Online, nonprofit, accredited Western Governors University (WGU) has appointed Vermont resident Gloria Bruce as strategic partnerships manager for New England, to develop relationships in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. In her new role, Bruce will work to expand WGU’s partnership network and further develop employer relationships, in an effort to increase awareness and student access to higher education, improve affordability and enhance student experience.
Bruce comes to the position with more than 16 years of experience in community development and communications. As a consultant for many of those years, she designed strategic plans to help develop business goals, leadership initiatives, and workforce and economic development for various community organizations. As director of communications and marketing for the Lyndon Institute, an independent high school for grades 9 – 12 in Lyndon Center, Vt., she provided strategic direction in communications and organizational planning. She was also executive director of the Northeast Kingdom Travel and Tourism Association for more than 8 years. A WGU alumna, Bruce holds an M.S. in management and leadership from WGU, a B.S. in organizational communication from Northeastern University, and an A.S. in travel and tourism from Champlain College.
“Gloria brings extensive experience in developing strategic partnerships and communications to WGU,” said Rebecca Watts, Ph.D., regional vice president of the northeast region. “Her passion for improving lives through relationship building and advocacy will help us achieve our mission to provide equitable education access to high-quality, low-cost competency-based degree programs that lead to in-demand, thriving-wage careers.”
Designed for working adults, WGU provides an asynchronous, competency-based model that allows students to access coursework at a time convenient for them, and to accelerate at their own pace. WGU offers more than 60 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the in-demand career fields of business, K–12 teacher education, information technology and health professions.
For more information about WGU, visit www.wgu.edu.
About WGU
Established in 1997 by 19 U.S. governors with a mission to expand access to high-quality, affordable higher education, online, nonprofit WGU now serves more than 131,000 students nationwide and has more than 230,000 graduates in all 50 states and territories. Driving innovation as the nation’s leading competency-based university, WGU has been recognized by the White House, state leaders, employers, and students as a model that works in postsecondary education. In just 24 years, the university has become a leading influence in changing the lives of individuals and families, and preparing the workforce needed in today’s rapidly evolving economy. WGU is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, has been named one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies, and was featured on NPR, NBC Nightly News, CNN, and in The New York Times. Learn more
at www.wgu.edu.