1. Western Governors University Vision of Competency Based Learning

2. WGU History  Created 15 years ago by 19 governors  Grand experimental site for ED  Non-profit, private, online university  Competency Based learning from the “opening bell”  Fully eligible for Title IV funds from “opening bell” 2

3. WGU History Continued  Nonterm initially  Switched to nonstandard term  Terms are 6 month in length  Students required to attend fulltime  Geared towards adult learners ◊ Must come to WGU with prior college experience 3

4. Competency Based – How We Make it Work  Algorithm ◊ We developed an algorithm that equates our competencies into credit hours ◊ Approved by ED ◊ Allows us to follow ‘traditional’ credit hour model for awarding and disbursing Title IV aid 4

5. Algorithm  Objective Unit Taxonomy 1. Know 2. Know How 3. Show How 4. Do 5. Be (dispositional) 5

6. Algorithm Cont.  CU Algorithm: ◊ Determine cognitive match for each objective in a subdomain; ◊ Assign the weight as listed in Objective Unit Taxonomy – prior slide; ◊ Sum the values above for the subdomain in question; ◊ Multiply the sum above by 0.0424; then, ◊ Round the result to the nearest whole number ◊ This is the number of CUs to be assigned 6

7. How WGU Makes It Work Cont.  Industry standards for competencies  Very active advisory boards  Biometrics and other identity verification standards 7

8. University of Wisconsin System Flexible Option: An Operational Review 8

9. Committee Structure

10. Operations: Working Groups  Admissions  Advising  Registrar  Bursar  Financial Aid

11. Operations: Short-term Planning  Financial Aid ◊ Flex Program Financial Aid Eligibility ◊ Processing Structure -Drawing Admissions/WI residency data -3 Month Term -Credit assignment -Establishing FT/PT and Class Level at beginning of term -Calculate Award -Disbursement of aid -Evaluate academic progress at end of term(Pass/Fail/Incomplete) -FA Academic Progress Evaluation -Return of Title IV Funds ◊ Evaluate Resource Requirements ◊ Define Short Term vs. Long Term Plan and begin Long Term Planning ◊ Begin drawing out Transition Plan from UWM to UWEX

12. Operations: Long-term Planning  Considerations for the future ◊ Scalability ◊ Iterative design process—will likely need to make adjustments ◊ Will have a suite of IT systems Student Information System, Customer Relationship Management, Student Dashboard Need for IT collaboration and exchange

13. Operations: Long-term Planning ◊ Setup, Processing and Workload Central database = central module processing? Local access = daily processing on two systems? Degree conferral MUST be at campus level ◊ Integration with External Reporting Systems

14. What’s Done and What’s Next  Higher Learning Commission approval  DOE approvals  Assessment development  Curation of content

15. Contact Information Jamie Malone Department of Education Jamie.Malone@ed.gov 312.730.1528 Sue Allmon Western Governors University Sue.allmon@wgu.edu 877.435.7948 ext 5821 Dr. Jane Hojan-Clark University of Wisconsin Milwaukee jhojan@uwm.edu 414.229.6300 15

16. QUESTIONS? 16