A set of recommendations from WICHE to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) advocating for broadband for education.

November 2009 ~ 3pp. ~ PDF ~ 44 KB~ DOWNLOAD

This report is the latest update of WICHE's annual report on tuition and mandatory fees at public institutions in WICHE's 15-state region, including an institution-by-institution historical review of tuition changes from year to year, as well as those from one, five, and ten years ago.

November 2009 ~ 71pp. ~ Pub #2A346H ~ PDF ~ 1.93~ DOWNLOAD

This paper presents a framework for how a multi-sector, multi-state data resource might be designed and governed. It is based on discussions and ongoing initiatives across several WICHE states, especially an effort involving the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Hawaii, to develop a prototype multi-state data exchange. Brian Prescott and Peter Ewell wrote A Framework for a Multi-State Human Capital Development Data System describing the results of WICHE and its partners’ work on this topic.

October 2009 ~ 18pp. ~ PDF ~ 311 KB~ DOWNLOAD

This report presents information on the West’s progress in improving access to, success in, and financing of higher education. The information is updated annually to monitor change over time and encourage its use as a current tool for informed discussion in policy and education communities, focusing demographics related to Access, Success, and Finance in the West. Figures 1-15 available in Excel file format, below.

October 2009 ~ 4pp. ~ PDF ~ DOWNLOAD

Article by Mike Abbiatti

Broadband networks in the United States, such as Internet2 and the National LambdaRail, can provide a platform for the research community and the K-20 classroom community to launch a dialog about how we can effectively share infrastructure and expertise via powerful teaching and learning applications across the curriculum. This article invites the research and instructional communities to start a dialogue about scaling the resources of Internet2, the National LambdaRail, and other high performance networks across the curriculum via creative and innovative applications.

October 2009 ~ 1pp. ~ LINK

October 2009 ~ 8pp. ~ PDF ~ 134 KB~ DOWNLOAD

This article penned by James Werle and Louis Fox and published in the September/October 2009 issue of Multimedia & Internet@Schools magazine.

September 2009 ~ 20pp. ~ PDF ~ 1.6MB~ DOWNLOAD

Final Evaluation Report Administration of the State Scholars Initiative by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education: October 1, 2005 – August 25, 2009. This final evaluation report summarizes and synthesizes the findings of four years of formative evaluation reports addressing WICHE’s administration of SSI.

August 2009 ~ 40pp. ~ PDF ~ 194 KB~ DOWNLOAD

American higher education has been on a collision course with financial reality for more than 25 years. This unprecedented economic downturn gives us a chance to finally find new models that will preserve quality and access, but within a less expensive paradigm. WICHE helps find solutions that will sustain higher education, not just through the current crisis but over the long haul.

August 2009 ~ 24pp. ~ PDF ~ 268 KB~ DOWNLOAD

This report details what has been learned from the experiences of WICHE's State Scholars Initiative business-education partnerships and school districts. It provides data on the impact that an SSI-type initiative can have on students, schools, and districts and offers a roadmap for future leaders who are designing programs that leverage the input of the business community to promote a rigorous high school curriculum, including innovative ideas, lessons learned, and promising practices.

August 2009 ~ 16pp. ~ PDF ~ 786 KB~ DOWNLOAD

This Web-based Toolkit contains information and tools to implement state of the art suicide prevention practices and overcome the significant hurdles this life-saving work faces in primary care practices. The Toolkit is a collaborative project of the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) and the Western Interstate Commission of Higher Education (WICHE), Mental Health Program. Although the tools are designed with the rural practice in mind, most are quite suitable for use in non-rural settings, as well.

Order a Toolkit Now

Hard copies of the toolkit are available for $25.00 (plus shipping and handling) through WICHE Mental Health Program.

For more information, please contact Jenny Shaw at jshaw@wiche.edu.

July 2009 ~ Printed copies available ~ Web page ~ LINK

This list of best practice strategies is based on “Institutional Policies/Practices and Course Design Strategies to Promote Academic Integrity in Online Education,” produced by WCET in February 2009 and updated in April 2009. In May 2009, the Instructional Technology Council (ITC) surveyed its membership to invite feedback and additional strategies to enhance the WCET work. This June 2009 document reflects the combined contributions of WCET, the UT TeleCampus of the University of Texas System, and ITC.

June 2009 ~ 4pp. ~ PDF ~ 150 KB~ DOWNLOAD

This evaluation addresses how business-education partnerships involved in the national State Scholars Initiative (SSI) administered by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) are influencing high school student course-taking.

June 2009 ~ 24pp. ~ PDF ~ 2.37 MB~ DOWNLOAD

Powerpoint presentation by Louis Fox, Vice President of WICHE Technology and Innovation.

June 2009 ~ 12pp. ~ PDF ~ 845 KB~ DOWNLOAD

Colorado is the only state in the nation that distributes taxpayer dollars to its public higher education institutions principally (though not exclusively) through a voucher program, known as the College Opportunity Fund (COF). WICHE’s Policy Analysis and Research unit was commissioned by the Colorado Department of Higher Education to conduct an evaluation of the COF and related policies, which was required by its enacting legislation.

May 2009 ~ 57pp. ~ PDF ~ DOWNLOAD

This article, published in the Chronicle for Higher Education, discusses colleges' need for a new approach to serving students with mental-health problems, whose numbers are likely to rise as a result of the economic crisis.

May 2009 ~ 3pp. ~ PDF ~ LINK ~ DOWNLOAD

“Protecting Our Priorities,” WICHE’s fiscal 2010 workplan, focuses on how we can ensure that all our students not only have access to higher education but are well-equipped to succeed at college and able to pay for it.

May 2009 ~ 20pp. ~ PDF ~ 1.1 MB~ DOWNLOAD

A white paper prepared by a national collaboration of higher education organizations, including WICHE, describing the need for a national broadband strategy that begins with America’s colleges, universities, schools, libraries and hospitals.  The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act includes $7.2 Billion to extend broadband network connectivity to unserved and underserved communities to be distributed by the Department of Commerce and the Department of Agriculture.  The contributing authors/organizations propose a national broadband strategy and rationale that build on higher education’s success and experience with advanced networks and, in particular, their efforts to ensure that high quality educational programs reach the broadest audiences.

April 2009 ~ 9pp. ~ PDF ~ 98 KB~ DOWNLOAD

This document is the annual evaluation report from the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS) for the period October 1, 2008 through March 31, 2009. This is also NCHEM’s last evaluation report of SSI state performance under WICHE’s State Scholars Initiative program administration with federal funding.

April 2009 ~ 123pp. ~ 2 MB~ DOWNLOAD

March 2009 ~ 8pp. ~ PDF ~ 507 KB~ DOWNLOAD

This literature review is intended to serve as an overview of the studies that are relevant to our research project, which has been supported by Lumina with the purpose of identifying and promulgating best practices in statewide transfer and articulation systems in public higher education

February 2009 ~ 20pp. ~ PDF ~ 206 KB~ DOWNLOAD

The Campus Computing Project and WCET joined together to develop and conduct the first “Managing Online Education” survey in the Summer of 2009. Survey results were first presented at the WCET Annual Conference on October 22, 2009. Link to materials and presentations of the survey results.
 

2009 ~ LINK

WICHE partners with the Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC) to be the premier property insurance program for MHEC and WICHE institutions and to maintain a leadership position in underwriting, loss control, coverage, and costs.

2009 ~ 10pp. ~ PDF ~ LINK ~ 305 KB~ DOWNLOAD

The goal of WICHE ICE is to benefit students through increased access to courses and programs in a variety of disciplines while they continue their interactions with the faculty and advisors of their home institution without interruption. The majority of this operations manual focuses on the exchange of individual courses, and this is also the mechanism by which the sharing of programs among institutions will be conducted. The appendices provide sample documents for WICHE ICE, such as the memorandum of agreement between WICHE ICE and institutions, procedures for joining WICHE ICE, a detailed course record form, and more information regarding student agreements and student services. They also include a growing repository of resources for those engaged in course or program exchanges.

2009 ~ 51pp. ~ PDF ~ 577 KB~ DOWNLOAD