakes major long-term grant-funded projects, collaborates with other regional and national organizations, and provides short-term technical assistance to WICHE partners.

The WICHE Behavioral Health Program, established in 1955, seeks to support the public systems of care and the workforce that serve people with behavioral health issues and their families. The program pursues this mission through partnerships with state behavioral health agencies, federal agencies, advocacy and consumer groups, and higher education institutions. The WICHE BHP’s activities focus on direct technical assistance to state and local agencies, policy analysis and research, support of state behavioral health agency data analysis, and higher education liaison activities to enhance workforce development and campus behavioral health.

WCET promotes collaboration and information-sharing related to educational technologies in higher education. Established in 1989, WCET’s mission is to be the leader in the practice, policy, and advocacy of digital learning in higher education. It works in three divisions: WCET membership, State Authorization Network (SAN), and Every Learner Everywhere (ELE). Memberships through WCET and the SAN support hundreds of higher education professionals across the U.S. and Canada. ELE advocates for equitable outcomes in U.S. higher education through advances in digital learning. WCET’s strategic plan focuses on practice, policy, equity, and community in fulfilling its vision of advancing learner access and success through postsecondary digital learning for a more equitable world.