WGU Layoffs

[JusticeNamaste]

Hello to All,

Firstly, let me begin by assuring everyone that I am NOT a troll although I did enjoy the movie

Everything that I have written is true, according to my former course instructor.  How much of what this person said is true, I do not know and I would hazard to caution: nor does anyone.  People do and say things all the time - does it make true/valid? Maybe. Sometimes.

And maybe not.

Here is what I DO know (and this information is readily available to anyone with an inclination to research).  The current president of the university is a former VP at Amazon.  Why is this important? Because, first and foremost, a university chose to hire someone who has no understanding of higher education - what IS understood is business.  Is this necessarily a "bad" thing? Well - again, Amazon is unfortunately rather notorious for NOT treating its employees well at all; and most recently, an attempt to unionize by Amazon workers was quashed  - how is this germane to this particular thread? Hmm -  maybe connect the dots - meaning, quite simply this:

When a university president is hired from a company that has a very negative reputation for how it treats the employees who work for said company, one can see why WGU is very much on the precipice of becoming a "diploma mill" and so the callous disregard for how it treats their employees becomes much easier to understand.  It's been interesting to me in reading all these comments that no one seems to suggest something that could have actually negated the bad publicity from what occurred with the recent layoffs.

It's quite simple and if WGU had wise counsel and a good PR person they might have suggested this instead: have the upper senior level management volunteer to take pay cuts so the layoffs do not have to happen.  As another poster made mention of, if there is no physical campus that students must attend then why the million dollar plus salary for those such as Mr. Pulsipher and the others?

"Follow the money" as they say.

I also wonder how many posters on here are aware that a few years ago WGU was audited by the Office of the Inspector General:

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019...gs-western

I still believe with my whole heart, that at its core, this school is a scam.  It's just dressed up rather nicely, that's all.  If other students are helped in their professional careers by WGU, then that is wonderful (for them); however, that does not mean that WGU is not a diploma mill.  They are a bloated institution that basically is running a con and so far, it's working.

https://www.bbb.org/us/ut/salt-lake-city...66-4001017


Just to redress the notion that I am somehow a "troll" here are both positive and negative reviews by students, for WGU:

https://www.gradreports.com/colleges/wes...university

Bottom Line: it's a choice, like everything else in life.  Make of it what you will.  Beware though: "A wolf in sheep's clothing"

There are like 20 customer reviews on BBB, and WGU doesn't even belong to that company, so I wonder if there's even a way to dispute the complaints?  This is just silly.

I'm also willing to bet that the vast majority of students who complain about WGU do so because of the competency-based model rather than quality.  Just a guess, but while I do understand that this is not for everyone, I'm sure there are plenty of students who just aren't ready for the difficulty, don't have an ability to self-teach that is required, and aren't moving quickly enough through courses to make this a feasible program for them.  Instead of just realizing this and stopping, they complain.  I get it.  But I don't necessarily think all of the complaints are valid.

Your understanding of how business works is a bit...lacking I think.  Colleges ARE businesses.  They need to make money, even if they are non-profits - it a business doesn't make money, then it's either a hobby or will no longer exist.  And the sooner a businessperson with some business sense is put in charge of a business, no matter the type, the better.  If more colleges were run as businesses, they might be doing better.  How much someone gets paid in a business is usually dependent upon the market - so if the head guy makes millions, it's probably because they think he's worth it, and because that's what the market requires.  I'm sure if they could have found someone cheaper, they may have hired that person instead.

And just so you know, most senior-level leadership have contracts - so you can't take the money from them.  But even if you could, or even if they volunteered, that is RARELY a good plan - because it's not enough money overall to bail out the company of their problem.  A few people at the top just don't make enough for that.  If you look long-term at the numbers, having a few (10?) VP's give up some money isn't going to make up for 160 employees making 80k a year plus benefits.  It just doesn't add up.


I think WGU just handled this incredibly poorly, and need to fix their problems before they have a mutiny on their hands (both from employees and students leaving in droves).

Hmm, well - I agree with some of your comments (Socratic Dialogue is very refreshing in this day and age!)

Your comment about how colleges are businesses is apt, but also sad because at one time, a university education was NOT about such things but rather - umm - learning and umm - oh yes! "Critical Thinking and Reasoning Skills" - which now seems to be a thing of the past.  I get it: the world is digital now and much, if not all, of life, is quite capable of taking place online now.  Here's the thing though:

What an individual learns and can apply in an applicable manner is one thing, the ABILITY of that individual to have nuanced thinking and reasoning skills that can be applied to "real life" is something entirely different.  One does not live in a bubble (at least not yet).

Point being this: the word "university" is a misnomer in that it seems to portend a well rounded education has been earned.

Have you noticed just how little liberal arts "competencies" there are at WGU? Do you think this is coincidental?

It would serve a better purpose if perhaps WGU instead "rebranded" (that's a business term, is it not?!) to something like "Institution of Learning" because people ARE learning - something - one would hope; but comparing WGU to Duke University as the other poster below does is absolutely ludicrous because they are quite simply NOT the same thing at all - nor will they ever be.