President Trump Signs Campus Free Speech Executive Order
On March 21st, President Trump signed an executive order on “Improving Free Inquiry, Transparency, and Accountability on Campus” that directs federal agencies which provide funding for university research to be sure that they are funding colleges that support free speech on their campuses. This was an “historic action to defend American students and American values…
White House Releases Vision for Higher Education Act Reform
The White House released their vision of what reforms should be made to the Higher Education Act (HEA) during the reauthorization of it in Congress. It’s proposals within mirror the budget it also proposed just one week prior. Some of the major retooling includes: changing accreditation process to focus on outcomes; a significant cut for…
Industry Spotlight: Are Big Data and Data Science a Threat to Higher Education?
It was encouraging to read an UPCEA blog post from August 2018 in which Mindmax CEO Lee Maxey critiqued our data and knowledge environment. Mr. Maxey’s description of how we’re drowning in data was on point; the sheer mass of analytics, metrics and all things measuring is indeed a problem. With Big Data, comes Data…
Trump Administration Releases Budget Cutting Approximately 10% of ED Funding
On Monday March 11th, the Trump administration released their budget proposal for the 2020 fiscal year. Included in the proposal is a $7.1 billion cut to the Department of Education, approximately equal to 10% of its total current operational budget. These proposals follow similar attempts in past budgets the administration has put forward. The cuts…
My parents immigrated from China in the 1950s and 60s. They strongly encouraged my brothers and I to study engineering, computers, medicine or mathematics. Nothing else mattered. I chose math and my brothers chose computer science and electrical engineering. I went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in math and a master’s degree in statistics…
Read MoreUsually one trend impacts another. If self-driving cars are taking over, then most likely artificial intelligence, data mining, radar technology, and lithium battery development are trending positively. Much of my research this past year focused on Generation Z or iGen (those approximately 16 to 22 years of age) and Millennials. These individuals, along with aging…
Read MoreHow can we be sure we are identifying the most important risks in our changing field and are prepared to mitigate their potential impact? I recently visited with a representative from the University of Illinois’s Enterprise Risk Management unit. The philosophy of the risk unit is that the people closest to a risk are best…
Read MoreOnline courses are changing — sometimes less open, sometimes less massive — but they’re still relevant. In the summer of 2011 we produced eduMOOC — a constructivist massive open online course about online learning with the help of a small group of talented and expert professionals at the University of Illinois Springfield as well as colleagues around…
Read MoreBack in the day, as the leader of an online unit, I struggled with National Distance Learning Week (NDLW). People who know me know I haven’t met a special occasion I don’t like but NDLW was always a head-scratcher for me. Maybe it’s because I associate events with in-person attendance and that’s pretty much the…
Read More<Imagine a radio announcer making this dedication> This post goes out to all of the professional, continuing and online education (PCO) leaders that have asked me how I manage to teach in my spare time. </ voice> For the last several Winter terms (or Spring terms for some of you), I have taught the Intro…
Read MoreIt’s that time again. Courses are showing up in dashboard, and faculty are beginning to think about what changes they plan to make in their course design. As we near the start of the semester I’d offer these three tips for instructors who look to clean up and streamline their courses. Consider What’s Essential – Fewer Resources A…
Read MoreAfter successfully piloting virtual ThinkTanks in 2018 with Utah State University and Oregon State University, we’re happy to announce the 2019 eDC ThinkTank Roadshow schedule. We’ve tweaked things a bit and the 2019 eDC ThinkTanks will now be free and open to all members of UPCEA! Non-members will be charged a nominal registration fee. We…
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