UNIVERSITY GOVERNANCE
Chief Academic Officer
Expanding Access to Quality Education
Western Governors University’s mission is to ensure everyone has access to a higher education. This means we are continually innovating for the benefit of students and developing educational pathways that provide opportunity, promote lifelong skill development and lead to long-term economic value. WGU’s academic organization places students at the center of everything we do.
"WGU has made a bold commitment to empower every student with a personalized, affordable, and career-advancing postsecondary education. WGU is uniquely poised to equip students to thrive in today’s rapidly evolving workforce.”
—Courtney Hills McBeth
Chief Academic Officer and Provost
Graduation Is The Goal
Access without attainment does not deliver on the promise of higher education. To measure whether we're expanding access, we must measure growth in credentials earned.
Source: 2023 Annual Report
Making College Work—For Everyone
Providing access to higher education for populations from aspirational communities is the first step toward closing the opportunity gap and ensuring our collective well-being. These populations include students from communities of color, low-income families, rural locations, and/or families in which they are the first to attend college. According to self-reporting at the time of enrollment, 74% of WGU’s students come from at least one of these communities.*
*Source: 2023 Annual Report
Recognized for Innovating
WGU is recognized year after year as a leader in higher education. Our employees take pride in making a difference by providing value to our students and offering high-quality programs and courses at scale. Working with industry partners, developing a robust competency-based education program, and delivering strategic innovations to bring educational access and economic mobility to more students are just some of the ways we are focused on making a difference. This work earned WGU recognition in 2025 as an Opportunity College and University from the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation.
Recognized for Innovating
WGU is recognized year after year as a leader in higher education. Our employees take pride in making a difference by providing value to our students and offering high-quality programs and courses at scale. Working with industry partners, developing a robust competency-based education program, and delivering strategic innovations to bring educational access and economic mobility to more students are just some of the ways we are focused on making a difference. This work earned WGU recognition in 2025 as an Opportunity College and University from the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation.
WGU and Skills
WGU recognizes the importance of skills and their transformative role in education, hiring, and the workforce. With the right support, skills have the potential to connect each of these sectors and make transitions between them seamless. WGU’s skills work ensures credential integrity and relevance for our learners by utilizing verified frameworks that are recognized by educators and employers alike. Learn more about WGU's approach to ensuring students have the skills they need to succeed in today's rapidly evolving workforce:
WGU Councils
Assessment Council
As a competency-based education institution, the core of our practice is to prove competency through assessments, not time spent in a class. To maintain WGU’s credential value, we partner with our Assessment Council to advance innovation and integrity in our assessment and evaluation processes.
Current Assessment Council members:
Randy Bennett
Norman O. Frederiksen Chair in Assessment Innovation
ETS
Ph.D., Columbia University
Peter Ewell
Vice President
National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS)
Ph.D., Yale University
Brian Gong
Executive Director
Center for Assessment
Ph.D., Stanford University
Neal Kingston
Distinguished Professor in Educational Psychology,
Director Achievement and Assessment Institute
University of Kansas
Ph.D., Columbia University
Sue Lottridge
Chief Scientist
Natural Applications at Cambium Assessment
Ph.D., James Madison University
Ric Luecht
Professor of Education Research Methodology
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Ph.D., University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Liberty Munson
Director of Psychometrics
Microsoft
Ph.D., University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
Maria Elena Oliveri
Research Associate Professor
Purdue University College of Engineering
Ph.D., University of British Columbia
