Robert Mendenhall

Robert Mendenhall is the president of Western Governors University (WGU) [ [http://wgu.edu/wgu/academic_leadership.asp Academic Leadership ] ] where he also serves on the board of trustees. [ [http://wgu.edu/wgu/bot.asp Board of Trustees ] ]

Founded in the mid-1990s by nineteen governors, WGU is a private, non-profit, online university offering competency-based degrees. Under Mendenhall's leadership WGU hit a milestone in June of 2008 with enrollment passing 10,000 students. [http://www.wgu.edu/about_WGU/wgu_milestone_6-4-08.asp WGU - Education Online - WGU Enrollment Milestone Release ] ] WGU's largest enrollment area is in its education programs, though Mendenhall has also worked to expand into other fields including business, information technology, and nursing. The university's Teachers College is unique in that it offers a path to teacher certification for k-12 teachers in all fifty states. Mendenhall called "the logistics [of this] daunting." [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/31/education/edlife/guernsey31.html?pagewanted=2 There's Always Teaching - New York Times ] ]

Discussing the university, Mendenhall said, "WGU was specifically created as a new model for higher education, incorporating the use of technology to expand access and reduce costs, while creating competency-based degree programs to improve accountability for learning." [ [http://www.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/hiedfuture/3rd-meeting/mendenhall2.pdf Robert Mendenhall - Statement to the Secretary of Education's Commission on the Future of Higher Education, Third Meeting, February 2-3, 2006 (PDF) ] ]

He has served as president of WGU since 1998.

Commission on the Future of Higher Education

Mendenhall served on the Commission on the Future of Higher Education at the request of U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. In 2006 the commission issued a [http://www.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/hiedfuture/reports/final-report.pdf report] titled "A Test for Leadership: Charting the Future of U.S. Higher Education." The report was critical on many aspects of higher education in the U.S. and offered suggestions on how to improve the system. Commenting in the media Mendenhall stated: "I don't think it's about blame." [Our] report was "more negative than it needs to be about the academy, but not as alarming as it needs to be in shining a light on the challenges in American higher education." [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/27/education/27educ.html?scp=3&sq=Robert+Mendenhall&st=nyt Panel's Draft Report Calls for an Overhaul of Higher Education Nationwide - New York Times ] ]

Experience prior to WGU

Mendenhall has over 28 years of experience delivering technology-based education. He founded a company that specialized in "computer-based training and education for Fortune 500 companies and K-12 schools." His company merged with Jostens Learning Corporation where he worked prior to becoming general manager of IBM's k-12 education division. [ [http://www.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/hiedfuture/bios/mendenhall.pdf Archived: Biography of Robert Mendenhall - Commission Member of Secretary's Commission on the Future of Higher Education (PDF) ] ] [ [http://www.centerdigitaled.com/story.php?id=78491 Robert Mendenhall :: In The Arena ] ]

References