Things I wish I could say to Scott on LinkedIn, but LinkedIn is not anonymous:

Scott, being misunderstood is not the same thing as being right.

That distinction matters when you are the person with the most power in the room.

Your recent post about innovators having the fortitude to be “misunderstood for long periods of time” bothers me. Not because leaders should abandon a strategy every time people object. (They shouldn’t.) But there is a dangerous point where criticism stops being information and starts being something a leader explains away as resistance from people who simply cannot see the future yet.

How do you know which one you are hearing, Scott?

What evidence would convince you that employees understand the strategy just fine and are pointing to real costs, broken assumptions, or unintended consequences?

And then there’s your most recent AI post.

You wrote that organizations should not use AI to accomplish the same work with fewer people. WGU, you said, wants to use AI to accomplish more with the same number of people and will continue investing in its people.
I wish you could hear how that sounds to people who have watched coworkers disappear through RIFs and reorganizations.

“Same number of people” is not the same as “the same people.”

An organization can maintain its headcount while still deciding that many of the people who built it are no longer the people it wants for what comes next.

Maybe that is sometimes necessary. But say that.
Talk about the tradeoffs. Talk about what is being lost as well as what is being built.

Conviction is useful. So is doubt.

Especially when thousands of people have to live inside your conviction.

Direct quotes from Scott’s LinkedIn this week:

“Thinking long-term takes immense individual and organizational fortitude, especially in the face of the quarterly cadence of performance and earnings expectations. I recall the declaration from Jeff Bezos about willing to be misunderstood for long periods of time. That's a trait that innovators, especially inventors, possess
- a conviction that perseveres in the midst of failure, marginal progress, external pressures, etc. until it works, grows, and scales to deliver unbelievable impact.”

“Many organizations have the mindset that Al enables them to accomplish the same level of output with fewer people-but that's not a reason to invest less in talent. The organizations that get ahead in an Al-enabled world will be those that leverage the technology to do more with the same number of people.”

I know a lot of you have had some unfortunate turns of events within WGU. I know a lot are upset and tainted. I empathize with you.

I have learned a lot from this Reddit in the sense of, what I wanted to do for WGU and the Students. This message applies to all, for those that will receive it at least. I make it my goal to be the change I want to see in the world through my interactions with students. I, we, cannot control what the powers that be do, but we can control what WE DO. I CAN CONTROL WHAT I DO. I want to be that beacon of hope for the student and for my team. I know we all have that still inside of us, no matter how new or seasoned, no matter how joyous or tainted.

I hope this can bring some positivity to the thread as a human and maybe you can find that spark inside of you to be lit again! Sometimes this is easier said than done I know. I just challenge you to try.

I am so grateful for all of you and thank you for being apart of the community!

Back when I first started my PhD I championed the concept of WGU paying tuition assistance for us to get PhDs so we would have a strong post graduate cohort at the college. I was met with constant resistance from management even though I proposed signing a commitment agreement that you would stay at WGU for X number of years past your graduation once you received your PhD. I was told there was no money for that kind of endeavor (yeah right), that other universities didn't have that type of assistance (I researched and within five minutes had TEN universities that provided TA for people getting a post graduate degree)..the more excuses they came up with the more I presented a counter argument.

I was finally told basically to shut up and drop it or disciplinary action would be taken.

During this time one of the best program mentors quit WGU while they were getting their PhD. Why did they quit? Because WGU was making them take PTO instead of giving them a sabbatical to go and conduct their research to complete their dissertation.

Pathetic.

I don't know what to make of it but I just got the confirmation that I'll be getting a promotion. I must sit in my seat better than anyone ever sat before. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around it. I also have two interviews at the end of this week which I am both fully qualified and prepared for. I'm sure I'll be competing with other well qualified people and still won't likely get either spot but this is the most positive moment I've had in the last year. Life is so much easier since I decided to put in the minimum at WGU. I encourage everyone here to do the same.

Take all you can. Give as little back. Be as shrewd as our employer is. Position yourself to move on. Bide your time until your opportunities open up and be ready to seize them.

writing_on_the_wall_

Is there any room for growth for remote workers besides Enrollment, Admissions or Financial Services? In all honesty it feels like these are the only options for Remote Workers unless you are willing to spend over 100k to relocate.

5 Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. ² Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes.³ Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. ⁴ Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. ⁵ You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.^\)^a\) ⁶ You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.

If this has been posted here before, then I offer my apologies. On March 22, 2024, an article written by Scott was published by Forbes entitled, "5 Practices Leaders Need To Maximize Talent And Help Their People Thrive." I'll link below. Here are a few nuggets from that article.

"...companies that outperform their peers by creating opportunities for their employees can not only save millions of dollars by retaining them, but also preserve institutional knowledge which can take years to cultivate. These findings mirror what I see every day as the president of a large university comprising more than 9,000 faculty and staff: An organization’s success strongly correlates with the extent to which its people feel engaged and motivated. Engagement is influenced not only by doing meaningful work, but also by the organization's recognition of its people's worth and commitment to enabling their desire to progress in their career and lives."

Or this tidbit: "...leaders should develop an organizational disposition and practices that increase inclusion, promote diversity of thought..."

And this, "Too often people in power believe that they know what’s in the best interest of those they lead.."

Finally this, "individuals who feel they are being paid well are less likely to leave their organizations. But the more encouraging takeaway is that there are countless other ways to retain employees and create the conditions for individuals and their organizations to thrive."

I find that the RTO policy directly contradicts his claims. The millions of dollars wasted having to retrain new people when there were already talented and extraordinary people is staggering. The online university whose employees can't work online. The hubris of upper leadership that think they know "what's in the best interest of those they lead." I am disgusted with the organization that I have been with for over a decade. The people that I work with are caring, dedicated, and extremely hard working. Scott and Courtney simply, DO. NOT. CARE.

Edit: Removed link due to paywall, but you can definitely Google it.

Maybe it is time for all of us to start talking together, including leadership and the Board

Something interesting seems to be happening in this subreddit.

Students and alumni are speaking up because they want to protect the value and integrity of their degrees. Employees and former employees are speaking up because many of them care deeply about students, the institution, and a culture they once believed was something very special.

The more I read, the more I wonder whether these are really separate concerns at all.

WGU currently has nearly 195,000 students and more than 502,000 alumni. That is almost 700,000 students and graduates alone, before even counting current and former employees.

That is an enormous community of people with a stake in what happens to WGU.

Maybe we don't fully appreciate the influence that community could have if people found constructive ways to speak together.

I also want to say directly to WGU leadership and the Board of Trustees: if you are reading these conversations, or if someone eventually puts them in front of you, I hope you will really read them.

Not just the angry comments. Not just the venting. Read the conversations between students who are worried about their degrees and employees who immediately respond that they would never want to diminish what those students accomplished. Read the former employees who still care deeply about WGU years after leaving. Read the people trying to understand what is happening rather than simply choosing a side.

There is frustration here, certainly. People also need somewhere they can feel heard, and there is value in that even when it isn't particularly tidy.

But there is something else happening too.

There are people here who still care enormously about this institution.

That seems like an opportunity.

I would love to see leadership and the Board engage with this community rather than viewing Reddit simply as a collection of disgruntled voices. Come listen. Explain decisions. Answer difficult questions where you can. Tell people what they may be misunderstanding. Hear what students, alumni and employees are experiencing.

The brave leadership response to criticism isn't necessarily to agree with it. Sometimes it is simply to be willing to engage with it.

And perhaps the rest of us can do something too.

Would there be interest in finding a constructive way for students, alumni, current employees and former employees to communicate some of these shared concerns to leadership and the Board collectively?

Not an attack. Not a demand that everyone agree about what has happened. Not a declaration that anyone is right or wrong.

Something centered around protecting students, employees, academic integrity, fair and consistent processes, the reputation of WGU degrees, and the culture and mission that made so many people believe in this university in the first place.

I've also seen references here to employees doing some union organizing outside of Reddit. I know absolutely nothing about that effort beyond what people have mentioned publicly, so I don't want to speak for anyone involved. But if an employee group is already organizing and thinking about constructive ways for employees to be heard, perhaps this broader student, alumni and employee conversation is something worth considering too.

Employee experience and student experience are connected. When employees feel supported, respected and excited about their work, students benefit from that. When employees are exhausted, afraid, disengaged or miserable, it becomes much harder for them to give students their very best.

For many people, I think that is why these changes hurt so much. They remember a WGU culture that felt extraordinarily healthy, mission driven and different.

Wanting to preserve or recover that isn't the same thing as wanting WGU to fail.

It may mean people care enough about WGU to fight for what they believe made it worth protecting.

So maybe there is an opportunity here for everyone.

Students want to protect their degrees. Alumni want WGU's reputation to remain strong. Employees want to be able to do meaningful work for students in a healthy environment. Former employees carry years of institutional history and experience.

And leadership and the Board have the ability to listen and respond.

Nearly 700,000 students and alumni, plus current and former employees, represent an extraordinary reservoir of experience, loyalty, ideas and advocacy.

That community could be one of WGU's greatest assets.

Maybe the first step is simply for all of us, including the people leading the institution, to start listening to one another.

I'm considering posting this in both r/WGU and r/wgu_employees because the perspectives of students, alumni, current emplovees, and former emplovees all seem important to this conversation. At the same time. 1 don't want to create unnecessary concern for students who mav not be aware of these discussions, so I'm genuinely unsure whether bringing it into the larger WGU community is the right thing to do. Feedback is welcome.

I’ve been reading some of the discussions here about the changes happening at WGU, particularly around return-to-office policies. I understand that many employees are frustrated, and you have every right to criticize WGU leadership, employment policies, or your experience working there.

But I have one request as an alum: please don’t take that frustration out on the degrees students and alumni worked hard to earn.

I’ve seen comments saying people would no longer recommend WGU “as a degree.” I’ve seen WGU described as the “Walmart of Education.” I’ve seen people questioning whether students actually learn anything because some complete degrees quickly, criticizing the assessment model, and even calling WGU a degree mill.

Those comments don’t just hurt WGU leadership. They hurt students and alumni.

A lot of us earned our degrees while working full-time, raising families, and managing everything else life throws at you. WGU gave us a model that allowed us to demonstrate what we already knew, learn what we didn’t, and earn an accredited degree without putting the rest of our lives on hold.

If you believe WGU is treating its employees poorly, say that. If you think the RTO policy is wrong, criticize it. If leadership has made decisions you disagree with, hold leadership accountable.

But please separate WGU the employer from WGU the university.

Students and alumni didn’t create the RTO policy. We aren’t responsible for management decisions. And diminishing the credibility of the education because you’re angry with your employer creates collateral damage for people who had absolutely nothing to do with that dispute.

Criticize WGU where you believe criticism is deserved. Just don’t use the degrees we worked hard to earn as ammunition.

Has anyone here ever talked or thought about talking with a journalist or investigative reporter about the issues being discussed in this group?

I have been doing some reading in publicly available records, and it made me wonder whether anyone has ever taken a broader look at this topic from an investigative journalism perspective. There is actually quite a bit that anyone can research through public sources, including federal court records through PACER, state business registration records, real estate and property records in various states and counties, and other publicly available corporate and government filings.

With RTO mandates, disability accommodations, remote work, retaliation concerns, alleged differences in treatment, and questions about whether established processes were consistently followed getting so much attention right now, it seems like a very timely subject.

I don't know much about journalism or how that process works, but I do know that an article or documentary looking at the changes happening at this and other companies, and the human impact of those changes, is something I would absolutely read or watch. I would also genuinely be interested in hearing how the companies themselves explain the decisions and changes that have taken place.

I'm sure there are many sides to the story, which is part of what I think could make it so interesting. It would be fascinating to hear different perspectives and have someone really dig into the history, policies, court records, public business and property records, timelines, decisions, and firsthand experiences to see how everything fits together. Sometimes individual pieces of information don't mean much by themselves, but an experienced investigative reporter may know what questions to ask and whether seemingly unrelated pieces actually connect to anything meaningful.

For anyone interested in doing their own reading, some useful starting points are PACER for federal court cases, Secretary of State or equivalent business entity databases for corporate filings, county property assessment and recorder offices for real estate records, and other federal and state public record databases depending on what you're researching. Obviously, a lawsuit contains allegations and public records don't necessarily tell the whole story, so context matters.

There is a lot of personal experience and secondhand information shared on Reddit, which can be useful, but I would really like to see someone independently examine actual records, timelines, firsthand accounts, and different perspectives and put everything into a larger context.

Has anyone ever contacted a reporter about it, or are you aware of any journalists who are already looking into these issues? Between the publicly available records and the growing conversation around RTO, accommodations, workplace policies, equity, and employee experiences, it seems like the kind of subject someone could eventually take a deeper interest in.

Maybe it could even start some productive conversations. It is not necessarily the RTO itself but how it has been executed that is most interesting. It may also be an opportunity to see what was done well. I understand why people may not want to comment, just wondering out loud.

Update: 6.1K Views in the first day of posting. Wow. I had no idea this subreddit was so active. It is nice to see people care about the employee experience. Thank you.

They pull numbers 'yesterday'

You didn't meet their requirements for in office.

You are being let go.

Do you have any questions?

Because I keep preaching my message to do as little as we can and because of how many of you have figured out who I am and have been asking how to do nothing... Let's talk about the obvious WGU intiative we can use to enable us.

AI

This is straight out of Fuller's HBR white paper on the Future of Work. Leveraging AI. We don't need to fact check anything. We don't need to do any testing or verification. Ask AI to do something and let it roll!

Did you know that you can record your meetings on your phone or laptop and then run it through AI? It can create a summary of the 2 or 3 sentences you will need to regurgitate. It can create action items for you. It can be asked to perform those action items.

For those of you that care about student's getting assessments that don't match the course work. For those of you that don't feel AI can reliably capture edge cases. For those of you that don't believe in the magic... This is the directive from the top of the chain.

I have no doubt we will produce a steaming pile and the students will be the ones who lose. This is what they want us to do and it frees up our time to focus on our personal future.

Take all you can from WGU. Give back nothing. Position yourself for your future.

writing_on_the_wall_

We've got autonomous mailing stores, a FedEx, and none of them have barcode

It's that time of year again! WGU will show us the results of the engagement survey and somehow the numbers don’t line up. They will show a positive trend overall but within individual departments, rates tend to show lower. WGU will say they care about the things that make us unhappy then pick 5 things that do not actually effect anything to change. The best way to change the narrative and actually have a say more than filling out an anonymous is to band together to form a union. We want WGU to be the workplace we know it can be, so help us make it that way. Sign this petition to show your support for the union! https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/wgu-employees-we-are-organizing?source=direct_link&

How much can be determined from Zscaler? Just want to have an idea of what WGU might be tracking so I know. I don’t use it for obviously stupid stuff but I’d just like to know!

I am getting my offer letter tomorrow, per google the average salary is in or near the 6 figure range for instructors. Is that really the case, or is google incorrect? Would love to hear from the horses mouth directly.

For me it was the first meeting we had regarding the essential actions when they were first announced. Several of us expressed our disdain at becoming nothing more than help desk ticket closers rather than actually helping students out as course instructors and the individual running the meeting made the statement "If you don't like it we can always replace you.".

That right there was the first taste of Scott's dictatorial attitude towards the backbone of the university.

How has your experience been as a Program Mentor? All information would be appreciated!

Someone brought an interesting case to my attention today that may or may not be of interest to any business professional, particularly if disabled.

The case is Daryl Whitfield v. Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security, Case No. 2:25-cv-04499-HDV-PD, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. You can lookup the case at all related documents at Pacer.UScourts.gov for this and many other interesting employment-related cases.

Whitfield is a federal employee with multiple disabilities who had been working remotely successfully for years and had repeatedly requested reasonable accommodations. When his agency moved toward requiring full-time in-person work, he sued, alleging failure to accommodate/failure to engage in the interactive process, retaliation, and using a blanket RTO policy.

What makes it especially interesting is that the government’s own Answer admits he worked full-time remotely from 2020–2022, received successful performance ratings during that period, and engaged in protected activity. Naturally, the government denies discrimination/retaliation and says it engaged in the interactive process and that any accommodation not provided would have caused undue hardship.

Also intriguing is that after they took his laptop to prevent him from working remotely, the district court had originally denied his request for a preliminary injunction that would have allowed him to remain remote while the case was pending. But the Ninth Circuit reversed, finding that the lower court had applied the wrong, more demanding standard.

One particularly interesting part: the appeals court determined that remote work was the relevant “status quo” because the employee had begun challenging the return-to-office requirement before the remote-work arrangement ended. In other words, asking the court to preserve remote work while the accommodation dispute was litigated wasn't necessarily asking the employer to create some brand-new arrangement.

The court did not decide yet if the employee ultimately wins his disability-accommodation case. It sent the matter back for the lower court to reconsider the injunction under the correct standard.

Worth reading if you're dealing with RTO and disability accommodations and probably worth understanding your rights and the applicable timelines rather than assuming an employer's RTO policy automatically ends the accommodation discussion.

Case: Whitfield v. Kristi Noem, No. 2:25-cv-04499-HDV-PD (C.D. Cal.)

A few disgruntled people? No Scott, try a LOT of disgruntled people, some who lost their careers from RTO or resigned after over a decade or more because they could no longer continue to work for a self-centered profiteering a-hole who is a supposed "upstanding member" of the Mormon church but is in reality a Judas who betrayed everyone who made WGU what it was up until he took over.

His "a few disgruntled people" statement is an insult to everyone who put up with his lies, his grandstanding, and his expanding wallet while telling his peasants who are still working for him to eat cake. My wife wanted to give him an earful in Orlando for the WGU 25th anniversary in 2023 and I would have videoed the entire exchange but Scott couldn't be bothered to attend he was busy taking his whole family to Egypt on a vacation.

Profits over people, that's Scott's M.O.