The WGU Alumni Advisory Board and staff are working together to bring WGU students and alumni together throughout the country – in person!
WGU alumni volunteers have graciously agreed to host and organize the event alongside our alumni affairs staff. This means they will make the reservations at a local restaurant, hand out some WGU goodies and make sure the group comes together.
This gives current students and alumni a chance to get to know others in their area and stay connected.
To read about the “Bunko Breakfast” that took place in Salt Lake City, Utah on April 25, 2009, click here.
If you’re a busy mom, finding time to further your education, even when it’s critical to getting a job or advancing your career, may seem impossible. From school projects to work to carpools to soccer games, your time is booked—so how can you possibly go back to school? If you’re thinking about getting a bachelor’s or master’s degree, consider an online option like Western Governors University.
Five words describe the reasons WGU makes sense for busy moms:
1. Relevant—You’re too busy to spend time working on a degree that won’t help you advance your career. WGU offers more than 50 degrees in high demand fields such as education, business, information technology, and healthcare, so when you finish your degree, you’ll be equipped to compete in today’s tight job market.
2. Flexible—WGU’s unique academic model allows you to plan your studies around your life. You earn your degree by demonstrating that you have the required knowledge and skills, not by spending time in class. The programs are challenging, but you’ll determine the pace and the schedule. So, if you need to do your schoolwork in the evenings after work, during the kids’ piano lessons, or between soccer games on Saturday, you can. And, you won’t have to leave home to attend classes or work on group projects.
3. Credible—WGU is regionally and nationally accredited, and our Teachers College, which serves students in all 50 states, has earned NCATE accreditation. We regularly survey employers who hire our grads, and 98 percent of them rate WGU grads as excellent or good employees.
4. Supported—WGU’s programs are designed for busy adults. When you enroll, you’ll be assigned to a mentor who will work with you much as a personal trainer would, ensuring that you get the help, support, and coaching you need to be a successful student at WGU.
5. Affordable—Unlike many other online universities, WGU is non-profit, and tuition is roughly equivalent to that of a state school and is charged for six-month terms. Because you’ll earn your degree by demonstrating your competence in your field of study, you may be able to utilize your work experience and prior education to reduce the time needed to complete your degree. You’ll work with your mentor to set the pace that’s right for you. So, if you’re able to commit more time to your studies, you can accelerate your program and complete your degree more rapidly, which will also save on tuition. Depending on your circumstances, financial aid—and even scholarships—are available.
If you’ve been thinking about going back to school—either to finish your bachelor’s degree or to get a master’s—take a few moments to visit www.wgu.edu/busymoms to see if a degree program from Western Governors University is right for you.
Texas Science teacher and Western Governors University student Nikki Skinner earned the Teacher of the Year award at Almeda Elementary School.
“Having been nominated by my peers, I am happy that people see that science is important and that we are really working hard to make it meaningful, not to just pass a test but to make life long enthusiasts of science exploration out of students,” Nikki said. “The engineers of tomorrow are sitting in a 5th grade class today. I like to think that I am enabling them to be that scientist, robotics expert, or engineer.”
Last year, more than 50,000 applicants to nursing schools were turned away, despite a nationwide shortage of registered nurses. To address this crisis in U.S. healthcare, Western Governors University, www.wgu.edu, has joined with state workforce agencies as well as healthcare institutions to develop the first national, accredited, online competency-based bachelor’s degree program aimed at preparing students for initial licensure as registered nurses.
The program, which is called the Multi-State Approach to the Preparation of Registered Nurses, or MAP-RN, received unanimous approval by the California Board of Registered Nursing earlier this month, and the pilot program is slated to begin in July at three Southern California hospitals. This innovative program combines WGU’s online, competency-based academic approach with intensive clinical simulations and clinical practice at partner hospitals supervised by onsite clinical coaches serving as WGU adjunct faculty.
This innovative new approach to nursing education is a partnership among WGU, the Governor’s Task Force for the California Nurse Education Initiative Workforce and Labor Development Agency, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the U.S. Department of Labor, the Texas Workforce and Labor Development Agency, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Catholic Healthcare West, Hospital Corporation of America, Kaiser Permanente, Tenet Healthcare, and Universal Health Services. For more information regarding this program, go to www.wgu.edu/rn.
“This partnership is a great example of our healthcare providers, educators, and the state working together to alleviate our nursing shortage and get more Californians to work,” said California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. “This new competency-based program is a win-win for California by making nursing programs more accessible to people interested in pursuing this career path and helping to fill critically needed jobs throughout the state.” (To read the release issued by the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, go to http://www.labor.ca.gov/pdf/nwsrel09-08.pdf. )
“Prospective nurses will now have access to a high quality degree program that will enable them to earn a B.S. and prepare for their RN license flexibly and affordably,” said WGU President Robert Mendenhall. “The B.S. in Nursing leading to initial licensure program complements WGU’s other bachelor’s and master’s degree nursing programs for already-licensed RNs and supports our mission to provide educational opportunities and degree programs to meet the needs of underserved populations and employers with critical workforce needs.”
If you’re a teacher or staff member in a childcare center or preschool and haven’t gotten a degree or teaching certificate yet, it’s likely that you’re weighing the pros and cons. Or, if you’re considering a career in early childhood education, you’re probably wondering what you’ll need to do to prepare. Here are some questions—and answers–that may help.
1.What are the career prospects for people with degrees in early childhood education? According to a recent study by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for teachers in pre-kindergarten institutions will increase 26% by the year 2016, and the demand for kindergarten teachers will grow by 16%. This represents 115,000 new jobs in the next 7 years. In addition, the new administration has pledged significant funding increases and new initiatives for early childhood programs.
2. Can I have a rewarding career in this field without a degree?
While today there are many individuals working in preschools, childcare centers, and other early childhood education institutions without degrees or teaching certificates, the requirements are changing. Recent legislation mandates that half of Head Start teachers must have degrees by 2013, and other institutions are following this trend. Degree teachers generally earn larger salaries and have more employment opportunities.
3. Why should I choose a degree in early childhood education rather than “elementary ed?”
If you’re interested in teaching children from birth through third grade, a degree in Early Childhood Education will equip you with the knowledge and skills you’ll need to help young children during this critical time in their development. This is the time when children “learn to learn,” and early childhood degrees focus supporting emotional, cognitive, and motor skill development—all needed to prepare the child to learn basic reading and math skills. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) has established five standards for early child development:
1. Promoting Child Development & Learning
2. Building Family and Community Relationships
3. Observing, Documenting, and Assessing Young Children and Families
4. Teaching and Learning
5. Becoming a Professional
4. Where can I find an affordable program that will allow me to keep working and take care of my family while I am in school? For working adults with busy schedules and family responsibilities, trying to get a degree from a traditional college or university can be difficult. You might want to consider an online degree program. Western Governors University, a nonprofit, all-online university, has just launched its B.A. in Early Childhood Education program. Part of WGU’s NCATE-accredited Teachers College, the new program uses an academic model that allows students to utilize experience and prior education to demonstrate competency in the required knowledge and skills. Mentors work with students to create individually tailored academic programs. Unlike many online universities, WGU’s tuition is affordable—roughly the same as a state school. And, because the programs are individualized, students can accelerate their time to completion based on the time they have to commit to their studies.
5. If I choose an online program, will I really get an education that’s as good or better than what I would get from a traditional brick and mortar college?
With graduates in nearly all 50 states, WGU is the only all-online Teachers College with NCATE accreditation. A recent survey of employers indicated that more than 90% of them would be willing to hire additional WGU graduates. WGU programs are recognized by leaders in education.
