Excelsior College Joins Forces With International Open Educational Providers

Participation in OERu will enhance Excelsior College's mission of expanding access to higher education.

Albany NY – 7 November, 2012

Dr. John F. Ebersole

Continuing its 40-year mission to increase access to higher education, Excelsior College is expanding its international reach through its participation in the Open Education Resource university (OERu).

OERu is a program of the Open Education Resource Foundation. Based in New Zealand, the Foundation is an independent, not-for-profit organization that provides leadership, international networking, and support for educators and educational institutions.

“	Becoming an active participant in OERu is a natural extension of Excelsior’s pioneering work in the assessment of prior learning. The OER Foundation is an internationally recognized organization that has worked with UNESCO and leading colleges and universities to carry out its mission of access which is closely allied with Excelsior’s. We are honored to have been invited to work with the Open Education Resource Foundation and look forward to a lasting relationship with it and the OERu project.	”
—Dr. John F. Ebersole President, Excelsior College.

Members of OERu contribute to a growing array of high quality courses that students worldwide can access for free via the Internet. Excelsior was founded in 1971 on the philosophy that ‘what you know is more important than where or how you learned it.’ It has developed a well-regarded methodology in the evaluation of learning obtained through a variety of pathways including classroom, online, independent study and work experience.

“	Excelsior’s recognized leadership in the assessment of learning obtained through ‘nontraditional’ means, such as the use of OER, adds an important dimension to fulfilling the mission of the Open Education Resource Foundation. Excelsior College Examinations, available worldwide via secure PearsonVue testing centers, bring tremendous value to our network by offering OERu learners affordable alternatives to earning credit for their subject matter knowledge.	”
—Dr Wayne Mackintosh Director, OER Foundation COL Chair in OER, Otago Polytechnic

Excelsior’s role in OERu will be focused on lending this expertise to other participating institutions and in helping students earn credit when using open educational resources for study purposes.

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About Excelsior College

Excelsior College http://www.excelsior.edu is a regionally accredited, nonprofit distance learning institution that focuses on removing obstacles to the educational goals of adult learners. Founded in 1971 and located in Albany, NY, Excelsior is a proven leader in the assessment and validation of student knowledge. It offers more efficient and affordable access to degree completion through multiple avenues: its own online courses and college-level proficiency examinations, and the acceptance in transfer of credit from other colleges and universities as well as recognized corporate and military training programs. Excelsior College is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

About the OER Foundation

The Open Education Resource (OER) Foundation is an independent, not-for-profit organisation that provides leadership, international networking and support for educational institutions to achieve their objectives using open education approaches. The OER Foundation coordinates the OERu international network. For more information, contact Wayne Mackintosh

OER Foundation 2011 Annual Report (1.6MB pdf download)

About the OER university

See: 5 Things you should know about the OER university network plan