Supporting Our Faculty
Posted by Megan Way on December 6, 2019Supporting our Faculty
Major changes are in store for Extended University Programs (EUP) designed to unify support for all instruction, create a hub for innovation in academic programming and lead to new entrepreneurial revenue streams for the university.
A year-long planning phase is transitioning into implementation for EUP after it became clear that repositioning the unit was necessary under the university’s new budget model. During the next several months, EUP will shift from its historic role as a unit that generates and distributes tuition revenue to a service unit that supports WMU's academic mission while continuing to act as an engine of innovation and entrepreneurism.
Ultimately, the unit currently known as EUP will have a new name, a new mission, and a new structure. The EUP of the future will:
- Continue to serve as the home for critical functions such as instructional design, online education, Elearning support, regional location operations, professional development, lifelong learning and market research. But it will also expand its role as an academic support unit by unifying instructional support services under one umbrella. EUP has been working closely with OIT, University Libraries and the Office of Faculty Development to begin moving toward a “one-stop shop” for all instructors at our University, regardless of course modality.
- Further expand its capacity for innovation and entrepreneurship by investing in immersive technologies—such as augmented and mixed reality—that can help transform learning for all students while also producing products and services capable of generating new revenue streams.
- Enhance its role in supporting innovation by building a new unit structure that will serve as a laboratory driven by design-thinking, collaboration and experimentation for the development of new ideas designed to move the WMU forward.
In the weeks and months ahead, there will be opportunities to provide feedback and shape the future of EUP. Campus announcements with full details will be forthcoming.