WICHE brings together senior academic leaders to foster dialogue about issues facing individual institutions through its leadership and professional development networks.

WESTERN ALLIANCE OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE ACADEMIC LEADERS – 2-YEAR INSTITUTIONS

•   Aims Community College
• Arapahoe Community College
•  Colorado Community College System
•  Colorado Northwestern Community College
•   Community College of Aurora
•   Community College of Denver
•   Front Range Community College
•  Lamar Community College
•  Morgan Community College
•  Northeastern Junior College
•  Otero Junior College
•  Pikes Peak Community College
•  Pueblo Community College
•   Red Rocks Community College
•   Trinidad State College

WESTERN ACADEMIC LEADERSHIP FORUM – 4-YEAR INSTITUTIONS

•   Metropolitan State University of Denver
•   Colorado State University
•   Colorado State University – Pueblo

Laura Niesen de Abruña, Metropolitan State University of Denver, will serve as a primary faculty member for the Academy as of July 2024.

WESTERN ACADEMIC LEADERSHIP ACADEMY is a year-long professional development program for academic leaders aspiring to become chief academic officers in the WICHE region. Twelve cohort members from Colorado institutions have participated in the Academy since its inception in 2015.

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 can benefit from three programs: MHECtech, which provides competitively bid purchasing contracts for an array of hardware, software, and technology services; MHECare, which provides a student health insurance plan and teletherapy services; and a MHEC Cyber Insurance Program, which offers risk transfer and advisory solutions. Learn more.

Colorado participates in the STATE AUTHORIZATION RECIPROCITY AGREEMENT (SARA) through WICHE. This voluntary agreement provides reciprocity for the state authorization of distance education.

WICHE ACADEMY FOR LEADERS IN THE HUMANITIES is a leadership development program for aspiring academic leaders with a background in the humanities. The two-year fellowship consists of campus-based and external mentoring, a three-day in-person seminar, and an extended project. Tina Butterfield, Western Colorado University, and Thomas Dunn, Colorado State University, are participating in the 2023-25 cohort.

WICHE Behavioral Health Program (BHP) administers the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP). In Colorado, the RCORP program supports three grantees across four sites: Memorial Hospital, San Luis Valley Area Health, and Gunnison County.

The BHP Together With Veterans Program, focused on reducing Veteran suicides, also has two sites in Colorado, one in the San Luis Valley and one in Morgan County (Brush), serving more than 2,000 rural Veterans combined.

Knocking at the College Door is the leading U.S. resource for projections of college-ready students. Knocking, which includes a quadrennial publication with additional analysis, is essential for postsecondary policymakers, planning and workforce efforts, and economic development.

WICHE offers curated data and policy resources to support better-informed decision-making:

•  Tuition and Fees in the West includes tuition, fees, and enrollment data about 350+ public institutions in the West.
• Benchmarks: WICHE Region presents information on the West’s progress in improving access to, success in, and financing of higher education.
•   Data on over 35 indicators in WICHE’s Regional Fact Book for Higher Education in the West.

CHIEF ACADEMIC OFFICERS NETWORK Staff from the Colorado Department of Higher Education also participate in regular collaborative calls with colleagues around the region.

WCET- The WICHE Cooperative for Education Technologies is the leader in practice, policy, and advocacy of technology-enhanced learning in higher education. The University of Colorado System, Colorado Community College System, and 22 other institutions and organizations are WCET members.

Erika Swain, University of Colorado Boulder, serves on the WCET Steering Committee. Mordecai Ian Brownlee, Community College of Aurora, serves on the WCET Executive Council.

Additionally, Aims Community College,  American Sentinel College of Nursing & Health Science at Post University,  Colorado School of Mines,  Colorado Technical University,  Regis University & OCICU,  University of Colorado – Boulder,  University of Colorado – Colorado Springs,  University of Colorado – Denver,  University of Colorado System, and the  University of Northern Colorado are members of the State Authorization Network (SAN), which helps guide institutions through state regulations around online courses and programs.

WICHE has convened the OERWest Network, which is part of a nationwide collaborative to scale the development and adoption of free course materials. Open educational resources (OER) have shown promise in improving student outcomes, particularly for poverty-affected students, for whom the high cost of textbooks can be a barrier to postsecondary success.