The Guardian has called Robert McKee the “most influential storytelling theorist since Aristotle.” As a screenwriting instructor, he has taught students as illustrious as John Lasseter of Pixar and Akiva Goldsman, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of “A Beautiful Mind”, “The Da Vinci Code” and other films. For over 15 years, his Story Seminar has been the
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SM: Can you talk about the financials? When you came on board in 2002, what was the revenue level and what was your financial strategy to move the company ahead? WB: In 2002 I believe we finished the year at $10 million in revenues. We raised $10 million through our private equity firm. In 2005
SM: It seems as though your learning outcomes are similar to a corporate vision. WB: We have five institutional learning outcomes: Lifelong Learning, Information Literacy, Communication, Academic Skill, and Critical Thinking. They were developed by our faculty as the key learning outcomes.
SM: Can you synthesize what it takes to achieve regional accreditation? WB: You must have a commitment and affirmation to a mission. They look at your institution mission and they verify that you are truly committed to it.
SM: When you came on board there were 4,400 students. What happened next? WB: We had to take a step back in the sense that we had added a lot of degrees very hastily. In assessing the quality of our programs, we realized that many of the ones we had were just placed into the
SM: How was accreditation handled? WB: From 1996 through 2000 the university had steady growth. Right around 2001 Jim made the decision that he wanted to achieve regional accreditation.
Wally is the CEO and president of American Public University System and its parent company American Public Education, Inc (APEI). He is also a member of the West Virginia Governor’s Advisory Council for Technology in Education. He is a CPA, CMA and Fellow of the Healthcare Financial Management Association. He earned a BA from Duke