West Suburban Higher Education Consortium Records

The West Suburban Higher Education Consortium was created in 1985 under the name "West Suburban Regional Academic Consortium" by Richard C. Becker, Albert H. Budglong, J. Richard Chase, Ivan E. Frick, Orley Herron, John Kessler, John E. LaTourette, Alan J. Stone, J. Patrick Haithcox, and Gael Swing. At the time of dissolution, they had 20 participating institutions. The Consortium changed their name in 1997 to "West Suburban Post-Secondary Consortium" and then effective September 1, 2000 they were named "West Suburban Higher Education Consortium." The opriginal office was located in Lisle, Il. They moved to Aurora in 1993 and then finally to Oakbrook, Il effective July 1, 1997. The purpose of the Consortium was to assess, co-ordinate, develop and allocate educational resources for higher education in the west suburban region of Chicago, They conducted Needs assessments in 1985 and 1987. These educational resources ranged from seminars (Basics in Biotechnology and the Higher Education), lectures (Best Professor Series) and symposiums (Argonne and Amoco) to purchasing equipment and creating classes to bring technology into the classroom (Interactive Television, Video Conferencing and Connecting Telecom Hubs through Microwave technology). WSHEC's activities were featured within the Naperville Sun, The Business Ledger, The Glen Ellyn News, The Wheaton Leader, The Dailey Herald, THe Chicago Tribune, and The Beacon News. THe West Suburban Higher Education Consortium Board of Trustees voted to dissolve the consortium due to loss of funding from the Illinois Board of Higher Education in October of 2002. The dissolution became effective for personnel and services in March of 2003 and effective August 31, 2003 officially ceased its existence. The Video Conferencing Network established by the Consortia continued operation under the leadership of the College of DuPage.