S2 E1 | Boosting Employability with Competency-Based Education – with Marni Baker Stein

Western Governors University (WGU) is breaking the mold of traditional education. Discover how taking a student-centered approach can shape the future of higher ed and skills-based hiring practices. In this episode of An Educated Guest, Todd Zipper, EVP and GM of Wiley University Services and Talent Development, welcomes Marni Baker Stein, Provost and Chief Academic Officer, Western Governors University to discuss some of their top innovations. Key Takeaways: The impact of personalizing education around individual learners’ needs How competency-based education translates into surfacing skills within the workplace How WGU was inspired by health care to pioneer the Community of Care, a 360-degree case management model How WGU is democratizing access to skills-based hiring and empowering learners with a skills-based achievement wallet through the Open Skills Network WGU’s sophisticated approach to learner outcomes data and how they hope to advance competency-based education in the future   Guest Bio Dr. Marni Baker Stein is Provost and Chief Academic Officer at Western Governors University. Marni has more than 25 years of experience designing and scaling programs to improve access, affordability, and student success. In her current role, she’s responsible for driving the university’s focus on academic quality and student success, contributing to making Western Governors University one of the leading online universities in the United States today. Prior to WGU, she worked for several educational institutions in the U.S. and abroad on the development and administration of pioneering high school, undergraduate, graduate, and continuing and professional programming models. These institutions include the University of Texas System, Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of California Santa Barbara, Pennsylvania State University, SUNY Buffalo (Latvia), and the United States Information Agency (Turkey, Japan). Marni earned her Ph.D. in Teaching, Learning, and Curriculum from the University of Pennsylvania.