Major Updates
UPCEA Members Take Note, and Make a Comment!
The US Department of Education recently released the proposed regulations for Distance Education, Return to Title IV, and TRIO. In another major announcement, they signaled in a blog post that other topics including State Authorization, cash management, and accreditation will be published by next year. The Department also updated the community that Third-Party Servicers would have its own negotiated rulemaking session and Incentive Compensation Ban would have revised guidance by the end of the year as well. Quite the substantive blog post for higher education policy wonks!
The Distance Education, Return to Title IV, and TRIO proposed regulations are available here. The public comment period runs until August 23. We encourage you to share with your institutional administration and discuss how you’d like to respond to the various proposed regulations. Those changes which are most important to the UPCEA community include:
- Require Attendance-Taking in 100% Distance Education Courses – Mandatory attendance-taking for each student for 100% distance education courses, except for dissertation research courses within doctoral programs. This is to track if federal financial aid should be returned to the ED if the student withdraws from the course or institution. If so, the institution must document the last day of attendance for that student, and if the student does not engage in a course for 14 days, must withdraw the student from the course and document that date.
- To the Department, this requirement is not achieved by a user simply logging in to the LMS, they must take some other form of academic engagement, such as taking a test, engaging with a discussion post, etc.
- While the Department estimates institutions can “often easily determine when students stop attending because a school’s systems can often identify when students submit assignments or interact with instructors and students during lectures and course discussions, and students are often continuously monitored to track academic engagement,” we at UPCEA estimate that this will likely require your institutions to develop and track attendance in ways that you have not previously, and may require coordination of disparate systems to make it happen.
- Additional Virtual Location for 100% Distance Education/Correspondence Programs – The Department is proposing that a new institutional location apply to all of an institution’s 100% distance education and correspondence programs. The Department’s goals with this new virtual location category is to capture data about an institution’s distance education programs to better measure outcomes of these programs, provide better oversight through program reviews, and determine the states where federal financial aid students are located. It also has suggested this provision for if an institution stops offering all distance education courses, as well as if an institution stops offering in-person instruction, but still has distance programs. In the Department’s words, this is to “provide greater protection for students if an institution offering both distance education and in-person instruction suspends coursework in one modality but maintains the other. Students whose modality has been discontinued and who may not wish to, or may not be able to, continue in the alternative modality, would be eligible for closed school discharges”. The Department notes the additional locations are still 100% distance education even if requirements for students to complete on-campus or residential periods of 90 days or less exist.
- Reporting on Title IV Student Enrollment in Distance Education or Correspondence Courses – The Department is proposing additional data to be collected on distance education and correspondence courses, which would be a much broader set of data than institutions have provided on these students and courses to this point. The Department indicated they would be collecting more data, but they indicated the specific details of that reporting have not yet been determined, but wanted to establish the general requirement ahead of releasing those details and indicated it could include program oversight audits, outcome metrics, College Scorecard program-level data, debt earnings, completion rates, the amount of Title IV funds expended on distance education programs, and the State in which the distant student is located while enrolled. They have indicated the effective date of this provision would be July 1, 2026.
- Disallowing Asynchronous Distance Education Clock-Hour Programs – While different from credit-hour programs that are offered on most UPCEA member institutional campuses, clock-hour programs are a measurement of the student’s minute-by-minute work on their learning. Since 2020, the Department has allowed for asynchronous clock hour instruction, but are now proposing that it be pulled back, because they believe the flexibility has been abused by providers.
- New Definition for 100% Distance Education Course – The Department has proposed a new definition for a Distance Education Course: “A course in which instruction takes place exclusively as described in the definition of distance education in this section notwithstanding in-person non-instructional requirements, including orientation, testing, academic support services, or residency experiences.”
These are not final regulations, and still have the opportunity for the community to shape the final rules. We encourage our membership to review the draft regulations and provide their insights and comments to the Department before August 23. Your analysis and feedback are crucial for shaping the final regulations. Share this information with your distance education program administrators. This will certainly also require the review of your institutional government affairs/legal counsel and those who are involved with administering financial aid, reporting, or teaching distance education at your institution.
Take time, and make a comment before August 23. The Department is asking that your comments do the following:
- Be concise but support your claims.
- Explain your views as clearly as possible and avoid using profanity.
- Refer to specific sections and paragraphs of the proposed regulations throughout your comments, particularly in any headings that are used to organize your submission.
- Explain why you agree or disagree with the proposed regulatory text and support these reasons with data-driven evidence, including the depth and breadth of your personal or professional experiences.
- Where you disagree with the proposed regulatory text, suggest alternatives, including regulatory language, and your rationale for the alternative suggestion.
Work with your institutional government affairs team if you will be commenting on behalf of your organization. We also note that anyone can also submit comments as an individual citizen, separate from representing your institution.
If these regulations are released in their final form before November 1 of this year, they could take effect July 1, 2025.
- Read the regulations and submit a comment here.
- Read our extended CORe posting on the topic and leave a comment with how you and your institution are replying
Supreme Court Chevron Decision Erodes Administrative Regulatory Framework
In a landmark decision, the US Supreme Court voted 6-3 to significantly curtail the Chevron doctrine, a long-standing principle since 1984 that allowed federal agencies considerable leeway in interpreting ambiguous laws, and instructed lower courts to defer to agencies on regulatory and decision making. This shift, which restricts the power of agencies including the Department of Education, could have profound implications for higher education, and the broader US regulatory landscape. The ruling states that future regulatory changes by agencies cannot take part in interpreting laws set by Congress and gives more power to both the original legislative language, but more so with the judicial branch in setting regulatory affairs. Higher education regulations could face a period of uncertainty as courts take a more active role in interpreting statutes directly, potentially leading to a vastly different regulatory environment, with potential benefits as well as pitfalls for institutions. This change may affect everything from distance education, to accreditation standards, and we encourage colleges and universities to closely monitor and adapt to changing educational regulations. Read more.
Other News
- Latest FAFSA hiccup could delay financial aid disbursements this fall (Washington Post)
- Federal Report | Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Estimated Eligibility and Receipt among Food Insecure College Students (US GAO – Government Accountability Office)
The Education Department wants to collect much more information about distance education courses and the students enrolled in them as part of a broader effort to increase oversight of online programs.
The department’s proposal would require colleges and universities to take attendance in distance education classes, which include those offered online or via correspondence. Institutions also would have to provide more information to the agency about those classes’ enrollment. Additionally, the department proposes to end any asynchronous options for students in online clock-hour programs, which are typically workforce training programs that lead to a certificate.
The proposed changes worry some higher education groups, which say they could hamper innovation, unfairly target online classes and limit access for students who could benefit from the flexibility that online education provides. The department and advocates say the new regulations are needed to ensure oversight of online education—which increased during and following the pandemic—and track the outcomes of students in those programs. In the 2022–23 academic year, about 53 percent of U.S. students enrolled in at least one online course.
[…]
Jordan DiMaggio, vice president of policy and digital strategy at UPCEA, the online and professional education association, said that the department’s goals are laudable, but this proposal and other actions raise questions about the agency’s motivations.
“There’s questions on whether the department is truly focused on protecting students’ outcomes and taxpayer dollars,” he said. “Or do they kind of reveal an antiquated bias against online education that’s framed by some suspicion and distrust of the field as a whole?”
Search Influence and UPCEA Establish Higher Ed Marketing Cost Benchmarks in Joint Industry Report
NEW ORLEANS, LA., July 30, 2024 — Search Influence, a leading higher education digital marketing agency, and UPCEA, the online and professional education association, announced their co-authored Higher Ed Marketing Metrics Research Report. The study establishes industry-first benchmarks for marketing cost metrics at professional, continuing, and online (PCO) education schools and reveals major gaps in metric tracking among institutions.
Report Key Findings:
- Less than half of marketers at these institutions track cost per inquiry (46%) and cost per enrolled student (43%).
- 17% of respondents say they do not track key marketing metrics.
- Less than half (47%) are satisfied with their marketing campaign performance, while only 38% are satisfied with their current cost expenditure.
- Marketers risk poor campaign performance, wasted budget, and reduced lead quality by not tracking key metrics.
Among institutions tracking cost per inquiry (CPI), the average CPI is $140, with a range of $29.03 to $450. For those tracking cost per enrolled student, the average cost is $2,849 per student. This breaks down to an average of $1,505 for undergraduate and $3,804 for graduate enrollment, and $599 for non-credit programs. As the industry’s first report into metric tracking among PCO schools, these higher education marketing benchmarks provide an important starting point for marketers to assess the performance of their campaigns against industry peers.
The report showed a positive correlation between tracking cost per inquiry and cost per enrolled student and satisfaction with campaign performance. 92% of those who track these metrics are satisfied with campaign performance.
“We know from our experience working with higher education institutions that when you track metrics like CPI and evaluate them against historical performance or industry standards, you can confidently make strategic campaign adjustments,” said Search Influence Director Paula French. “What’s more, we’ve seen higher ed marketers use these metrics to increase ROI by reducing CPI and cost per enrolled student over time.”
As the online and professional education sector grows, the study highlighted the urgent need for institutions to adapt their digital engagement strategies to remain competitive. UPCEA Chief Research Officer Jim Fong added, “As new generations of students favor non-traditional higher education pathways and the demographics of the ‘adult learner’ evolve, institutions must adapt the programs they offer accordingly. In response to consumers’ changing online behaviors and preferences, institutions must reassess their online targeting strategies to reach prospective students effectively.”
96 UPCEA members participated in the Higher Education Marketing Metrics Research Study, and 44 members completed the survey, conducted between October 18, 2023, and January 12, 2024.
Search Influence has been a UPCEA Platinum Partner since September 2022. Through this partnership, Search Influence and UPCEA produce resources, including research studies and webinars, to help higher education marketers better understand their campaign performance and drive inquiries efficiently.
Download the full Higher Ed Marketing Metrics Research Report here.
To learn more about Search Influence’s work in higher education digital marketing, visit https://www.searchinfluence.com/ or call (504) 208-3900.
Media Inquiries:
Frances Howell – Search Influence
Molly Nelson – UPCEA
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About Search Influence:
Search Influence is a woman-owned, ROI-focused digital advertising agency that helps institutions drive prospects into and through the recruitment funnel with analytics-backed strategies, including search engine optimization and paid digital advertising. Founded in 2006, Search Influence’s core purpose is to optimize potential. The higher education marketing agency collaborates with well-regarded institutions both nationally and locally in New Orleans. Clients include the Tulane School of Professional Advancement, Tufts University, and NC State. In 2023, the 2023 US Search Awards recognized Search Influence and Tulane SoPA with a finalist nomination in the “Best Use of Search—B2C (PPC)” category.
About UPCEA:
UPCEA is the online and professional education association. Our members continuously reinvent higher education, positively impacting millions of lives. We proudly lead and support them through cutting edge research, professional development, networking and mentorship, conferences and seminars, and stakeholder advocacy. Our collaborative, entrepreneurial community brings together decision makers and influencers in education, industry, research, and policy interested in improving educational access and outcomes.
These days, educational institutions and organizations face a number of challenges when it comes to developing effective leaders—particularly in the online, continuing, and professional education realms. From difficulties catering to diverse learners to struggles adapting to emerging technologies, being able to navigate these challenges is crucial.
Fortunately, with the right organizational leadership in place, it is possible to overcome common challenges while ensuring sustainable growth and impact.
So, how can your organization enhance its leadership while boosting growth and development? This guide provides some key insights and strategies for leadership development from which all educational institutions can benefit.
What Is Organizational Leadership in Education?
In order to understand how to develop leaders in the realm of education, it’s essential to know what organizational leadership in this field entails and looks like.
Organizational leadership in education can take various forms depending on the nature of the institution, but in simplest terms, it refers to a leadership structure where every member is actively seeking knowledge and continuous learning from one another. Ultimately, every member of the leadership team is united toward achieving the organization’s overarching goals. This collaborative leadership approach is equally effective whether applied within a single department or across various units within an institution, such as online learning, continuing education, and professional education programs. This differs from more “traditional” approaches to management, where leaders fall into more of a hierarchy and are generally less interested in learning from one another.
What kinds of skills and characteristics do effective organizational leaders possess? Some of the most notable include:
- The ability to think strategically
- Short- and long-term vision
- Collaboration and communication
- Data-driven decision-making
- Interpersonal skills
Why Organizational Leadership Matters
The rapid evolution of technology, learner expectations, and market demands require effective leadership—which is the only way to drive innovation, engagement, and positive outcomes for learners and organizations alike. However, truly excellent organizational leaders are difficult to come by. While organizational support is valuable, the journey to excellent leadership often involves continuous personal growth, reflection, and learning from diverse experiences.
With this in mind, it is perhaps more critical than ever for both higher ed institutions and organizations to invest their time, money, and resources into leadership development. This includes proper leadership training to ensure sustainable growth and maximum impact.
Key Challenges and Skills
At the same time, developing organizational leaders isn’t a straightforward process—even with a large budget and good intentions. Educational leaders can face substantial challenges in their everyday work, especially with today’s influx of new technologies and innovations. Even the most experienced of leaders may struggle to adapt to these changes while maintaining strong leadership and decision-making skills.
Meanwhile, other leaders may struggle with other aspects of the job that range from managing remote teams and catering to increasingly diverse types of learners. With more educational institutions and organizations moving to some form of remote work in recent years (specifically in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic), leading remote teams has become a challenge for many professionals. Combine this with a larger number of learners returning to school who require different teaching and leadership styles, and it’s clear why these can present obstacles.
The most successful organizational leaders in education, then, will possess core skills that include digital fluency, data analysis, communication, and confident decision-making. Likewise, these educational leaders need to be flexible and adaptable so as to grow with their organizations without falling behind.
Strategies for Leadership Development
Of course, the skills organizational leaders need to be successful and overcome common challenges can’t be simply acquired or taught overnight; they must be carefully built upon over time through careful and thoughtful training. This means your organization will need to be prepared to put in the time, effort, and investment into developing organizational leaders in order to reap the benefits.
Seeking some tried-and-true strategies to develop and strengthen leadership in your own organization? There are several methods worth applying and adapting to meet your needs.
Blended Learning
Combining online and offline learning methods can be an ideal way to improve leadership development, with a few practical options including:
- Online courses – These utilize online platforms like massive open online courses (MOOCs), microlearning modules, and dedicated leadership development programs that provide training as needed.
- In-person workshops – These workshops are ideal to facilitate for focusing on specific skill sets, like data analysis and communication.
- Case studies and simulations – These offer scenarios and real-world examples for leaders to apply their learning.
- Collaborative projects – These blended learning opportunities create team projects where leaders are able to work together on solving challenges or developing their own innovations.
Mentorship and Coaching
Along with blending learning options, mentorship and coaching opportunities provide personalized guidance and support that can accelerate learning and growth. Examples of these opportunities you can offer your leaders include:
- Peer-to-peer mentoring – This involves matching experienced leaders with newer leaders for ongoing guidance and support.
- Executive coaching – This provides individualized coaching sessions with experienced professionals who are focused on personalized development goals.
- Internal mentorship programs – These establish organization-wide mentorship programs where senior leaders are paired with mentees.
- Reverse mentoring – These mentorship programs create opportunities for younger leaders to mentor senior leaders in areas like technology or digital fluency.
Leadership Communities
There is no overstating the value of peer-to-peer learning and collaboration within dedicated communities. Consider providing opportunities for leadership development in any (or all) of the following realms:
- Internal communities of practice – This can include fostering online or in-person communities, where leaders can share their own experiences with best practices while collaborating on challenges and learning from one another.
- Professional organizations – Inviting leaders to participate in organizations like UPCEA offers unique opportunities for dedicated leadership development. Consider, too, exploring UPCEA’s Uplift mentorship program to help leaders gain valuable insights and feedback while growing their professional networks and learning new skills.
- Online forums and groups – Don’t overlook the value and potential of online platforms and industry-specific forums for discussion and knowledge sharing among leadership professionals. In addition to LinkedIn groups, UPCEA’s CORe discussion groups are an excellent resource here.
- Conferences and events – Empowering leaders to attend relevant events and conferences is a great way to encourage networking, learning, and exposure to new ideas. Check out UPCEA’s Events page to stay on top of the latest industry conferences, seminars, webinars, and more.
Continuous Learning
One of the most important things to remember when developing organizational leaders is that these professionals should be in a perpetual mindset of growth and learning. By cultivating an environment that encourages ongoing learning for leaders to stay ahead of the curve, educational facilities can set themselves up for success.
Some possible ways to encourage and support continuous learning within your leadership teams include:
- Encouragement and incentives – Create a culture that encourages ongoing learning by offering such benefits as tuition reimbursement, time off for professional development, and/or recognition programs.
- Curated learning resources – Provide a list of curated articles, podcasts, books, and other helpful resources that are relevant to leadership development. Make sure these resources are readily available to team members at all times and regularly updated with the latest information.
- Internal knowledge-sharing platforms – Establish a platform where leaders can reliably share resources, presentations, and best practices with colleagues directly.
- Subscription services – Offer access to subscription services with a variety of learning content on key leadership development topics. Take your time researching possible subscription services and platforms to determine which would offer the best resources to your leaders.
Continue Your Leadership Journey
In today’s dynamic world of higher education, strong organizational leadership can very well be the difference between an institution’s success and failure. The most promising leaders are those who adapt to changing times and embrace a mindset of continuous learning from others.
Institutions and individual leaders alike should be taking necessary growth and development steps to invest in the next generation of organizational leadership. Through blended learning, leadership communities, continuous learning, and mentorship and coaching, leaders can build upon their skill sets and encourage mutual growth while working toward the institution’s long-term goals and objectives. From there, solid leadership promises to shape the future of online, continuing, and professional education in incredible ways.
Looking for more support as you continue your journey to educational leadership within your organization? UPCEA offers a wide range of professional development courses to help you take the next steps with confidence. These programs are crafted to offer high-value content for learners at all professional levels and have been designed by some of the most highly respected leaders in the field.
Learn more about UPCEA’s professional development programs or any of the other resources we have to offer by getting in touch with our knowledgeable team today. You can also become a member or begin your course registration at your convenience.
Sources
https://upcea.edu/professional-development-certificates/
https://upcea.edu/membership/become-a-member/
Significant second grant will drive adoption of new models for engaging employers in credential innovation
WASHINGTON (July 24, 2024) – UPCEA, the online and professional education association, is honored to receive a $600,000 grant from Walmart to drive innovation in skills-based credentialing with a project titled, “Expanding Institutional Capacity for Employer Engagement in Credential Innovation.”
This project will drive adoption of new models for higher ed engagement with employers and build out the UPCEA Hallmarks for Credential Innovation. The new model is a train-the-trainer approach for University-to-Business outreach and will use a scalable, design thinking-framework.
Despite employers having a strong interest in collaborating with colleges and universities to design and deliver non-degree programs, recent UPCEA research revealed that only 45% of employers were approached by institutions for such partnerships. Meanwhile, the percentage of employers partnering with external entities for training and professional development rose from 54% in 2022 to 68% in 2023, signaling that higher ed is losing ground to private providers.
The grant project includes two major initiatives to address these challenges and meet the pressing need for a skilled talent pipeline. This will help colleges and universities bolster their capacity to develop sustainable and scalable strategies for engaging employers as well as embrace innovation in skills-based credentialing. To scale employer and institutional engagement, this project will:
- Expand the institutional capacity for employer engagement through a “train the trainer” model commonly used in teaching hospitals. This will pair practitioners focused on applying learning and research. Colleges and universities will have the opportunity to participate in a program designed to foster University-to-Business outreach and engagement, with a goal of skills-based training to meet employer needs. This training will be supported through a one-to-one mentorship program and continued knowledge sharing through conferences, whitepapers, and case studies.
- Build on the previously funded initiative to create a consortium of universities aligning their credentials with local/regional employers by offering targeted consulting support to the initial set of 10 consortium members to move from the planning phase to credential implementation.
“UPCEA is helping colleges create credentials for the jobs and skills employers need, which is a big unlock,” said Patti Constantakis, Director of Retail Opportunity at Walmart.org. “This grant will help universities form tighter relationships with employers, paving the way for the development of impactful credentials that meet the needs of workers and employers while strengthening local economies.”
“Thanks to Walmart’s continued support, this project will help member institutions expand their capacity to engage employers in new and innovative credentialing work, at scale, to help close the skills gap across the nation. It’s tremendously exciting and so timely,” said Amy Heitzman, UPCEA’s Deputy CEO and Chief Learning Officer.
Amy Heitzman, UPCEA Deputy CEO and Chief Learning Officer, Melissa Peraino, Director of Content Development and Volunteer Leader Management, and Stacy Chiaramonte, Senior Vice President of Strategy and Operations for UPCEA Research and Consulting, are serving as Co-Principal Investigators for the 18-month grant.
This initiative will include opportunities for UPCEA members to engage in knowledge sharing events to learn from their peers. Additional information will be shared with UPCEA members via email.
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About UPCEA
UPCEA is the online and professional education association. Our members positively impact millions of lives by continuously reinventing higher education. We advance the professional field through cutting edge research, professional development, networking and mentorship, conferences and seminars, and stakeholder advocacy. Our collaborative, entrepreneurial community brings together decision makers and influencers in education, industry, research, and policy interested in improving educational access and outcomes. Learn more about us at UPCEA.edu and follow us on social media @UPCEA.
About Philanthropy at Walmart
Walmart.org represents the philanthropic efforts of Walmart and the Walmart Foundation. By focusing where the business has unique strengths, Walmart.org works to tackle key social and environmental issues and collaborate with others to spark long-lasting systemic change. Walmart has stores in 19 countries, employs more than 2.1 million associates and does business with thousands of suppliers who, in turn, employ millions of people. Walmart.org is helping people live better by supporting programs to accelerate upward job mobility for frontline workers, advance equity, address hunger, build inclusive economic opportunity for people in supply chains, protect and restore nature, reduce waste and emissions, and build strong communities where Walmart operates. To learn more, visit www.walmart.org or connect on Twitter @Walmartorg.
CONTACT:
Molly Nelson, UPCEA Vice President of Communications, [email protected]
A majority of college graduates believe generative artificial intelligence tools should be incorporated into college classrooms, with more than half saying they felt unprepared for the workforce, according to a new survey from Cengage Group, an education-technology company.
The survey, released today, found that 70 percent of graduates believe basic generative AI training should be integrated into courses; 55 percent said their degree programs did not prepare them to use the new technology tools in the workforce.
[…]
“That’s spot on to what I’ve seen and heard,” said Ray Schroeder, senior fellow at UPCEA, an online and professional education association, and a contributor to Inside Higher Ed. “Those students are looking ahead; they’re looking at not just the next class but their careers and what the HR department or owner of the start-up is going to look for in students. And it’s the ability to use the rapidly evolving technology that’ll make a huge difference.”
By Emily West
When Elle Woods strutted into Harvard Law School, clad head to toe in pink, she broke the mold for what an aspiring law student should look like. And, if market data is to be believed, the legal profession itself may be headed for a similarly unexpected makeover.
The 2023 Future Ready Lawyer Survey revealed that the legal field is poised for unparalleled changes, driven by technological trends that are reshaping roles. According to the survey, 87% of attorneys affirmed that technology has enhanced their daily work. However, less than half (46%) felt they were fully utilizing technology to its potential, and 4% admitted to underutilizing it. At the same time, there is growing pressure on law firms to increase their investment in emerging technology to effectively meet client demands. Nearly half of law firms (46%) identified the need for technology to boost productivity and efficiency as a top priority, alongside improving collaboration and work processes.[1]
Earlier this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stated that AI technology could impact 40% of all jobs globally, primarily affecting white-collar and professional sectors, which has significant implications for the legal sector.[2] As generative AI technology becomes increasingly capable of tackling complex tasks, conventional legal jobs and routine tasks like research, writing, and data entry could increasingly get handled by virtual assistants. It will drive day-to-day legal tasks, with legal practitioners acting as supervisors and strategists. According to David Wilkins, real-life Professor and Director of the Center on the Legal Profession at Harvard Law School, most lawyers believe that AI tools can now produce memos on legal questions comparable to the work of a first-year law firm associate. While these AI-generated documents still require review by a senior lawyer, the cost efficiency of AI compared to human associates reveals its transformative potential for legal profession.[3] The latest briefing from UPCEA and labor market experts at Lightcast further emphasizes that advances in AI and automation are reshaping legal occupations, especially traditional support roles.
Before anyone starts objecting, however, the UPCEA and Lightcast briefing also indicates that skilled legal professionals with strategic prowess and personal charisma (à la Miss Woods) shouldn’t be too worried…yet. Roles requiring nuanced human skills like persuasion, client relationship management, courtroom presence and good old common sense will likely remain firmly in human hands for the foreseeable future. Current AI capabilities can still miss the mark quite spectacularly. For example, in June 2023, a New York federal judge sanctioned lawyers who submitted a legal brief written by ChatGPT, which included citations of non-existent court opinions.[4] The inconsistent reliability of such tools will likely spark more litigation around areas like data privacy, AI governance, and intellectual property disputes.
As quickly as the integration of AI and automation makes roles obsolete, it also creates possibilities for entirely new roles across legal operations and specialties. Job titles like “legal automation specialist” may soon become commonplace. That is why current or aspiring legal professionals who proactively embrace these new realities will come out ahead. The most successful professionals won’t be the ones experimenting with generative AI — they will be the ones preparing for a legal industry that will look a lot different in 2034 than it does today.
For the legal field to successfully navigate this great makeover, law schools and institutions of higher education must bend and snap to it— covering crucial areas like AI ethics, legal informatics, and technology-driven practice management. This means integrating courses that explore the legal implications of AI, training students in the use of AI tools for legal research and drafting and emphasizing the importance of data privacy and cybersecurity. Schools should also create opportunities for interdisciplinary learning between law students and those studying computer science, engineering, and business. This cross-disciplinary approach will ensure that future legal professionals are not only proficient in legal principles but also understand the technological landscape shaping the industry. Those proactive enough to prepare for this future will remain in vogue for years to come.
[1] https://www.wolterskluwer.com/en/news/future-ready-lawyer-2023-report
[2] https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/Staff-Discussion-Notes/Issues/2024/01/14/Gen-AI-Artificial-Intelligence-and-the-Future-of-Work-542379?cid=bl-com-SDNEA2024001
[3] https://hls.harvard.edu/today/harvard-law-expert-explains-how-ai-may-transform-the-legal-profession-in-2024/
[4] https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/22/judge-sanctions-lawyers-whose-ai-written-filing-contained-fake-citations.html
We have reached a point in the development of Generative AI (GenAI) that synthetic AI professors are poised to enter academe.
We have been following the rapid development of knowledge and abilities of GenAI over the past couple of years. OpenAI Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Mira Murati recently gave some additional clarity on its capabilities. In an interview with Dartmouth Engineering, Murati describes the jump from GPT-4 to GPT-5 as someone growing from a high-schooler up to university:
“If you look at the trajectory of improvement, systems like GPT-3 were maybe toddler-level intelligence,” Murati says. “And then systems like GPT-4 are more like smart high-schooler intelligence. And then, in the next couple of years, we’re looking at Ph.D. intelligence for specific tasks. Things are changing and improving pretty rapidly.”
I should begin by noting that I am well familiar with the professoriate. My career in academe is representative of many professors. I began as a part time Instructor in the 1971/72 academic year at the University of Illinois. In 1975, I took on a full time Instructor appointment. In 1977, I began the tenure track as Assistant Professor at the then Sangamon State University which in 1995 became the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS). My career followed the incremental tracks of tenured Associate Professor to Full Professor at UIS along with several administrative titles along the way. I officially left UIS in 2022 but continue activity as Professor Emeritus. Over the years, I taught hundreds of classes, advised thousands of students, directed theses and graduate projects, served on the campus senate and a myriad of committees, member of the faculty union, convenor of an academic department, principal investigator (PI) and administrator of grants large and small, publishing papers, book chapters and delivering peer-reviewed papers at academic conferences. In sum, for decades I was fully engaged in the roles of a traditional academic. It is from that perspective that I share these thoughts on the advent of GenAI serving the roles of a non-human of the synthetic professor.
The role of the college professor has evolved over the centuries, but several core responsibilities have remained central to the position for many years. The four-part mission of tenure track faculty at many colleges and universities continues to include teaching, advising, research and service. Emphases among these areas vary with the individual and institution.
Now GenAI has arrived on the scene with the ability to assist with most all of the work that a traditional professor does. To begin with the assignment of teaching, I have asked GenAI to develop a course syllabus with all of the associated learning outcomes, lecture notes and associated graphics, formative and summative assessments, grading rubrics, recommended readings, discussion assignments, project descriptions, and other miscellaneous items that might be used in teaching the class. Further, GenAI is capable of applying rubrics to grade papers as well as creating and grading objective exams where the topical material may call for those. One can call upon more than half a dozen chatbot models utilizing different underlying Large Learning Models (LLMs) to design and administer the course, drawing upon strengths of different versions to create the unified best version of the syllabus.
The actual delivery of a class taught by GenAI can be modeled after the asynchronous learning that we have refined in online class delivery over the past thirty years. In addition, GenAI has the capability of multi-lingual voice to provide real-time interactions with students. With the recent release of GPT-4o in May of this year, OpenAI CTO Mira Murati demonstrated the advances in voice modes of their chatbots. Included in the video she shared are student engagement examples. Such technologies as these give a voice to GenAI to communicate with students, explaining difficult concepts, discussing individual problems with students, and responding to any questions students may have in 50 different languages. Khanmigo is an example of a dedicated academic AI tutor developed by the Khan Academy.
Just as the Khanmigo tool is capable of ably providing tutoring, so too can GenAI provide a greater range of advising including course scheduling for the student taking into account the various factors of prior success in pre-requisite courses, personal commitments affecting times available in a given term, special interests in electives, etc. GenAI has detailed, updated data to assist in career advice, balancing student interest with analytical predictions of future employment trends and opportunities based on student performance and preference.
In 2023, Cornell University assigned a task force to examine the use of GenAI in academic research. An expansive report addressed the use of AI tools in the various stages of research and publication. It is clear that GenAI already can play a key role in more efficiently and more completely accomplishing selected analytical and administrative tasks of research projects. This would seem likely to expand to a role that is the equivalent to co-researcher and co-author of publications. UPenn Professor Ethan Mollick writes in Co-Intelligence: How to Live and Work with AI published in Knowledge at Wharton:
“The best way to work with it is to treat it like a person, so you’re in this interesting trap,” said Mollick, co-director of the Generative AI Lab at Wharton. “Treat it like a person and you’re 90% of the way there. At the same time, you have to remember you are dealing with a software process.”
Service by GenAI is realized in many ways. With capabilities to answer a world of questions, provide advice based on cited publications, and serve as an index of resources, both physical and online, the chatbot of today can provide important services across campus and in the broader community. As an example, I have created Ray’s eduAI Advisor, a GPT openly available to assist academics in preparing for, and implementing, the use of AI in their work. University service is better accomplished with GenAI apps dedicated to taking detailed minutes in Zoom meetings, including making recommendations for resolution of disputes that surface in those meetings.
The role of the human professor is now heavily augmented by GenAI. Already, GenAI is capable of assuming, to a great degree, the roles of the traditional professor. Soon, we may begin to consider AI as a professor in its own right. In his essay, “Gradually, then Suddenly: Upon the Threshhold Small Improvements Can Lead to Big Changes” Ethan Mollick writes
“At some point, the current wave of AI technologies will hit their limits and progress will slow, but no one knows when this will occur. Until that happens, it is worth contemplating the concluding lines to OpenAI’s new paper on using AI to debug AI code: ‘From this point on, the intelligence of LLMs… will only continue to improve. Human intelligence will not.’ We know this may not be true forever, but, in the meantime, the steady improvement in AI ability is less important than the thresholds of change. Keep an eye on the thresholds.”
I believe we are on a threshold of change in the personification of the professor in higher education. Are you prepared for the standardization and integration of GenAI into the traditional role of the professoriate?
This article was originally published in Inside Higher Ed’s Transforming Teaching & Learning blog.
Many higher education marketing and enrollment management teams are on board with integrating AI into their everyday job functions, but timid leadership and a lack of resources are inhibiting widespread adoption and experimentation, a new report from UPCEA and EducationDynamics declares.
The organizations surveyed over 120 professionals, finding respondents were optimistic about integrating emerging technologies, with 80% citing it would improve the marketing-to-enrollment pipeline and 62% believing it would personalize the student learning experience.
“From pedagogical questions on AI’s impact on student learning to improving business processes, AI is at the center of many campus conversations,” the report reads. “Perhaps no area on campus is more impacted by AI than student marketing and the student recruitment process.”
By Vickie Cook
Many institutions are facing significant financial hurdles and enrollment managers are called upon now more than ever to solve the multiple challenges related to enrollment issues including low numbers, diversification of learners to include the growing number and importance of adult learners, international enrollments, and tension between undergraduate and graduate program enrollments. Changing our current practices is vital to the future organizational health and rebounding toward fulfilling our mission in the higher education landscape.
As many as 57% of public 4-year institutions have reported budgetary challenges. Enrollment challenges create financial barriers for institutional effectiveness. Up to 77% of private, not-for-profit institutions have concerns about significant budget deficits (Boggs, Boroditsky, Krishnan, and Sarakatsannis, 2021). Public institutions report the same budget deficits occurring at both large and small institutions (Nietzel and Ambrose, 2024). As so many research studies have concluded, we are at a tipping point between a demographic cliff and the economic factors that impact decisions to continue pursuing an undergraduate degree (Grawe, 2023).
While the needs are great among all institutions, there are opportunities to think about enrollment management with distinctive approaches to assist your institution with moving forward. We will look at three specific management steps that may assist your team in considering alternatives to your current practices and thus leading your institution toward rebounding growth.
- Build a strategy. While this may not seem like a new idea, building out or changing the strategic approach to enrollment management is the first step to developing and encouraging new ideas and thoughts. Most institutions have a Strategic Enrollment Management Plan (SEMP), however, if that plan is not reviewed annually and evaluated for continued positive growth, it is not a true SEMP. To be effective, the SEMP must be current, relevant, and measurable. Currency of the plan should be within the most recent 6-month period with specific approaches to the next 6 months clearly identified. The SEMP cannot be a long-term static document. It must be a living document that morphs as changes hit the institution, the marketplace, and the industry.
- Create Process/Practice Maps. A business process/practice map can assist your teams in determining where there is need for change. Just because the map reflects the way your business processes have always been done, does not mean that it should continue to be done in that manner. But, before changes are made, a true plan should be discussed and agreed upon regarding the current practices. Continued dialogue would focus on why the practice is utilized, what problem does the process/practice solve, and what technology integration or upgrade could support the part of the process/practice that might be automated. Automation of regular processes will allow your human resources to focus their attention on student interaction and high-level thinking and performance. All lower-level processes should be reviewed for automation. A process map should be created for all vital functions of the enrollment management unit, both large and small. By creating the appropriate process maps for each vital function, true change can begin to be implemented.
- Implement Business Practice/Process Automation. After the process maps are created, discussion regarding appropriate changes and an identified timeline and responsibilities can be determined. Part of that implementation will be the creation of an evaluation document. Three questions should drive the business practice/process automation work:
- How might automation play a part in implementing the identified needed changes?
- What evaluation tool will be used and what data will be collected?
- What will success look like?
Through careful use of these steps, enrollment managers can test guided changes, assess each component of the process/practice mapping, and evaluate the overall change that has occurred. By structuring enrollment management processes through interaction between human engagement and technology for automation, enrollment managers can lead their units through the crises we see in today’s challenging environments in higher education.
If you are interested in engaging with other member institutions around enrollment management, please join the conversation on CORe, consider joining the UPCEA Marketing, Enrollment, and Student Succes (MESS) Network and/or attending the UPCEA MEMS – Marketing, Enrollment Management, Student Success conference in Philadelphia, PA, December 3-5, 2024.
Vickie Cook is the Vice Chancellor for Enrollment and Retention Management and a Research Professor of Education at the University of Illinois Springfield, as well as a Strategic Advisor for UPCEA Research and Consulting. To learn more about UPCEA Research and Consulting, please contact [email protected].