Thursday, April 23, 2020

Commelina communis: Collaboration ideas between MIT and World University and School (WUaS) * * MIT Open Learning Head's email - "Your email to President Reif"



Dear MIT President Reif, 

I am writing to explore possible collaboration ideas between MIT and World University and School (WUaS). WUaS is developing an on-line, free-to-users’ university and already has a few students. In the next few years, we hope to expand from English into the official or main languages of about 200 major countries. Ultimately, we hope to be able to provide courses in all 7,117 living languages as wiki schools for teaching and learning. What makes us different then is two things: the courses and degrees are now and will remain free to the user and they will become available in any language.

For your information, WUaS contains two legal entities: a 501(c)3 federal nonprofit entity that is a nonprofit in the state of California, and a for-profit general stock company registered in the state of California. The latter is designed to generate funds to support the former, as described in https://worlduniversityandschool.blogspot.com/2020/04/wuas-corporation-business-plan-april.html).

The main reason for directing this message to you is that many of the on-line courses we make use of were developed by MITx or MIT Open Course Ware under the creative commons 4.0 standard. This means that anyone else, including WUaS and any other part of MIT, is “free to share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format) and adapt (remix, transform and build upon)” the material. Your support of WUaS would likely increase the rate at which such courses are being developed and the range of disciplines that they cover.

Another reason for directing this message to you is that Larry Viehland (MIT ’69) is the Chair of the Board of WUaS.

In terms of what MIT would get from this, see these 15 planned WUaS revenue streams: https://worlduniversityandschool.blogspot.com/2020/04/15-planned-wuas-revenue-streams-both.html.  Moreover, our platform might be of use to MIT students if the coronavirus substantially impacts your activities in the fall of 2020.

What would WUaS get from this? We would be able to grow further and matriculate our second online undergraduate class this autumn. We would also be able to begin the licensing process with the state of California's Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education (and then concurrently, accreditation with the Western Association of Schools and Colleges).

Please let me know your thoughts about this.

Sincerely, Scott MacLeod





-- 
- Scott MacLeod - Founder, President & Professor

- World University and School

- 415 480 4577

- CC World University and School - like CC Wikipedia with best STEM-centric CC OpenCourseWare - incorporated as a nonprofit university and school in California, and is a U.S. 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt educational organization. 




* *
Friday, April 24, 2020


Your email to President Reif


Sanjay Emani Sarma

4:52 AM (8 hours ago)
to me, sarma-admin
Hi Scott,

I was forwarded the email you sent to President Reif. As you might imagine, things somewhat hectic at the moment. Happy to chat at some point as the dust clears, because it is hard for us to consider anything new as we figure out the plan for our students and help out in the efforts to combat COVID-19!

I hope you are well and safe. cc-ing my assistant Laura to set us up..

-Sanjay
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Sanjay Sarma, 35-206 MIT. 617 253 1925 (T). 617 253 7549 (F).

Assistant: Laura White
T: 617.324.7456  E: whitela@MIT.edu


*

Laura White whitela@mit.edu

5:40 AM (7 hours ago)
to me
Dear Scott,

I hope this finds you and your family well with everything happening.  Would May 14th be a possibility for you?

Cheers,
Laura


Laura A. White
Executive Assistant  to Professor Sanjay Sarma, Vice President for Open Learning  
MIT Open Learning
Massachusetts Institute of Technology – 35-208
T: 617.324.7456  E: whitela@MIT.edu



*

Scott MacLeod sgkmacleod@worlduniversityandschool.org

8:48 AM (4 hours ago)
to Larry, Laura
Dear Laura, 

Thanks so much. Yes, Thursday, May 14th works for me. What might be some good times for Professor Sarma? 

I hope you are well and safe. Thank you.

Best regards, Scott



*

Scott MacLeod sgkmacleod@worlduniversityandschool.org

8:50 AM (4 hours ago)
to Sanjay, John, Anant, sarma-admin, Larry
Dear Sanjay, 

Thanks so much for your email - that you were forwarded my email to MIT President Reif, and regarding talking about possible collaborations between MIT and World University and School, planned in ~200 countries and 7,117 languages as wiki schools, but first in English for online degrees this autumn. Your executive assistant Laura White suggested the date of Thursday, May 14th, for talking, and that works for me. I've inquired with her what might be some good times for you.

I hope you and your family are well and safe in this time of coronavirus. Thank you.

Best regards, Scott
World University and School planning and envisioning thus far:








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