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

•  Great Basin College
•  Truckee Meadows Community College

Jeff Alexander, Truckee Meadows Community College, serves on the Alliance executive committee.

WESTERN ACADEMIC LEADERSHIP FORUM – 4-YEAR INSTITUTIONS

•   Nevada State College
•   Nevada System of Higher Education
•   University of Nevada, Las Vegas
•   University of Nevada, Reno
• Western Nevada College

Kate Hausbeck-Korgan, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, serves on the Forum executive committee.

WESTERN ACADEMIC LEADERSHIP ACADEMY is a year-long professional development program for academic leaders aspiring to become chief academic officers in the WICHE region. Seven cohort members from Nevada 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.

Nevada 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. Laura Decker, Nevada State University, is participating in the 2023-25 cohort.

WICHE Behavioral Health Program (BHP) continues to support the Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health for the ongoing operations and accreditation of the Nevada Psychology Internship Consortium (NV-PIC), which aims to increase the number of psychologists in Nevada and build the state’s behavioral health workforce.

Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP) is a multiyear initiative supported by the Health Resources & Services Administration to identify treatment barriers and best practices for preventing and treating substance use disorder.  In Nevada, the RCORP program supports two grantees: Community Chest and Nye Communities Coalition.

The BHP Together With Veterans Program, focused on reducing Veteran suicides, also has one relatively new program in Pahrump, Nevada, which to date has served nearly 8,500 rural Veterans.

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.

WICHE has provided technical assistance to the Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents for efforts to examine postsecondary education governance.

WCET- The WICHE Cooperative for Education Technologies is the leader in practice, policy, and advocacy of technology-enhanced learning in higher education. The College of Southern Nevada; Great Basin College;  Nevada State College; Nevada System of Higher Education; Truckee Meadows Community College; University of Nevada, Las Vegas; University of Nevada, Reno; and Western Nevada College are WCET members.

STATE AUTHORIZATION NETWORK (SAN) helps guide institutions through state regulations around online courses and programs. SAN members include  Great Basin College;  Nevada State College;  Nevada System of Higher Education;  Roseman University of Health Sciences;   Truckee Meadows Community College;  University of Nevada, Las Vegas;  and University of Nevada, Reno.

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.