Western Governors University (WGU) could be a nonprofit,private,online american university based mostly in Salt Lake town, Utah. The university was supported by nineteen U.S. governors in 1997 when the thought was developed at a 1995 meeting of Western Governors Association. WSU uses a competency-based learning model, with students operating on-line. parliamentarian Mendenhall is that the current university president. Its enfranchisement is thru the Northwest Commission on faculties and Universities.
WGU contains four faculties, every giving bachelor's and academic degree programs:the school of data Technology, the school of Business,the junior college, and also the school of Health Professions, which incorporates degrees in nursing. As of Oct 2014, fifty five bachelor's, master's, and post-baccalaureate degree programs, further as teacher endorsement preparation programs, were offered among the four faculties.
Terms accommodates six-month semesters, that begin for individual students on the primary of each month. categories area unit appointed distinctive terms lasting six weeks however students might proceed at their own pace. several categories have students operating within the same general time-frame, to facilitate on-line conferences and discussions, tho' students in any given cohort get to future course as presently as they're able to prove their data. Course mentors offer each cluster and individual instruction further as lenitive on-line discussions.
WGU has competency-based programs for finishing degree and certificate necessities. Competency-based programs enable students to demonstrate through assessments that they need non-heritable the set of competencies levels of needed for a specific degree or certificate. WGU is that the 1st licenced college to use the competency-based approach, driving a growing trend toward competency-based teaching. Former us Department of Education Secretary Arne dancer has explicit , "While such programs (like WGU) area unit currently the exception, i need them to be the norm."
All aspects area unit completed entirely online. The university states that "learning resources are available a range of forms, web-based tutorials, together with textbooks, simulations,and online categories." The university does not develop its own courses, however instead licenses course modules from business suppliers like Pearson and McGraw-Hill.
Performance-based assessments area unit remarkably completed by submitting written assignments through a web service. These submissions area unit checked for integrity by comparison them for distinctive content across thousands of alternative documents submitted at WGU and alternative universities, further as documents on the market on-line. the target assessment part could be a proctored test. Exams area unit typically taken via on-line watching through administered by a web proctoring company like ProctorU or Examity, employing a university-provided digital camera. There aren't any open-book exams.