• They're at capacity. 
  
• YourPace is a success!
  
• They want YourPace to be a full wing of the university basically with it's own dean. 
  
• 3 new upcoming undergrad majors in the next 18 months.
  
• Alludes to the creations of Micro-Credentials. 
  
• Doubled down on YourPace being designed as a workforce-oriented program (sorry, the 20 age limit will probably stick around)
  
• They have grown from 2000 credit hours in Business Administration in year 1 (about 16 students worth 120 credits) to 7000 credit hours this year so far. They wish to grow to 10k a year enrollment by 2023. That's about 85 students starting/finishing each year, we can totally do this right DegreeForum?  
  
• NECHE is holding CBE and UMPI to a high standard (which is why only B/As are a passing grade)
  
• A majority of the students are getting As a majority of the time, this is good for accreditation renewals! 
  
• Appears to be a mistake calling them 7 week periods, when it is 8 week periods.
  
• New role will help with a 48 hour turnaround from application to acceptance/evaluation transfer credits! This is huge and much faster than everyone else!
  
• 4 new programs starting this fall (we know of two... So there's two more?!) 
  
• They're investigating new "majors" that they could add. 
  
• YourPace revenue will now pay for CBE programming development and salaries. 
  
• More YourPace students = more YourPace can grow. 
  
• Board of Trustees is applying pressure on other Maine universities to consider developing CBE programs. 
  
• New fee structure for University of Maine system that will help suppory YourPace funding. Other campuses are going to have to pay UMPI for their CBE and online platform, and to support this.
  
• They have a 150 student threshold and wish to increase to 300. 
  
• They assume the average student will only enroll in 4 terms per year (not 6)
  
• They are going to pay professors $1926 per 1.5 credit hours of classes being taught on YourPace, including adjunct. 
  
• UMPI is requesting "seed" money to pay for this growth, and a new position to help YourPace to grow. 
  

Quote:This is a request to establish a new unit, the “College of Degree Completion and Credentialing” (CDCC) at the University of Maine at Presque Isle. The College will be led by a concurrently established new administrator, the “Dean of Competency-Based and Degree Completion Programs” (see attached document for further details). This position will hold a dual reporting line, both to the President of UMPI and to the Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs (or appropriate designee), and will be responsible for the development, oversight, and delivery of CBE undergraduate and graduate level programming as well as credentialing programming utilizing a competency-based platform. The individual will oversee current CBE programming established by UMPI as well as develop majors and other credentials from other UMS institutions for nationwide delivery through UMPI’s YourPace platform. The individual will be responsible for recommending processes and procedures for revenue sharing and curricular oversight among all partnering institutions. Approximately 1/3 of the individual’s workload will be assigned to UMS administration, which will include reporting to the Vice Chancellor in regards to competency based education initiatives and developments at a national as well as regional level; serving on the Micro-credential Committee of the Associate Vice Chancellor and facilitating in the development of initiatives both within a CBE modality and in other modalities; working with appropriate academic administrators to develop CBE programming across the UMS; and assist in providing appropriate competency-based accreditation documentation to the UMS. The individual will also serve as a University and UMS liaison to Academic Partnerships and its marketing of CBE programming. This individual will also represent both UMPI and the UMS to the Competency Based Education Network (CBEN), a national network of over 100 institutions, employers, and experts committed to developing the potential of competency-based learning to ensure that education and training is more flexible, responsible, and valuable. C-BEN is a recognized national leader in providing curriculum quality framework, programmatic design, and assessment within the competency learning environment; UMPI has been a member of the organization since 2015 as part of a national cohort of institutions made possible through a Lumina Foundation grant. UMPI’s president currently serves as a member of C-BEN’s Executive Board. See https://www.cbenetwork.org/ for further information.

UMPI will provide the organizational structure, staffing, and instructional design support for the development and delivery of CBE programming for the UMS. The staffing of this unit will be supported solely by revenue generated by CBE programs both at UMPI and across the UMS.

UMPI began work in the CBE modality four years ago with a single program (Business Administration). Since the initial semester offerings, enrollment has grown from under 2,000 credit hours per annum to over 7,000 projected (FY22), the biggest growth achieved by the institution either through modality or program during that time period. As detailed below, the YourPace programming now includes 6 undergraduate majors (with 3 more planned to be available within the next 18 months) and 1 graduate program. UMPI is reaching capacity both in terms of campus human resources and available academic programming. More importantly, given the experience, and, just as importantly, the accreditation approval within a unified environment, that UMPI now maintains provides for the opportunity to expand this modality to additional UMS campuses within academic programs specific to those institutions. This would be a critical component toward reaching UMS goals of providing degrees and certificates to individuals with some college but no degrees within the State of Maine but also within a national context, as the CBE modality is recognized, first and foremost, as a degree-completion, workforce-oriented platform.

Competency-Based Education: As defined by C-BEN, competency-based education CBE is a flexible way for students to get credit for what they know, build on their knowledge and skills by learning more at their own pace, and earn high-quality degrees, certificates, and other credentials that help them in their lives and careers. CBE focuses on what students must know and be able to do to earn degrees and other credentials. Progress is measured by students demonstrating through valid, reliably assessed learning objectives that they have acquired knowledge and skills required to earn degrees or other credentials in a particular academic discipline or field of study, regardless of the amount of time spent. In such a model, learning often occurs within a fully (totally) asynchronous environment within programmatic modules that address specific learning objectives. Modules are often “bundled” together into what appear on transcripts as traditional course “credits.” Students can move at their own pace within each module and often pay flat subscription rates rather than credit-based tuition and fees. UMPI YourPace students, for instance, pay a flat fee per subscription period (7 week periods that start 6 times per year, thus broken out—roughly—into a fall/spring/summer pattern). Each module contains multiple benchmark activities leading up to a summative authentic learning experience activity (in which students are often asked to employ experiences from their working environment) that is measured by a multi-part rubric, assessing the overall learning outcome for the module and specific sub-divisions of that outcome. Students may continue work in such modules until they achieve (as per NECHE guidelines) “excellence or near-excellence” in assessment. Generally, CBE programs “disaggregate” the traditional faculty roles into three separate ones: curriculum specialists, assessment specialists, and course/content experts. UMPI pays its faculty for these separate roles, although many faculty serve, at various times, in each of the three capacities.

a lot more details in the pdf

(05-26-2021, 03:33 PM)Flelm Wrote: Any idea if/when they're expanding their Graduate degree programs?

(05-26-2021, 04:11 PM)TINASAM Wrote: Here's hoping for a non business or computer undergrad degree.

(05-26-2021, 05:13 PM)freeloader Wrote:

(05-26-2021, 04:11 PM)TINASAM Wrote: Here's hoping for a non business or computer undergrad degree.

This is 100% speculation on my part: I wouldn’t be surprised if they start offering a psychology degree through YourPace. The other YourPace programs have largely relied upon existing faculty and UMPI offers psychology on campus and, according to one list I saw, as an online degree. 

There are other fields that would make sense, drawing on their current resources, like education and social work. The problem with these is that they require field placements, at least in their current on-campus configurations. I suppose they could offer them without the field placements (so, non-licensure for education) or have field placements that didn’t 100% align with the whole CBE thing. 

Particularly after UMPI has rolled out the CS programs, I also would not be surprised by a math degree. Around half of the math BA courses would already be on offer. 

Biology, exercise science, and recreation would all seem to be difficult because of the lab/field experience requirements in the current degree plans. Environmental science or agribusiness would seem to be possibilities. If I ran UMPI, I would really push for one or both of those programs because they are not readily available elsewhere.