What Is the Wheel?
The Wheel Online Consortium is an exclusive member benefit of the Yes We Must Coalition (YWMC) and facilitates increased student retention and degree completion rates by offering member institutions more academic options and curriculum expansion at a minimal expense.
The Wheel brings online courses and additional resources to YWMC member institutions who share similar students, challenges, and goals for improving outcomes.
Institutions participating in The Wheel have the freedom to select which courses from partner institutions meet their academic needs, which are open to their students and which students can take these courses as part of their regular enrollment term as well as during winter or summer terms.
What Makes This Consortium Unique?
As members of other associations, YWMC member institutions may have access to other consortia; however, The Wheel enhances academic collaboration among YWMC member institutions working together to align strategic action to help meet the needs of low-income and first-generation students in particular.
YWMC institutions have developed their online courses and programs with low-income, first-generation students in mind, making the curriculum and faculty attention to students’ learning the best fit and at the lowest cost for our members.
How Does The Consortium Work?
Under the consortium, the home school (the institution with the student) transcribes the course and credits and pays the teaching school (the institution with the online course) a modest fee per course per student for delivering the online class.
This means that both institutions can generate new revenue, while students can access financial aid, apply the credits toward part- and full-time status, and apply the grade toward their campus GPA and academic progress.
Through a cross-registration platform powered by Acadeum, home schools can easily find, review, and enroll their students in courses from teaching schools listed on the site. The Wheel members are committed to supporting enrolled students in making progress through The Wheel courses.
The system securely shares institution, course, and student information, passes grades, and facilitates the billing and payments between schools.
Finally, academic decision-makers at participating YWMC member institutions control the courses that are available to their students via the platform, ensuring close alignment with the curriculum at their home institution.
This alignment of objectives and academics aids The Wheel’s efforts towards affordable on-time completion for students at YWMC member schools.
For more information on how to participate go to https://www.acadeum.com/consortia/ywm or contact Program Manager Ann Landis (YWMC) at Enable JavaScript to view protected content. or Nathan Green (Acadeum) at Enable JavaScript to view protected content..
Click here to see a read-only preview of current course offerings in The Wheel – YWMC Online Consortium.