Dear Commons Community,

Western Governors University (WGU), one of the nation’s largest online universities, surprised many of its staff members recently by announcing they would need to work in the office if they wanted to keep their jobs. As reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education and Reddit.

In a series of meetings earlier this month, senior administrators at WGU told employees that beginning this fall, 19 of its 26 departments will be “co-located” at the university’s Salt Lake City headquarters, with staff members eventually required to be in the office four days a week. All vice presidents and directors on one team, for example, will need to move to Salt Lake City in the next one to two years, and all new hires will now be based there.The policy does not, however, apply to those with student-facing jobs, including course instructors, evaluators who grade students’ work, and enrollment and financial-aid professionals.

WGU employees who currently live within a 50-mile radius of Salt Lake City will need to work from the office three days per week beginning on October 1, and four days beginning January 1. According to a presentation leaked on Reddit, on the marketing and external communications team, vice presidents who live outside of Utah must decide by November 1 whether they will move; if they opt to do so, they must arrive in Utah by August 2025. Directors have until July 2025 to make their decisions and August 2026 to move. Those who opt not to relocate will be out of a job, though the presentation notes that “severance support will be available.

Tony

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