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Rotary hosts non-profit chancellor, talks science, technology, engineering and math

Published 5:25 pm Thursday, April 16, 2015

Western Governors University Washington chancellor Jean Floten visited the Rotary of Snoqualmie Valley recently to talk about the nonprofit
Western Governors University Washington chancellor Jean Floten visited the Rotary of Snoqualmie Valley recently to talk about the nonprofit

Rotary of Snoqualmie Valley recently hosted Jean Floten, chancellor of Western Governors University Washington, a nonprofit  online university, to talk about innovation in higher education and the impact the university’s unique model is having in communities like the Snoqualmie Valley.

Since WGU Washington’s inception just four years ago, Floten has grown the online university to more than 6,500 students (up 500 percent since 2011), primarily working adults who are going back to school and pursuing second careers.

The unique demographic to whom the university caters and the innovative way it meets students’ needs recently earned the school praise from Vice President Joe Biden.  Specifically, he lauded WGU’s approach to job training.

The school uses a competency-based model that allows working adults to apply knowledge they’ve gained through their years in the workforce toward their degrees.

Rotary members frequently talk about the need to tackle STEM education in Washington, citing a recent Brooking Institute finding that more than a quarter of all jobs in the region require STEM knowledge.

Roughly 40 percent of WGU’s students are enrolled in STEM-related programs.  The university awarded more than 400 degrees in STEM and healthcare related fields this year alone.

 

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