The University of Northern Colorado recently named Arte Libunao as the new executive director of Extended Campus, which offers in-person learning opportunities in Loveland and Denver, Colorado, as well as distance online educational opportunities to students across the state, nation and world.

Previously, Libunao worked at West Coast University (WCU) in Irvine, California, for eight years, where he held positions including the associate dean of Nursing, executive director of operations and, most recently, provost and chief academic officer. He oversaw all operations of the university’s seven campuses in California, Texas and Florida and managed the university’s academic budget of $350 million.

“UNC’s Extended Campus continues to expand its reach to students, not only in Colorado, but across the nation and world. Mr. Libunao will build upon our strong distance online and in-person programs to meet the needs of students no matter where they’re at or what their backgrounds are including recent high-school graduates, working adults and others,” said Mark Anderson, provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs at UNC.

Libunao also oversaw financial needs at numerous universities in California, including Pinnacle College, Pacific Oaks College and Argosy University.

Before his work in higher education, Libunao was chief financial officer for financial service companies including ditech.com, GMAC Mortgage and others. He has taken two companies public and completed three merge acquisitions.

“My goal for Extended Campus is to provide and develop instructor training in order to teach teachers how to deliver engaging content, worthy of binge watching so that students can control how and when they access the content,” Libunao said. “We must meet the students’ needs and goals how, when and where they want.”

He received his Master of Business Administration from Pepperdine University and his bachelor’s in Economics from California State University.

“For UNC, it’s about really understanding the working adult, and also thinking of those high school students who are graduating, as they see education differently today because of their experience during the pandemic,” he said. “We need to understand from them what they want and need.”

Libunao began his new role at UNC in January of 2021.

—Written by Katie Corder