The state of higher education in the U.S. is tumultuous with no clear and obvious pathway to success. College and university leaders have never experienced what is currently going on regarding higher education, the economy, and the political landscape. However, information can guide us, just as it did for UPCEA members coming out of the…
Read MoreDefining Microcredentials and Their Value Microcredentials, shorter educational programs that develop specific skills or competencies, have seen tremendous growth in recent years. Both adult learners and traditional students increasingly seek these credentials for upskilling or career advancement. While the term “microcredentials” is relatively new, short-form credentials have been offered by higher education institutions for decades,…
Read MoreArtificial Intelligence continues to develop at an unprecedented rate and scale. What will be the changes that we will see in higher education by the end of this year? Let’s begin with the advent of generative AI (GenAI) in 2022. It was on November 30th of that year that OpenAI released ChatGPT. The release resulted in…
Read MoreA revolution is quietly taking place in academic and scholarly research prompted by the advent of AI research tools. This will reshape the very nature of our studies and greatly accelerate synergies and collaborations across academic fields. AI research tools such as OpenAI o1 have now reached test score levels that meet or exceed those…
Read MoreUPCEA Partners With Lumina Foundation To Launch Alternative Credential Challenge
Solutions Must Be Submitted by February 18, 2016 WASHINGTON, DC – UPCEA, the leader in professional, continuing, and online education, is pleased to announce a contest in partnership with the Lumina Foundation to bring increased visibility to the rise of alternative credentials and to seed innovation. It is now widely understood that the United States…
UPCEA Celebrates Successful Centennial Year
History, High Member Engagement, Impressive Speakers as 100th Year Comes To a Close WASHINGTON, DC – UPCEA (the University Professional and Continuing Education Association) celebrated its Centennial in 2015, the anniversary of the association’s founding and first Annual Conference in Madison, Wisc. in 1915. The theme of the 2015 Annual Conference, Access, Innovation, Engagement: A…
UPCEA Announces 2015 Division And Best In Show Marketing Award Recipients
6 Recipients Chosen Out of 18 Leading Entries for Top Honors DENVER, CO — UPCEA, the association for leaders in professional, continuing, and online education, has announced the Division and Best in Show award recipients of the 2015 Marketing Awards. The UPCEA Marketing Awards program recognizes the top marketing and creative work across the UPCEA membership…
UPCEA And OLC Form Coalition To Advance The Interests Of Non-Traditional Learners
WASHINGTON, DC, and NEWBURYPORT, MA, Sept. 24, 2015 — The University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA) and the Online Learning Consortium (OLC) have formed a coalition to advance the interests of non-traditional (sometimes called “contemporary”) learners and the programs that support them. This partnership comes at a time of great importance to the higher education federal policy landscape, as Congress…
Over the last three years, UPCEA engaged in an innovative partnership with the University of Wisconsin–Madison to enable the latter’s Distance Teaching and Learning (DT&L) conference to continue under UPCEA’s leadership. The partnership’s goals included making this valuable event for the distance learning community more sustainable and accessible to online practitioners focused on teaching and…
Read MoreA Movement, Not Just a Community Convergence is emerging as the place where the credential innovation community for higher ed comes together. But more than a community, it’s a movement. Not a movement to make degrees less valuable, let alone obsolete. Rather, it’s a movement to complement degrees by meeting the needs of those for…
Read MoreIs an OPM partnership right for your institution? The answer is rarely a simple yes or no. The decision to work with an Online Program Manager (OPM) is complex—shaped by factors like institutional readiness, cultural alignment, operational needs, staff expertise and financial considerations. Some universities thrive with deep OPM partnerships, others prefer independence, and many…
Read MoreTen Ways to S.K.I.L.L.: Strengthening Knowledge Through Industry-Linked Learning in Higher Education
During a recent Virtual Masterclass titled Strategies for Integrating Micro-Credentials into Curriculum, I had the privilege of joining Lancie Affonso from the College of Charleston to explore how industry-recognized microcredentials can enhance course outcomes. Lancie shared examples of how microcredentials can bridge the gap between academic theory and professional practice while meeting students’ diverse interests…
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