4 Western Governors University There was neither precedent nor blueprint in 1995 for creating an accredited, totally online university that awarded degrees based on competency rather than seat time. Western Governors University (WGU) was a “disruptive innovation,” as I termed it in the early days, before the university even had a name. The concept of WGU germinated shortly after I became governor, but my immersion in education policy, and the formulation of ideas aligning education with technology, started earlier—with the help of a coin toss.
103
A bit of backstory is necessary. Following Governor Norm Bangerter’s election as governor in 1984, I was appointed to the Southern Utah University (SUU) Board of Trustees. At the first meeting I attended, a new chairman needed to be elected. I was nominated along with Donel Horlocker, a trustee from Logan, Utah. A secret ballot resulted in a tie vote; the process was repeated but produced the same result, so Donel and I suggested we resolve it with the flip of a coin. I won, becoming chairman of the Board of Trustees. And that coin flip set off a chain of events that proved pivotal to my emergence as a political figure.
