Technology may be the most visible element of a digital learning enterprise. It is also one of the easiest to misunderstand. Institutions invest considerable resources in learning management systems, student information systems, customer relationship management platforms, analytics, communication tools, instructional technologies, cybersecurity, and an expanding array of emerging technologies. Each promises opportunities to improve some…
During arms-control talks in the 1980s Ronald Reagan made “trust, but verify” one of the most quoted phrases of the era. Four decades later, prospective online and continuing education students appear to have quietly borrowed it back and pointed it directly at their search bar. Trust, but click. That is the story of AI Search…
After nearly four long years of evolving and often conflicting policies since ChatGPT officially emerged, high profile public school districts have decided they now need a moratorium on use of AI to provide even more time to consider policies and practices. Readers of this column know that I generally constrain topics to higher education, however,…
If ever there was a most important era in which we must emphasize discourse with our students, it is today. We are in the midst of major changes in our culture and society as a whole. I have had a long tenure of teaching in higher education, beginning in 1972 at the instructor level at…
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…
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…
Five Key Trends for Professional and Continuing Education Leaders in the Next Five Years (The EvoLLLution)
Higher education is on the cusp of major changes. Enrollments are on the decline—both online and on campus—and the trend is expected to accelerate. Graduates are laboring under substantial college loan debts totaling more than $1.5 trillion. Employers are demanding that applicants possess soft and hard skills that many college graduates do not hold. At…
In 1915, UPCEA’s founders built this association on a simple idea: carrying knowledge to the people. That founding purpose never had an expiration date, and it does not have one now. It is why, more than a century later, the question in front of us was never whether professional learning needs to change. It is…
The tagline for Convergence, Credential Innovation in Higher Education, raises two important questions: First, what kind of credentials are we talking about? Is the scope of credentials unlimited, blue sky, or confined to incremental changes on the margins of the status quo? And second, who is leading that innovation, and what do they need to…
As a student affairs professional, I’ve spent much of my career helping students connect what they’re learning to where it might take them. Along the way, students have taught me something: they are more open to unexpected career possibilities than we sometimes give them credit for. When I introduced students to professions or credentials they had…
At UPCEA SOLAR 2026, OES Learning Solutions joined Stevie Rocco of Penn State University for a session that asked an important question about how we should be thinking about inclusivity in higher education: What changes when accessibility is treated not simply as a compliance requirement, but as a catalyst for better learning? For PSU, said…