Facing the Future

University of Wyoming

Outreach School

Version I

1 April 2002

The University of Wyoming Outreach School

Facing the Future

The present may change slowly or quickly, moderately or radically, predictably or unpredictably, but change is constant and

The future holds the possibility of taking many forms.

As the University of Wyoming initiates the discussion that will lead to the second round of Academic Planning, the Outreach School* has also begun to prepare itself for the futures that may face it.  Effective preparation for the future requires the School to transform itself into a learning community:  every individual is critical in the search for knowledge and the sharing of learning that will form the foundation for good decisions to guide the School.  While we prepare for the future, however, we renew our dedication to the mission of the School:  To extend the University of Wyoming's educational programs to the state of Wyoming and beyond.

In 1999, the University began to define and focus its efforts through its first Academic Plan.  As the next cycle of academic planning begins, ten broad institutional issues have been identified to initiate discussion about how the institution’s academic programs can best move forward.  These issues are institutional themes and academic focus, budgeting for faculty positions, curricular breadth, diversity, internationalization, assessment, technological infrastructure, learning communities and retention, and outreach instruction.  To begin its discussion as part of Academic Planning II, the Outreach School has identified four themes that encompass the ten institutional issues and provide a platform to define effective ways for the Outreach School to support the University’s planning goals.  These themes are

· Learning

· Access

· Partnerships and synergy

· Accommodation of growth

The following discussion explains the Outreach School themes within the context of the identified institutional issues.  The discussion of institutional issues and Outreach School themes will continue for a number of months.  We hope that many will share their views about these themes and issues with us by sending ideas and suggestions to the Outreach School Dean’s Office:  shart@uwyo.edu.

· This discussion of Outreach School themes should be understood to include learning in its broadest sense.  Thus, all units within the Outreach School should be understood to be included in the discussion of these themes and the questions that will help frame the discussion of them.

v Learning 

The purpose of any university, indeed any school, is learning.  At the University of Wyoming, learning

§ takes place through teaching, research, and service,

§ takes many forms, and

§ takes place in a variety of locations. 

The Outreach School is instrumental in extending the University’s academic and non-credit programs to the state of Wyoming and, with the advent of online instruction, beyond the boundaries of the state. 

The institutional issues that fall most naturally under the theme of learning are curricular breadth, graduate education, assessment, learning communities and retention, and outreach instruction. 

Questions that will help frame this discussion include

Ø How can effective learning best be designed and supported, especially at outreach sites or when student learning takes place in a time or place separate from the instructor?

Ø What undergraduate and graduate degree programs and certificates or non-credit opportunities can and should be delivered at a distance? 

Ø How does the size and complexity of the curriculum affect the ability to deliver degree programs at outreach sites or through distance media?

Ø What are the best ways, in partnership with academic departments and colleges, to assess the knowledge and skills of students when they enter outreach academic programs, as they progress through outreach academic programs, and when they complete their academic programs?

Ø Can the development of the Outreach School as a learning community enhance its ability to function effectively in partnership with academic colleges and departments?

Ø How can the Outreach School, in concert with academic colleges and departments, develop effective learning communities among outreach students to enhance their learning and their identification with the University? 

v Access

Access is an essential theme for the Outreach School and for the institution as a whole:  as we foster learning in its various forms within our democratic society, we must be inclusive.  Access is the concept that defines the atmosphere, structure, and processes that encourage participation in and sharing of the resources and programs of the University, especially the availability of learning in its various forms.  Institutional issues included in the access theme are institutional themes and academic focus, diversity, internationalization, and technological infrastructure.

Questions that will help frame this discussion include

Ø How can the Outreach School help make attendance at and interaction with the University more open, inclusive, and available?

Ø How can the Outreach School make learning in its various forms available and effective? 

Ø What balance can and should be struck between the need to focus on and devote resources to a “carefully designed set of institutional themes” and the need to provide broad access to the University?

Ø How can the Outreach School enhance the University’s ability to attract and retain a more diverse community of students, faculty, and staff? 

Ø How can the Outreach School support the University’s leadership in modeling understanding and practice that will promote the awareness and acceptance of diversity in its many forms within Wyoming?

Ø In what ways can the Outreach School partner with departments, colleges, and other UW units to create international program and learning opportunities for non-traditional and site-bound students?

Ø How can the Outreach School encourage and support the development of an appropriate institutional technological infrastructure so that learning is enhanced and access is expanded?

Ø How can the Outreach School support the University’s leadership in expanding and enhancing the technological infrastructure of the state to promote research, learning, and economic development opportunities? 

v Partnerships and synergism

“Partnerships are paramount for the Outreach School” was one of the early conclusions from the scenario planning process initiated by the Outreach School in 2001-2002.  Since the Outreach School is a delivery unit, its very raison d’être is grounded in partnerships with academic colleges and departments, as well as the support units of the institution like student affairs, library, information technology, and facilities planning and physical plant.   The success of the Outreach School is also dependent upon external partners as well:  Wyoming community colleges, life long learning centers, K-12 schools, the state telecommunications office, among others.  Partnerships do not present obstacles for the Outreach School.  Rather, they are opportunities, especially for synergism. *

Institutional themes included in partnerships and synergism are outreach instruction, budgeting for faculty positions, curricular breadth, graduate education, assessment, diversity, internationalization, technological infrastructure, and learning communities and retention. 

Questions that will help frame this discussion include

Ø What partnerships can and should the Outreach School pursue to enhance learning and access?

Ø What are the characteristics of the most effective and partnerships between the Outreach School and academic colleges and departments, and how can those characteristics be achieved and maintained?

Ø How can the Outreach School partner with academic colleges and departments to increase resources to support budgeting for faculty positions and outreach instruction?

Ø How can the Outreach School help promote synergistic interactions with academic colleges, departments, and support units in order to ensure appropriate curricular breadth (at both the undergraduate and graduate levels) so that “All university students…have access to high-quality degrees that can be completed in a timely, cost-effective, and flexible manner?”

Ø Questions included under the learning and access themes are also applicable here.

v Welcoming Growth

The continuing demand for outreach academic programs is reflected in increasing outreach enrollments.  For example, between the fall 2000 and fall 2001 semesters, the number of students enrolled in the University’s academic courses and programs through the Outreach School grew 22%.  By Spring 2002, just over 18% of the University’s students were enrolled through the Outreach School.   Even as the Outreach School serves more University of Wyoming students with an increasing number of courses and programs, a variety of delivery media, and more support services to enhance student learning, it has become more central to the institution’s mission and it enjoys more support from all sectors of the institution.  The Outreach School must work with academic colleges and departments, administrative and support units, and external partners to develop new ways to accommodate this growth to better support learning and access. 

All the institutional themes are included under the theme of the accommodation of growth. 

Questions that will help frame this discussion include questions noted in the discussion of the learning, access, and partnerships and synergism themes, as well as these:

Ø How can the Outreach School accommodate growth while maintaining and enhancing student learning and access to the University’s programs and resources?  

Ø How can the Outreach School most effectively help to moderate the impact on the resources of academic colleges, departments, and support units that is produced by growth in outreach academic programs?

Ø How can and should the resources of the Outreach School best be arrayed in order to accommodate growth appropriately?

Ø How can technological networks and processes be utilized effectively to help the Outreach School accommodate growth?

Ø How can the Outreach School best construct its partnerships with external entities like Wyoming community colleges and the state telecommunications networks in order to accommodate growth?

*  “the joint action of agents…that when taken together increase each other’s effectiveness.” (Random House Webster’s College Dictionary, 2000).