The Wyoming Distance Education Consortium (WyDEC) is a standing advisory committee for the council of Academic Vice Presidents of the Wyoming Community College Commission and is made up of representatives from all seven Wyoming community colleges and the University of Wyoming. It was formed to foster cooperation and coordination of distance education opportunities among the seven community colleges, the University of Wyoming and Wyoming Public Television. WyDEC also endeavors to benefit the citizens of Wyoming by coordinating distance education opportunities which are cost-effective and innovative.
The Mission
The Mission of the Wyoming Distance Education Consortium is to coordinate the delivery of quality programs and courses as well as quality student services and instructional support to all our students (potential and enrolled), regardless of geographic or temporal limitations.
The Vision
The Wyoming Distance Education Consortium members will cooperate to increase the number and quality of distance class and degree offerings and student services to each of their student bodies such that a student admitted to any of the member colleges will be able to complete their educational goals (within the legal parameters of the members) in a timely manner regardless of geographic or temporal limitations.
The Goals
To that end, the Academic Advisor Council has charged the Wyoming Distance Education Consortium with the following goals:
- Through sharing and collaboration, evaluate and improve the student experience with distance education in Wyoming, focusing on course quality and standardization.
- Provide access to professional development opportunities related to Distance Education.
- Continue to support the Wyoming Innovations in Learning professional development conference through monetary support, marketing and recruiting higher education participants in both presentation and attendance, and participating in all aspects of conference planning and execution.
- Provide information about local professional development activities through the WyCLASS website.
- Create designated virtual spaces to promote interaction among faculty and staff.
- Improve, maintain, and promote the WyCLASS website to facilitate student access to distance education.
The WyDEC Logo
The WyDEC logo was developed by a student from Western Wyoming Community College. It was adopted by the Wyoming Distance Education Consortium due to the symbolism of the eight “rays”—representing the seven community colleges and the University of Wyoming—and because the color scheme was neutral to all member institutions.