UPCEA joins colleagues, friends, and the broader higher education community in mourning the passing of Dr. James P. Pappas, who dedicated his career to advancing the reach, relevance, and impact of online, professional and continuing education. Dr. Pappas, a former President of UPCEA, was the 1999 Walton S. Bittner Service Citation Award recipient and 2006 recipient of the Julius M. Nolte Award for Extraordinary Leadership. He also was a contributor to the UPCEA Hallmarks of Excellence in Professional and Continuing Education. Dr. Pappas leaves behind a legacy of innovation, service, and vision that transformed countless lives.
Dr. Pappas began his academic journey at the University of Utah, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology. He went on to complete a master’s in counseling psychology at the University of Ohio and a doctoral degree in clinical psychology at Purdue University. Returning to the University of Utah, he built a distinguished career over two decades as professor of counseling psychology, associate director of the counseling center, director of academic advising, associate dean of liberal education, and associate dean of the Division of Continuing Education. At Utah, he pioneered early applications of computers and instructional technology to continuing education, introduced new approaches to marketing using business and advertising strategies, and managed international programs in Mexico and Saudi Arabia.
In 1987, Dr. Pappas accepted the position of Vice Provost for Outreach and Distance Education and Dean of the College of Liberal Studies at the University of Oklahoma. Over the next 30 years, his visionary leadership reshaped OU Outreach and the College of Liberal Studies, now known as the College of Professional and Continuing Studies, into a nationally and internationally recognized leader in lifelong learning. Enrollment in the college grew by 500 percent, five new degree programs were established, and the college moved into its own dedicated building. Under his direction, OU was consistently ranked among the nation’s best providers of online education, including programs serving military learners stationed across the globe.
Pappas championed initiatives such as Partnership 21 with the Federal Aviation Administration, resource centers with the U.S. Department of Education, expanded graduate military programs in Europe, technical training for the U.S. Postal Service, a satellite training network with the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, and international development programs supported by USAID. His administration also helped re-establish OU’s aviation program, which has since risen to be ranked the top aviation program in the nation. Upon his retirement in 2016, he was the longest-serving dean in OU history, and in 2018 the University of Oklahoma honored his legacy by dedicating the James P. Pappas Administration Building.
Dr. Pappas’s influence extended well beyond his home institutions. He served not only as Treasurer and President of UPCEA but also as President of the Association for Graduate Liberal Studies Programs, Executive Vice President of the Association for Continuing Higher Education, and Chair of the Council on Extension, Continuing Education, and Public Service of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, where he also served on the executive board. He published extensively on adult education, counseling, and higher education administration, contributing practical and scholarly insights that informed the profession for decades.
“Jim was a towering figure in the field of continuing education,” said Dr. Robert Hansen, CEO of UPCEA. “His leadership within UPCEA and across the profession will continue to serve as an inspiration for generations to come. His legacy will endure in the institutions he shaped, the colleagues he mentored, and the students he served.”
Dr. Pappas’s many achievements earned him widespread recognition. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame in 2008 and the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame, where he later served as executive director. His receipt of UPCEA’s Julius M. Nolte Award for Extraordinary Leadership in 2006 reflected his extraordinary impact on our field and his unwavering commitment to expanding educational access and opportunity.
Those who worked alongside Dr. Pappas remember not only his bold vision but also his deep humanity. As colleagues have reflected, his work was a calling rooted in a belief that education is not just about knowledge but about dignity, hope, and the courage to dream. He inspired faculty, staff, and fellow leaders as a mentor and as a model of what it means to be an innovator in higher education. His efforts transformed OU’s outreach and online learning enterprise, but more importantly, they transformed the lives of thousands of learners across the world.
As we honor Dr. Pappas, we celebrate a life defined by purpose, compassion, and the conviction that education has the power to change lives.
September 29-October 1 conference to take place in metro Washington DC area
WASHINGTON, D.C., ISSUED SEPTEMBER 9, 2025. UPCEA, the online and professional education association, and AACRAO, a non-profit organization that supports higher education professionals, are again joining together to present Convergence: Credential Innovation in Higher Education, an event exploring the future of alternative credentials in higher education.
To be held at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia, from September 29 – October 1, Convergence 2025 takes place in the nation’s capital region and within reach of where critical policy decisions are made. With federal higher education policy in a period of transition, this gathering comes at a pivotal moment, following recent shifts such as the expansion of Pell Grants to support short-term, career-focused training programs.
The conference will convene key campus leaders and stakeholders from across academia to examine emerging models, share best practices, and shape institutional strategies for credential innovation. From deans of professional education and chief online learning officers to registrars and their staff, the event is designed to assist institutions in building strategic approaches to alternative credentials. As higher education navigates a changing regulatory landscape, the conference offers a timely forum for institutional leaders to align strategy with emerging federal priorities.
The conference captures the momentum of a rapidly developing but still largely unstructured movement – one that is redefining how learning is recognized and valued. The event serves as a unique platform for professionals from diverse backgrounds and across disciplines to come together, exchange ideas, and become catalysts for progress in the ever-evolving credential innovation landscape.
Through a mix of interactive workshops, collaborative roundtables, and peer-led sessions, this year’s Convergence event promises to engage attendees in a dynamic experience that informs, inspires, and empowers.
The conference will also provide an opportunity for UPCEA to release its most recent Advocacy Committee deliverable, “The Future is Now: Essential Conversations for Building Tomorrow’s University Today.”
“Credential innovation is one of the most pressing priorities facing higher education today,” said Robert Hansen, CEO of UPCEA. “Convergence gives institutions the chance to both learn from peers and lead together, and we are proud to partner with AACRAO to drive this important work forward.”
“By embracing new approaches to credentials, higher education can strategically respond to the public’s call for stronger alignment with workforce needs, demonstrating clear institutional ROI.” said Melanie Gottlieb, Executive Director of AACRAO. “It’s not just about adapting to change; it’s about leading it, to effectively appeal to new and emerging markets, which is absolutely critical in times of challenging demographics and shifting expectations.”
For more information, or to register, please visit https://upcea.edu/convergence.
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. Learn more at https://upcea.edu and follow @UPCEA on social media.
ABOUT AACRAO
AACRAO is a non-profit, voluntary, professional association working to make higher education more responsive to learners. With a membership of more than 18,000 higher education professionals at approximately 2,300 institutions in more than 40 countries, collectively representing over 16.5 million enrolled learners, the association provides advocacy, research, and policy-based guidance and training to higher education professionals to smooth the path for learners at every stage of their journey. Learn more at https://AACRAO.org
In late August, I had the opportunity to join the National Governors Association’s Intersectional Policy Lab on Non-Degree Credentials and Skills-Based Practices in Minneapolis. This first in-person gathering of NGA’s Data and Non-Degree Credential Learning Community and Skills in the States Community of Practice brought together state leaders, researchers, foundations, and employers for two days of hands-on learning and strategy-building.
For those of us in professional, continuing, and online education (PCO), the conversations were highly relevant. States are moving quickly to align credentials with labor market needs, while employers continue to voice both enthusiasm and skepticism about skills-based hiring. The challenge, and opportunity, for higher ed is clear: we must become more agile partners in shaping the credential ecosystem.
Three Lessons for Higher Education Leaders
1. Data Is Driving the Definition of Value
The Burning Glass Institute’s (BGI) Credential Value Index was shared with attendees. BGI’s research found that only about 1 in 5 in-demand CTE credentials delivers clear wage and mobility gains, roughly $5,000 in earnings on average. Walmart is funding pilots in Arkansas, Indiana, Tennessee, and Rhode Island to test this framework at scale. While earnings are a problematic measure, especially for high-demand, low-wage, high-debt areas of study such as social work and childcare/education, they will likely be important in credential ROI considerations.
What it means for PCO leaders: Institutions will increasingly be judged on whether their programs show demonstrable outcomes in wage gains, mobility, and job quality. Building stronger data linkages with state longitudinal systems and employer partners will be critical. Focusing on the accountability measures in the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB), which rely on these linkages, will move four-year institutions that much closer to realizing the funding source Workforce Pell may provide in the future.
2. Employers Want Skills, But Still Use Credentials as Filters
Employer panels were candid: while many have announced “skills-based hiring,” most still rely on experience, references, relationships and credentials as initial filters. Credentials become more relevant in promotion pathways than at entry level. HR systems also struggle to parse skills data.
What it means for PCO leaders: Our job is twofold, to design programs that help learners articulate skills clearly, and to work with employers so those skills are visible and valued. Embedding skills evidence into learning and employment records (LERs) and digital credentials is an important step.
3. Workforce Pell Could Reshape the Market
A closing workshop on Workforce Pell underscored its disruptive potential. Expanding Pell eligibility to short-term programs could bring a wave of new learners, but only if guardrails ensure program quality. States, institutions, and employers will all have a stake in defining “credentials of value.”
What it means for PCO leaders: This is a moment to position non-degree programs strategically. Institutions that can demonstrate ROI, integrate with state-approved credential lists, and align with employer demand will be best placed to capture new opportunities.
Why This Matters for Professional, Continuing, and Online Education
- Community colleges and universities alike will need to refine or phase out programs that don’t deliver equity or economic mobility.
- Employer partnerships, like those highlighted by IBM SkillsBuild and Google Employability, are no longer optional; they are essential pipelines.
- AI and automation are accelerating the pace of change, shortening the shelf life of skills and forcing institutions to rethink program cycles.
Moving Forward
As higher education leaders, we have an opportunity, and responsibility, to shape the credential landscape so that learners trust the time and money they invest will pay off. That means:
- Partnering with states on data sharing and outcomes measurement
- Embedding skills frameworks into programs
- Ensuring our offerings align with credentials of value frameworks emerging in states, such as the examples from Florida and Indiana
- Preparing for a Workforce Pell future by focusing on data collection and alignment [CIP codes, completion rates, job placement, post-completion earnings relative to tuition (“value-added income”)]
The message from Minneapolis was clear: credentials may open the door, but skills are what move learners through it. Institutions that act now to measure, validate, and signal those skills will be best positioned to lead in the years ahead.
Julie Uranis serves as the Senior Vice President for Online and Strategic Initiatives. In this capacity she leads the planning efforts for the Summit for Online Leadership, which established UPCEA as the source for innovations focused on online leadership, strategy, and management. She also leads the planning of Council of Chief Online Learning Officers convenings focused on thought-leadership and policy.
A special thank you to Justin Vinton, Research Associate, Education and Employment Research Center, Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations and Brennan Parton, Vice President, State Policy and Advocacy, Data Quality Campaign for the great discussion during our session, Stage Setting: The State of State Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) – Creating the Connections and Driving Policy.
Fall semesters are just beginning and the companies offering three leading AI models: Gemini by Google, Claude by Anthropic and ChatGPT by OpenAI have rolled out tools to facilitate AI-enhanced learning. Here’s a comparison and how to get them.
Each of the three leading AI providers has taken a somewhat different approach to providing an array of education tools and support for students, faculty and administrators. We can expect these tools to improve, proliferate and become a competitive battleground among the three. At stake is, at least in part, the future marketplace for their products. To the extent educators utilize, administrators support, and students become comfortable with one of the proprietary products, that provider will be at an advantage when those students rise to positions that allow them to specify use of a provider in educational institutions, companies and corporations across the country.
Anthropic, the company that makes the series of Claude applications, announced on August 21st “two initiatives for AI in education to help navigate these critical decisions: a Higher Education Advisory Board to guide Claude’s development for education, and three AI Fluency courses co-created with educators that can help teachers and students build practical, responsible AI skills.” The board is chaired by Rick Levin, former president of Yale and more recently at Coursera. Anthropic notes in the announcement, that “at Coursera, he built one of the world’s largest platforms for online learning, bringing high-quality education to millions worldwide.” The board, itself, is populated with former and current leading administrators at Rice University, University of Michigan, University of Texas-Austin, Stanford, and Yolanda Watson Spiva who is president of Complete College America. Anthropic says the board will “help guide how Claude serves teaching, learning, and research in higher education.”
The three AI Fluency Courses that Anthropic co-created with educators are designed to help create thoughtful practical frameworks for AI integration:
AI Fluency for Educators helps faculty integrate AI into their teaching practice, from creating materials and assessments to enhancing classroom discussions. Built on experience from early adopters, it shows what works in real classrooms.
AI Fluency for Students teaches responsible AI collaboration for coursework and career planning. Students learn to work with AI while developing their own critical thinking skills, and write their own personal commitment to responsible AI use
Teaching AI Fluency supports educators who want to bring AI literacy to their campuses and classrooms. It includes frameworks for instruction and assessment, plus curriculum considerations for preparing students for a more AI-enhanced world.
The courses and more are freely available at the Anthropic Learning Academy.
Earlier last month, Google unveiled Guided Learning in Gemini: From Answers to Understanding. “Guided Learning encourages participation through probing and open-ended questions that spark a discussion and provide an opportunity to dive deeper into a subject. The aim is to help you build a deep understanding instead of just getting answers. Guided Learning breaks down problems step-by-step and adapts explanations to your needs — all to help you build knowledge and skills.”
The Google Guided Learning project offers additional support to faculty. “We worked with educators to design Guided Learning to be a partner in their teaching, built on the core principle that real learning is an active, constructive process. It encourages students to move beyond answers and develop their own thinking by guiding them with questions that foster critical thought. To make it simple to bring this approach into their classrooms, we created a dedicated link that educators can post directly in Google Classroom or share with students.”
Google announced an array of additional tools for the coming year:
– We’re offering students in the U.S. as well as Japan, Indonesia, Korea and Brazil a free one-year subscription to Google’s AI Pro plan to help make the most of AI’s power for their studies. Sign-up for the free AI Pro Plan offer.
– Try new learning features in Gemini including Guided Learning, Flashcards and Study Guides. And students and universities around the world can get a free one-year subscription to a Google AI Pro plan.
– AI Mode in Google Search now features tools like Canvas, Search Live with video and PDF uploads.
– NotebookLM is introducing Featured Notebooks, Video Overviews and a new study panel; it’s also now available to users under 18.
– And to help students get the most out of all these new features, we’ve announced Google AI for Education Accelerator, an initiative to offer free AI training and Google Career Certificates to every college student in America. Over 100 public universities have already signed up. We’re also committing $1 billion in new funding to education in the United States over the next three years.
That brings us to OpenAI which announced “ChatGPT Study Mode” on July 29, 2025. Noting ChatGPT’s overall leadership and success, Open AI added, “But its use in education has also raised an important question: how do we ensure it is used to support real learning, and doesn’t just offer solutions without helping students make sense of them? We’ve built study mode to help answer this question. When students engage with study mode, they’re met with guiding questions that calibrate responses to their objective and skill level to help them build deeper understanding. Study mode is designed to be engaging and interactive, and to help students learn something—not just finish something.”
The “Study Mode” function is available now in the Free, Plus, Pro and Team versions GPT products providing an array of features:
Interactive prompts: Combines Socratic questioning, hints, and self-reflection prompts to guide understanding and promote active learning, instead of providing answers outright.
Scaffolded responses: Information is organized into easy-to-follow sections that highlight the key connections between topics, keeping information engaging with just the right amount of context and reducing overwhelm for complex topics.
Personalized support: Lessons are tailored to the right level for the user, based on questions that assess skill level and memory from previous chats.
Knowledge checks: Quizzes and open-ended questions, along with personalized feedback to track progress, support knowledge retention and the ability to apply that knowledge in new contexts.
Flexibility: Easily toggle study mode on and off during a conversation, giving you the flexibility to adapt to your learning goals in each conversation.
I encourage readers to visit each of the sites linked above to become familiar with the three different ways in which Anthropic, Google and OpenAI are approaching providing support to educational institutions and individual instructors and learners. This is an opportunity to become more familiar with each of the leading AI providers and their apps. Now is the time to become experienced in using these tools that collectively have become the foundation of innovation and efficiency in 2025.
This column was originally published in Inside Higher Ed.
By Kathleen Ives
When the New York Times ran a piece in August pointing out that companies are throwing billions into AI with little to show for it, I had déjà vu. It took me right back to the late 1990s, when everyone thought the web would change everything overnight. It did change everything—but not before years of hype, broken promises, and a lot of failed businesses. The story feels familiar, but AI is moving at a very different speed.
The adoption curve for AI is off the charts. ChatGPT hit 100 million users in two months—faster than TikTok or Instagram ever did (Chow, 2023; Hu, 2023). Almost every company you talk to is running AI pilots. In customer service and coding, we’re already seeing measurable gains. It feels like the web boom, but on fast-forward.
But here’s the thing: adoption is not the same as payoff. According to Lohr (2025), about eight in ten companies are using generative AI. At the same time, just as many say they haven’t seen a real bottom-line impact. A separate report showed that 42% of companies abandoned most of their AI projects in 2024–25—up sharply from 17% the year before (Wilkinson, 2025). And a recent MIT report put the number even higher, finding that as many as 95% of corporate generative AI pilots are failing to deliver meaningful results (Estrada, 2025). The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics did record a 2.4% productivity jump in Q2 2025, but it’s hardly the kind of step-change that signals a true revolution (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025).
If you lived through the dot-com era, this pattern looks familiar. Companies rushed online, but most didn’t have the models, infrastructure, or customer base to make it work. A lot of them flamed out. But a handful of survivors—Amazon, Google, eBay—figured out how to translate clicks into profits once the infrastructure caught up. That’s where we are with AI: massive experimentation, high failure rates, and a lot of lessons still being learned.
Here’s how the parallels stack up:
| Theme | AI Today (2020s) | Web Gold Rush (1990s) |
| Hype & Speed | AI adoption skyrocketed—ChatGPT hit 100M users in 2 months. | Web adoption was slower, with clunky infrastructure and dial-up. |
| Adoption Rate | Nearly every major company is experimenting with AI pilots. | Gradual diffusion through browsers, e-commerce, and early portals. |
| Pilot Outcomes | 42% of projects abandoned in 2024–25 as costs and data issues mounted. | Dozens of dot-coms collapsed after chasing ‘eyeballs’ not profits. |
| Productivity | Early task-level gains (coding, call centers) but modest macro gains. | Productivity boost only visible years later, after the crash. |
| Survivors | Winners will be those with proprietary data, governance, and integration. | Giants like Amazon and Google emerged stronger after shakeout. |
Now, what does all this mean for higher education? This is where things get messy. Our sector is facing financial and political headwinds that make big bets on AI much harder. Moody’s downgraded the outlook for higher ed to negative earlier this year (Moody, 2025a). Tuition discounting keeps climbing, squeezing budgets even further (Moody, 2025a). And on top of all that, the Trump administration has gutted the Department of Education staff, creating instability in areas like financial aid and compliance (Katz, 2025). In this climate, large-scale AI adoption isn’t just unlikely—it’s nearly impossible for most institutions.
But that doesn’t mean AI has no role in higher ed—quite the opposite. The smart play right now is targeted, practical adoption—the kinds of tools that ease pressure on people and budgets rather than adding to them. Think about AI that can speed up advising, help draft grant proposals, or take some of the routine work off IT help desks. These aren’t the splashy, campus-wide transformations we read about in headlines. Still, they’re the projects with quick payback, minimal compliance risk, and the ability to free up time and resources for the work that really matters.
So where do we go from here? For colleges and universities, the takeaway is pretty simple: start small, be intentional, and keep the mission front and center. Pick one or two areas where AI can make an immediate difference—cutting wait times for students, streamlining paperwork, or reducing repetitive tasks. Then track the impact, share what works, and build from the wins. What higher ed can’t afford right now is chasing shiny tools just to claim we’re “doing AI.” The point isn’t to be first out of the gate—it’s to make smart, lasting choices that protect mission and margin in a tough political and financial climate.
Kathleen Ives is UPCEA’s Chief Business Development Officer & Senior Vice President of Member Engagement. She oversees membership, partnerships, research, and consulting, leveraging her cross-sector experience to drive engagement, build alliances, and advance UPCEA’s mission.
References
Chow, A. R. (2023, February 2). ChatGPT is the fastest-growing app of all time. Time. https://time.com/6253615/chatgpt-fastest-growing/
Estrada, S. (2025, August 18). MIT report: 95 percent of generative AI pilots at companies failing. Fortune. https://fortune.com/2025/08/18/mit-report-95-percent-generative-ai-pilots-at-companies-failing-cfo/
Hu, K. (2023, February 1). ChatGPT sets record for fastest-growing user base. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/technology/chatgpt-sets-record-fastest-growing-user-base-analyst-note-2023-02-01/
Katz, E. (2025, July 14). Education Dept. can proceed with mass layoffs after Supreme Court ruling. GovExec. https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2025/07/education-dept-can-proceed-mass-layoffs-after-supreme-court-ruling/406714/
Lohr, S. (2025, August 13). Companies are pouring billions into A.I. It has yet to pay off. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/13/business/ai-business-payoff-lags.html
Moody, J. (2025a, March 19). Moody’s downgrades higher ed outlook to negative. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/business/financial-health/2025/03/19/moodys-downgrades-sector-outlook-negative
Moody, J. (2025b, June 24). Tuition discounting hits another high. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/business/revenue-strategies/2025/06/24/tuition-discounting-hits-another-high
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2025, August 7). Productivity up 2.4 percent in second quarter of 2025. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/prod2.pdf
Wilkinson, L. (2025, July 17). 42% of companies abandoned most AI projects, up from 17% in 2024. CIO Dive. https://www.ciodive.com/news/AI-project-fail-data-SPGlobal/742590/