Virtual U is a versatile tool that can be applied to numerous educational situations. This online user community serves as a clearinghouse for sharing the experiences of the VU project team and other early adopters in applying the tool as a learning aid. Among the various ways to apply VU in such situations are:

Classroom Use
VU is already being used in several higher-education administration graduate programs and early results have been quite positive. It represents a great new way to present cases to students and provide team learning opportunities. It can also be used as a supplement to other materials.

Training Seminars
A one-day seminar conducted by an experienced VU user can be an excellent way to introduce people to the inner workings of a university. VU can also be used to catalyze conversation and bring a new style and energy to topics that have been covered repeatedly. The VU project team is ready to help plan your seminar. We can also provide experienced facilitators.

Professional Workshops
VU is ideal for one-and two-day workshops featuring hands-on play by attendees. The VU project team has produced several successful two-day workshops. We can help you plan your workshop. We've documented some of our workshop experiences and advice in this package, including a number of suggested workshop styles you can power with VU.

Administrative Retreats
Team building and interdepartmental understanding are important for any organization and universities are no exception. VU is a useful tool for administrative retreats. Teams of administrative staff can use VU to improve their decision-making processes and understand the key relationships and economic value of different departments and policies of a university.

Student Competitions
VU can help bring together the student body (undergrad, graduate, or student government) to learn more about the operation of the institution they attend. As demonstrated by a successful pilot at the University of Pennsylvania (materials are included in this package), a great application for VU is a student competition. Various groups of students play VU under set rules to achieve specific goals. The student(s) who achieve the most in the least amount of time and properly document their strategy and outcome win the competition.

Distance Education
While VU is not a Web-based application, it can easily be downloaded from the Web. Saved games can be e-mailed to and from professors and students, making VU a useful tool for distance education courses. In a distance education environment, students would obtain or download the application. Once VU is installed, students can learn it and use it to follow cases and other directives offered by a professor. As they use VU, they can post their experiences to message boards and post saved games so others can download, view, and analyze the results.