Those of you who have taken courses with the Wilmette Institute this year will have noticed that there are new developments and procedures with respect to how a learner earns a certificate of completion. As a result of this change, the old system we had set up to create and email Certificates to students became obsolete. Staff had begun to investigate a new system at the end of 2021, but due to staff turnover, and competing demands on human resources, a new (automated) system has not yet been realized.
So, as we begin the second half of 2022, the Registrar’s Office decided to manually create and deliver the certificates. Between June 28 and June 30, 50 certificates were emailed to learners from 15 extension courses. One individual received two certificates for two different courses.
The Institute is very proud of the achievements of all its learners, and of the faculty who worked hard to implement the new system. We recognize that many learners studied hard and reaped significant benefits from their courses, even if they did not obtain a certificate, and/or did not choose to take all the steps necessary to obtain one. We will of course be reviewing the system at the end of the year, and have already begun to improve on it based on what we learned in the first half of the year.
It would be helpful to have feedback on your experience with the new system for course completion. If you wish to send us your comments by email, please write to the Registrar: learn@wilmetteinstitute.org. If you would be interested in attending a focus group meeting to give feedback directly to the staff, please also let us know.