Iowa Wesleyan joins community college consortium

For the first time in its history, the Iowa Community College Online Consortium will add a four-year university to its membership. Iowa Wesleyan University will become part of the consortium beginning in the summer of 2021.

Wesleyan President Chris Plunkett is excited about the opportunities it will provide students.

'This opportunity allows our students and faculty to have access to over $600,000 worth of technology applications that are currently not available to our campus community,” she said. 'These include programs like a new integrated Iowa Wesleyan learning management system from Google Play Store and Apple App Store that will allow students to access their course syllabi, coursework, digital textbooks, grades and more directly on their digital devices through a single source, no matter where they are.”

Plunkett continued about the importance of the partnership between Iowa Wesleyan and the consortium, specifically what it will mean in regards to the Southeast Iowa Higher Education Alliance.

'Through the alliance, students will be able to cross-enroll at courses on either campus and the technology provided through this membership will streamline online learning,” she said. 'This also opens up opportunities to strengthen academic relationships with other community colleges across Iowa. We are proud that we were invited to be the first four-year university member of ICCOC, and it opens up many new opportunities for students and faculty across campuses.”

As a Tier 4 partner, Iowa Wesleyan will share resources available to all consortium partner colleges.

Seven Iowa community colleges joined to form the Iowa Community College Online Consortium in 1999 as a way to provide online learning opportunities to community college students while reducing overall operational costs. Eastern Iowa Community College, Iowa Lakes Community College, North Iowa Area Community College, Northwest Iowa Community College, Southeastern Community College, Southwestern Community College and Western Iowa Tech now share educational resources and strive to provide a high-quality online learning experience.

The consortium was one of the first higher education consortia of its kind in the nation and continues to be a leader in providing quality online learning with a focus on student success.

In 2020, the consortium served 51,535 enrollments in more than 2,850 fully online course sections across its partner colleges.

Iowa Wesleyan now joins that partnership.

'The addition of Iowa Wesleyan University to the ICCOC is a positive move for all involved and we look forward to the new opportunities this partnership will offer,” states Theresa Umscheid, consortium executive director. 'Iowa Wesleyan's focus on new and innovative ways to teach students at a distance fits well with the ICCOC's mission and oval strategic plan.”

Iowa Wesleyan was able to join the consortium through its recent alliance with Southeastern Community College. SCC President Dr. Michael Ash says the addition of Iowa Wesleyan opens the door to new opportunities for the consortium and its member institutions to share infrastructure and scale with future higher ed partners.

'This is a novel approach for higher education institutions to work together to help all students across our state,” Ash added. 'We're able to leverage our strengths and resources in ways that will directly benefit our students.”

Iowa Wesleyan, located in Mt. Pleasant, was recently recognized by U.S. News and World Report for being in the top 200 best online bachelor's programs nationally, fourth in Iowa. It was ranked first in Iowa for its online undergraduate business administration degree.