Transparency By Design: College Choices for Adults

News

Welcome Fort Hays State University

At the start of the new year, Fort Hays State University joined Transparency by Design, committing to the fifteen Principles of Good Practice for higher education institutions serving adult students at a distance. Soon their data will appear on College Choices for Adults.

"Fort Hays State University continues to project our commitment to quality distance learning in a variety of meaningful ways," said Dr. Chris Crawford, Assistant Provost for Quality Management. "Quality does not happen by accident, and we remain convinced that accountability processes, like Transparency by Design, represent a critical vehicle by which we can communicate this commitment to our students and other institutions."

The NonTraditional Students Report features College Choices for Adults

In the November 2009 issue of the NonTraditional Students Report, College Choices for Adults is the cover story. The article "New Web site helps adults choose their best-fit online program" focused on the launch of the site and the data it provides for students. It also discusses the benefits of membership for institutions and the step forward the initiative is taking in greater transparency and accountability in online higher education. A full text, PDF version of this article is available here. To find out more about the benefits of joining the Transparency by Design initiative visit its site: http://www.transparencybydesign.org.

Our newest member: Nazarene Bible College

Recently Nazarene Bible College joined the Transparency by Design initiative that powers the College Choices for Adults website. Later this fall, NBC's information will appear on this site.

"Nazarene Bible College is delighted to participate in Transparency by Design and College Choices for Adults because it provides a system and a process for measuring quality online programs and ensuring a standard of best practices," said Dr. David Phillips, Vice President for Online Academic Services. "For NBC, it enhances our efforts of continual improvement as we are examined and evaluated. We feel this is a very significant step for us because of the growth in online education."

College Choices for Adults Featured in Community College Week

On September 21, 2009 College Choices for Adults was featured in Community College Week in an article written by Dr. Linda Thor, President of Rio Salado College. The article "POV: Transparency by Design: Stepping Into the Light" focused on Dr. Thor's recommendations on why joining Transparency by Design makes good sense for community colleges. A full text, .pdf version of this article is available here. To find out more about the benefits of joining the Transparency by Design initiative visit its site: http://www.transparencybydesign.org.

Ashford University and University of the Rockies Joining this Site

Ashford University and the University of the Rockies are the newest members of the Transparency by Design initiative that produces the College Choices for Adults website.

"I am excited that Ashford University will now be collaborating with many institutions of higher learning because these types of partnerships will only raise the bar and take us all to new levels of achievement," said Dr. Jane McAuliffe, President of Ashford University. "Joining the Transparency by Design project allows our institution to be transparent to our students so they will be able to make more informed decisions about their educational experience. We are looking forward to sharing our expertise and learning best practices from each of our peer institutions involved."

Joining in July, both institutions will be adding their information to the website this fall. More information about joining the project can be found at the Transparency by Design section of the WCET website.

Coming Soon to College Choices for Adults: Features to improve your experience

Over the next year, the College Choices for Adults website will grow, adding new institutions and new features to assist adult learners in making critical decisions about their distance or online education options. Some of the features you can look forward to include:

Measure of Academic Proficiency and Progress (MAPP) - MAPP is a third-party test of general education skills. The test is administered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS). Results for participating institutions will be reported.
Priorities Survey for Online Learners (PSOL) - PSOL is a third-party assessment of the level of satisfaction of online learners. The survey is administered by Noel-Levitz, a firm that specializes in higher education enrollment and student success. Results for participating institutions will be reported.
Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) - CCSSE is a third-party assessment of student engagement, which is a key indicator of learning and, therefore, the quality of community colleges. CCSSE works in partnership with NSSE (the National Survey of Student Engagement), a survey that focuses on four-year colleges and universities. The survey is administered by the Center for Community College Student Engagement, which is located at the University of Texas Austin Results for our community college participants will be reported.
Enhanced Search functionality which will help you pinpoint the institutional features that are most important to you and search by those items.
Comparison Functionality - much like shopping for car insurance or cell phones, we will be adding a feature that allows you to choose the type of degree you want (ex. Bachelors), the subject area you are interested in (ex. Business), and then compare several institutions based on the data elements you choose (ex. % of courses online or at a distance, institutional size, program learning outcomes).
The opportunity to Friend, Follow and Favorite great resources from College Choices for Adults. These opportunities will provide you with online venues to interact with distance education experts, current students and alumni from participating institutions. They will also be an outlet for you to provide input on what additional resources you'd like to see on the College Choices for Adults website.
Additional Program Data - Only select programs from existing institutions are currently included. Watch for additional programs to be added in the coming months.
Additional Institution Data - as we continue to grow by having more institutions commit to providing you with this in-depth data on their students' performance, you will see more and more institutions and more and more programs appear on this site. If there's an institution you're curious about whose information does not appear on this site, visit our feedback page to let us know and we will work to engage that institution.

If there are features that are not currently on the College Choices for Adults website or on this list for future development that you are interested in, please visit our feedback page and let us know what you are interested in.

College Choices for Adults: Phase One Launch

WCET and the Transparency by Design initiative launch the College Choices for Adults site as a first step in helping adults become informed consumers of distance higher education. In phase one of the launch the charter institutions have provided a wide range of data from student and institutional demographics. Additionally, the College Choices for Adults institutions are taking the brave step of reporting program-level information, such as program learning outcomes, how those outcomes are measured, and how students performed on those measures. This step is only the beginning of a site that will continue to grow adding more in-depth data about institutions including student progress rates, student satisfaction, and general education learning outcomes. The College Choices for Adults website is unique in its focus on adult students, learning at a distance and in providing these data which are often hard to find elsewhere. Be sure to check the site often as it continues to grow over the next year and beyond.

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