Education Dive has a far-reaching interview with the President of Western Governors University (WGU) touching on topics spanning growth in adult learners, the role of data and technology, disaggregating and shifting instructional roles and the persistent drive to raise course and program completion rates. I could summarize, but wouldn’t be as eloquent or articulate so let’s hear directly what President Pulsipher had to share:
On adult learners and workforce needs…
…by 2020, there’s going to be a 5 million shortfall in the number of degree and certificate holders that will be needed in the workforce. So we set about to address this challenge, recognizing that there will be greater than 30 million adults who will need to be credentialed or to hold a degree, but that it also needs to be become more accessible and affordable.
On changing instructional roles…
The other key factor around this model is the disaggregation of the faculty model. We’ve taken the faculty member and broken down into specific roles. So we have course faculty, and separately, we recognize that our adult learners are juggling many different priorities, so we also take into consideration mentoring that needs to occur to help students stay on progress with degree goals.
On student engagement…
We think about social engagement and how peer to peer interaction happens in a technological model, so we prioritize differently what we consider in the quality of the student experience because the classroom is not one of the key requirements. We have an immense amount of data about student engagement and what those engagements are, with technology, cohorts, and we take this data and evaluate the correlation of those with student progress and outcomes.
On propelling student motivation…
Human psychology is such that, when I see milestones being attained, it accelerates my interest in attaining the next milestone. So that’s a key part of our fast start; helping students realize that they can attain their goal quickly with the right faculty and mentor support models in areas that may be new or big refreshers for them.
On accessibility and affordability…
I would say that in the current kind of horizon, accessibility is a key factor. It’s related to the time they have available for education, geographic limitations or affordability. We need to increase accessibility, and recognize that the Internet has dramatically increased that ability. One of our key value propositions is that you can attain your degree where you are, which will allow you to find work where you are without relocation or transition into different work environments.
The second thing is affordability, and we believe we are among the few addressing the cost side of higher education. No one is reducing the costs of education, which is growing more than twice the rate of inflation, but everyone is happy to figure out new loan models or grants, so they can pay for it.
And it wouldn’t be a complete discussion without touching on big data, analytics, learning science and outcomes…
Applying technology and data and learning science gives us a lot more science about how individuals learn, and how can we change so that attainment is forever improving.
Check out the full interview on Education Dive at the link below.
Office Hours: Western Governors’ Scott Pulsipher talks affordability and access
