As I conclude my presidency at APUS, I want to thank everyone I’ve worked with for sharing this professional journey with me. I appreciate their supporting me and our entire organization to accomplish our mission of educating those who serve.
Through American Military University and American Public University, we have successfully scaled a model to deliver high-quality, career-relevant, online education to a diverse population of working professionals – from our signature audience of active-duty military to government, public sector, and service-driven communities.
I am proud as I reflect that APUS has helped nearly 100,000 graduates achieve their goals through more than 200 online degree and certificate programs from the associate to the doctoral level.
When I started 18 years ago, our graduates numbered in the hundreds, we offered 42 degree programs, enrolled approximately 2,400 active students, and finished my first year at $9 million in revenues.
We built this institution as a distance education provider from the ground up. With some notable accomplishments along the way, we:
- Developed our Partnership at a Distance (PAD) system to scale our operations and keep tuition affordable.
- Provided $142 million in textbooks to undergraduate students at no cost to them.
- Earned our regional accreditation and were one of the first distance education institutions approved to offer Federal Student Aid to students.
- Built a virtual library that offered students 24 x 7 support.
- Sought and received specialty accreditation for our online programs, the first through ACBSP for our business programs.
- Moved from Manassas to Charles Town, from 18 small properties scattered around Charles Town to the Academic Center, Finance Center, and IT Building enabling our team to work together in a campus-like environment.
- Became a Charter Signatory for the College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment for Sustainability and achieved LEED Platinum, Gold, and Silver certification for our three primary Charles Town buildings.
- Acquired Hondros College of Nursing to meet the needs of a profession that was difficult to educate solely online.
- Adopted the Degree Qualifications Profile as our institutional learning outcomes objectives and mapped all of our bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in accordance with the DQP criteria.
- Installed an observatory at our Charles Town campus with a 24-inch Planewave reflective telescope utilized by faculty and students in the Space Studies curriculum.
- Partnered with the Policy Studies Organization to launch peer-reviewed journals relevant to our unique programs and distance education including the International Journal of Open Education Resources.
- Received an unprecedented five Effective Practice Awards from the Online Learning Consortium as well as its Gomory Award for quality online education.
- Two years ago, we received board approval to replace all of our major IT systems through Project Catalyst and we are underway with our LMS and CRM phases.
APUS is poised to maintain its upward trajectory as we look forward to supporting my successor, Dr. Wade Dyke, as he leads APUS in building upon its mission to provide affordable, accessible, quality education.
Recognized as an academician and visionary, Wade brings impressive experience as CEO of Great Hearts Academies, and formerly as president of Kaplan University, now known as Purdue University Global.
He will lead APUS into a new era of growth and innovation while maintaining the institution’s commitment to academic excellence.
Wishing you good health and my deepest gratitude,
Wally
