Right-Sizing the Bachelor’s Degree: WGU Wins Three National Awards in Education, Innovation, and Research
April 16 2024 - 1:32PM
Western Governors University (WGU) announced today the university
has won three United States Distance Learning Association’s (USDLA)
Awards, showcasing the university’s commitment to driving
innovation, research, and leadership outcomes that reimagine the
higher education system. The USDLA Distance Learning Awards were
created to acknowledge major accomplishments in distance learning
and to highlight instructors, programs, and professionals who have
achieved and demonstrated extraordinary achievements through the
use of online, videoconferencing, and satellite/video delivery
technologies globally.
WGU won in the following categories:
- Trendsetter in
Distance Learning (Silver): Right-Sizing the Bachelor’s Degree,
Sub-120 Credit Hour Degree Programs
- Outstanding
Research (Gold): WGU Labs, CIN EdTech Student Survey
- Outstanding
Leadership (Silver): Michelle Jungbauer, Environmental Barriers
Program
“WGU believes deeply in creating personalized pathways to
success that can be traveled by any individual,” said WGU Chief
Academic Officer and Provost Courtney Hills McBeth. “The work being
done to right-size the bachelor’s degree and by Michelle’s
Environmental Barriers Program embody this core organizational
value. We also congratulate WGU Labs’ work in the CIN EdTech
Student Survey. This research will continue to inform instructional
strategy for years to come, both within our university and across
the distance education landscape.”
For WGU’s Right-Sizing the Bachelor’s Degree Initiative, the
university collaborated with accreditors to reduce required
coursework and renew focus on a competency-based approach where
students can move on as soon as they are able to demonstrate
competency in a given subject. The result is an academic program
that in many cases requires less than 120 credit hours to train
students to industry standard.
The EdTech Student Survey — conducted by The College
Innovation Network at WGU Labs and the program that won Gold in the
Outstanding Research category — has been tracking the
student experience in an increasingly tech-enabled higher education
system for the last three years. The resulting data, from over
3,000 students, revealed more technology in higher education can be
valuable for expanding access and engagement to learners from
underserved groups – particularly first-generation college
students.
“The insights gleaned directly from students in this survey are
key to improving the student experience in a tech-driven
educational future,” said Betheny Gross, Director of Research at
WGU Labs. “To be recognized for our work is an honor, and we hope
that our work will inspire new solutions that improve the learning
experience whether students are learning entirely online or using
tech in classrooms.”
Michelle Jungbauer — the 2024 Distance Learning Awards
Silver Award winner in Outstanding Leadership and the creative mind
behind WGU’s now award-winning Environmental Barriers Program
— designed the program to collaborate across the WGU student
support network, minimizing students’ environmental academic
barriers due to tornadoes, wildfires, hurricanes, floods,
pandemics, and other major public safety events. Jungbauer is a
Senior Manager of Student Wellbeing, under the university’s
Specialized Student Services department.
WGU will accept the awards at this year’s USDLA National
Conference. For more information about WGU’s degree programs,
Michelle Jungbauer, or the Environmental Barriers program, contact
us (publicrelation@wgu.edu) or visit www.wgu.edu. To learn more
about the CIN EdTech Student Survey, contact Labs at
info@wgulabs.org or visit www.wgulabs.org.
###
About Western Governors University (WGU): A nonprofit, online
university established in 1997 by 19 U.S. governors with a mission
to expand access to high-quality, affordable higher education, WGU
now serves more than 170,000 students nationwide and has
awarded more than 360,000 degrees to nearly 320,000 graduates
in all 50 states. Driving innovation as the nation’s leading
competency-based university, WGU has been recognized by the White
House, state leaders, employers, and students as a model that works
in postsecondary education. In less than 30 years, the university
has become a leading influence in changing the lives of individuals
and families, and preparing the workforce needed in today’s rapidly
evolving economy. W GU is accredited by the Northwest Commission on
Colleges and Universities, has been named one of Fast
Company’s Most Innovative Companies, and has been featured on
NPR, NBC Nightly News and CNN and in The New York
Times. Learn more
at wgu.edu and wgu.edu/impact.
- Right-Sizing the Bachelor’s Degree: WGU Wins Three National
Awards in Education, Innovation, and Research
Tommy Cochran
Western Governors University
385-428-5177
tommy.cochran@wgu.edu