BOULDER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 12, 2009--
A consortium of adult-serving colleges and universities, including
American Public University System, has launched a new initiative aimed
at adult learners seeking better information in choosing an institution
offering degrees through distance education. The initiative, called
Transparency by Design, launched a website that gives adult learners new
information to accelerate and better inform their decision making
process. The website www.collegechoicesforadults.org
will offer adult learners information on program-level learning
outcomes, how outcomes are measured and how students performed on these
measures. In the next stage, still in development, adult learners will
have access to student satisfaction, progress rate, and other data on
each member institution participating in the initiative.
“At the American Public University System, we have been committed to
transparency and the value of posting our learning outcomes on the web
since 2005,” said Wallace E. Boston, Jr., President of APUS. “We are
pleased to be associated with an excellent group of like-minded
institutions.”
“Adults make up nearly 85 percent of all higher education enrollments
today,” said Michael Offerman, President Emeritus of Capella University
and Chair of Transparency by Design’s Executive Committee. “Our goal
with the initiative is to enable adults to make informed choices about
higher education options by providing them with program-level learning
outcomes, measurements and results that are difficult to find
elsewhere,” said Offerman.
The Transparency by Design initiative which resulted in the College
Choices for Adults website was born out of The President’s Forum, which
is a consortium of both traditional and non-traditional institutions
sharing information about successful operation in an online environment.
WCET (formerly the Western Cooperative for Educational
Telecommunications), a division of the Western Interstate Commission for
Higher Education (WICHE), was chosen to provide quality assurance on the
standards of data reporting jointly developed by the charter
institutions of the Transparency by Design initiative.
The initial website launch will include data for each institution and
will grow over time. In addition, upcoming features to be added in the
future include:
-
Third-party test of general education skills administered by
Educational Testing Services (ETS);
-
Third-party assessment of satisfaction of online learners administered
through Noel-Levitz;
-
Results from the Community College Survey of Student Engagement
(CCSSE);
-
Enhanced search functionality within the site;
-
Comparative data analysis tools to help adult learners focus in on
selection factors important to their educational goals;
-
Additional data from each member institutions; and
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Data from new member institutions joining the initiative after the
initial launch.
“We want student-centered tools and data. This isn’t about colleges
promoting their wares, but creating an environment where we can help
adult students make more informed choices on attending college, what
opportunities there are to learn at a distance and what institutions
match up on their needs. We’re excited to roll out more services to help
students make informed choices,” says Russ Poulin, Project Director of
Transparency by Design and Associate Director of WCET.
Transparency by Design is funded by a generous grant from Lumina
Foundation for Education and by contributions from each of the member
institutions. Charter members of the initiative are: American
InterContinental University Online, American Public University System,
Capella University, Charter Oak State College, Colorado Technical
University, Excelsior College, Franklin University, Kaplan University,
Regis University, Rio Salado College, Southwestern College Professional
Studies, Union Institute and University and Western Governors
University. Data from charter members, along with members that choose to
join the initiative at a later date, will be added to the College
Choices for Adults website regularly.
Lumina Foundation for Education is committed to enrolling and
graduating more students from college — especially low-income students,
students of color, first-generation students and adult learners. The
organization’s goal is to increase the percentage of Americans who hold
high-quality degrees and credentials to 60 percent by 2025. Lumina
pursues this goal in three ways: by identifying and supporting effective
practice, through public policy advocacy, and using communications and
convening power to build public will for change. Additional information
on the Lumina Foundation for Education can be found at www.luminafoundation.org.
American Public University System includes American Public
University and American Military University and educates more than
50,000 adult learners worldwide. APUS’s relevant curriculum,
affordability and flexibility helps working adults pursue degrees in
subjects ranging from homeland security to management and liberal arts.
A university book grant supplies textbooks at no cost for eligible
undergraduate students. For more information, visit www.apus.edu.
The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE)
works collaboratively with its’ members to expand educational access and
excellence for all citizens of the West. WICHE is the only organization
in the western United States that focuses exclusively on higher
education issues, from access and accountability to tuition and fees to
distance learning and innovation. In addition to Transparency by Design,
WICHE’s other adult-focused programs include Non-Traditional No More,
College Access Challenge Grant Program and Best Practices in Statewide
Transfer and Articulation Systems. For more information about WICHE,
please visit www.wiche.edu.
WCET (formerly the Western Cooperative for Educational
Telecommunications) is a cooperative network of member institutions and
organizations that provides a leading source of critical thinking and
expertise on the evolving role of technology in higher education. WCET
has a long standing tradition of involvement with quality assurance
having been an integral part of the Best Practices for Electronically
offered Degree and Certificate Programs written with the Council of
Regional Accrediting Agencies, CENTSS an audit service which helps
institutions benchmark their online student services developed with
MnSCU and is currently partnering with the Campus Computing Survey to
administer the first “Managing Online Programs” survey. For more
information about WCET visit www.wcet.info.
The Presidents’ Forum was established in 2004 and is hosted by
Excelsior College. The forum is a collaboration of accredited, national,
adult-serving institutions and programs which have embraced the power
and potential of online education. The Mission of the Presidents' Forum
is to advance the recognition of innovative practice and excellence in
online learning. Additional information on The Presidents’ Forum can be
found at http://presidentsforum.excelsior.edu.
The College Choices for Adults website can be found at www.collegechoicesforadults.org.
Source: American Public University System
American
Public University System
Renée Hockaday, PR Manager
703-334-3868
rhockaday@apus.edu
or
Russ
Poulin, Project Director
Transparency by Design Initiative
Associate
Director, WCET
303-541-0305
rpoulin@wiche.edu