April 23, 2025 | Volume 1 | Issue 3

CBExchange 2025: Wrangling Skills in this Wild, Wild West Environment

CBExchange, the premier conference on CBE, is coming up! This large-scale conference is a carefully curated experience to advance competency-based education and skills-first practices with sessions particularly tailored to postsecondary curriculum and learning design.  

• 🗓️ November 10-13, 2025
• 📍 Phoenix, AZ
• 📝 Proposal deadline: April 11, 2025
• ⏰ Early bird registration deadline: August 15, 2025 

If you're not attending but have questions you want answered, reach out—we’ll collect insights to share back with the full group. 

C-BEN On-Site Visit

Dr. Ryan Specht-Boardman, our embedded Competency-Based Education Network (C-BEN) consultant will be on campus hosting open office hours!

• 🗓️ April 25, 2025
• 📍 EAB 110 A
• ⏰ 2-3 PM

Stop by and ask questions - we'd love to hear from you!

The Steering Committee continues to shape the strategic direction of CBE at UNO, ensuring alignment with institutional goals and national best practices. Below are the latest decisions and updates from the most recent meeting.

Facilitator: Jaci Lindburg

Next Meeting: May 1

 

Update: The Steering Committee has released a refined draft of the UNO+CBE strategy statement and core values, which will guide the next phase of messaging, design, and decision-making. While still evolving, this shared framework offers a clearer vision for what sets CBE at UNO apart

 

Draft Strategy Statement: Your Learning, Your Pace, Your Future
UNO+CBE delivers flexible, learner-centered education that meets students where they are—empowering them to build workforce-ready skills and credentials on a timeline that fits their lives​.

 

💡 Core Values

1. Learner-Centered Flexibility

2. Personalized Pathways

3. Skills-Based, Career-Relevant Learning

4. Time-Conscious Design

5. Innovation in Education

This framework will continue to evolve alongside the design work happening across all groups in Q2.

 

✅ Working Decisions

• UNO will pursue course and credit-based CBE (not direct assessment)

• Programs will follow a hybrid delivery model (online-first, with in-person elements as needed)

• CSW Hub will serve as the administrative home for CBE programs

• Academic homes will remain in their respective colleges

• The Champion Newsletter and Monday.com will be used to communicate and track decisions

Below you will find key updates from each workgroup. These updates summarize the most important discussions and progress across committees, ensuring all CBE Champions are aligned with developments from other groups. Q2 is the decide and design phase of our project. 

Academic | Facilitator: Erin Bass

Next Meeting: April 24
Update: The group finalized a proposal template for academic departments and is receiving draft proposals. With program proposal review in progress, the group has now turned its attention to building the foundation of UNO’s CBE learning model.

 

Q2 Priorities: 

• Finalize inaugural program selection

• Begin developing a CBE learning model framework

• Define faculty models and create learner personas

 

Operations | Facilitator: Stephanie Larsen

Next Meeting: April 25
Update: The Operations Workgroup has made one of its most pivotal decisions of the quarter: recommending the Standard Term FSA calendar as the working model for UNO+CBE programs. This proposed decision was informed by deep analysis of calendar options, operational infrastructure, and Title IV financial aid requirements. This recommendation has been elevated to the Steering Committee for review. 

 

Q2 Priorities: 

• Drafting academic calendar models that maximize flexibility within the standard term framework
• Scoping financial aid changes tied to the FSA calendar
• Creating an IT systems map and continuing documentation of tech requirements
• Scheduling vendor demos for LMS, SIS, and CRM platforms
• Exploring international learner eligibility in partnership with UNO’s Director of International Affairs

 

Finance/HR | Facilitator: Myah Lanoux-Nguyen

Next Meeting: May 6
Update: The team is tackling the foundational question: What should the financial model look like for CBE at UNO? Their work in Q2 focuses on building a sustainable, scalable approach that balances innovation with institutional alignment. A business plan is underway that will guide decisions on resource allocation, breakeven targets, and use of state aid. 

 

Q2 Priorities: 

• Establishing a budget philosophy—defining whether programs will be state/grant funded, program-revenue funded, cost-recovery based, or follow a centralized vs. decentralized model
• Beginning to draft projected expenditures to inform the broader program budget model

 

Student Affairs/Services | Facilitator: Colton Janes

Next Meeting: April 25
Update: The Student Affairs Workgroup is focusing its Q2 efforts on building learner-centered infrastructure to support UNO’s future CBE students. Their two primary tasks this quarter—developing learner personas and a learner support model—are foundational to ensuring a responsive, inclusive student experience.

 

Q2 Priorities: 

• Build learner personas

• Map a full learner support model

• Launch stakeholder survey and gather input on adult learner services

 

Marketing/Communications | Facilitator: Moises Morales

Next Meeting: May 9
Update: With a refined draft strategy statement and core values now in hand, the Marketing & Communications Workgroup is poised to move forward on several Q2 priorities, including developing a formal brand identity and preparing for future campaign development.

 

Q2 Priorities: 

• Collaborating with Student Affairs (generic personas) and Academic Programs (program-specific personas) to shape a storytelling and value-based messaging strategy

• Laying the foundation for marketing swimlane processes—mapping how leads are nurtured from interest to enrollment

• Preparing templates for a comprehensive marketing plan, including recruitment messaging and communications touchpoints