COLO Compass: Evidence and practical direction for chief online learning officers. Georgia put a question on the table that every state should be asking: What does online education actually cost? Earlier this year, Georgia’s state Senate proposed paying public colleges roughly 91 cents for every dollar of online instruction relative to campus instruction, meaning online…
Leadership is not defined only by the circumstances we encounter, but also by how we learn from them and determine what comes next. Higher education leaders often accept positions because they believe in an institution’s mission and see opportunities to make a meaningful difference. They bring experience, professional judgment, and a commitment to supporting students,…
What happens when the exponential growth graph of a technology approaches the point at which it “begins to go vertical?” That is just where we are in the implementation of agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI). Since the release of ChatGPT 3.5 just four years ago this month, we have experienced a steady-to-ever increasing rate of improvement…
Clearly, many aspects of everyday living have begun to change in the emerging, evolving “Age of AI.” Higher education must acknowledge and adapt to those changes and anticipate the ones yet to come. Some faculty members fail to recognize that the world has changed and we must respond to those changes in how and what…
US Department of Education Begins Substantial Negotiated Rulemaking Sessions
Beginning Tuesday January 15, following a day and a half of weather delay, the Department of Education initiated negotiated rulemaking sessions covering a considerable number of issues important to UPCEA and its membership. Meetings will continue through the months of February and conclude in March. Among the issues being discussed include, but is not limited to:…
Retirees to Embrace Campus Life (Inside Higher Ed)
….According to the National Center for Education Statistics, just 0.3 percent of students pursuing a degree are aged 65 and over. And education programs targeting those aged 55 and older rarely generate significant long-term revenues, according to Jim Fong, founding director of the University Professional and Continuing Education Association’s Center for Research and Strategy. “The target…
People & Programs: NJIT Associate Vice President of Continuing and Distance Education Gale Tenen Spak Retires
Gale Tenen Spak, Ph.D., Associate Vice President of Continuing and Distance Education at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) retired on January 1, 2019. Dr. Spak served as Associate Vice President for 26 years. Located in Newark, New Jersey, NJIT is the science and technology public research university of the State of New Jersey….
Partnership Working to Connect Degrees and Certifications (Campus Technology)
Workcred, a nonprofit organization focused on credentialing in the workforce, is partnering with the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities and the University Professional and Continuing Education Association to help create opportunities for undergraduate students to earn certifications as part of their degree program. Supported by a grant from the Lumina Foundation, the effort will bring together experts from higher…
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…
A learner who values independence may find an automated response convenient and sufficient. Another, facing the same question, may need guidance to understand the implications for their circumstances. Both expect the institution to help them move forward, but what that requires can look quite different. Boundless Learning’s 2026 online learner segmentation research, conducted with Hanover…
Over 80% of instructional designers reported using AI in 2025, and it’s safe to assume that number has grown this year. (At Six Red Marbles, all our designers use AI daily.) They’re using AI for everything from proposing guidelines for content development to formatting documents and creating visuals. At colleges and universities, instructional designers are…