For many online and professional continuing education units, the primary barrier to adopting artificial intelligence is not access to tools, it is uncertainty about where to begin and how to proceed without disrupting daily operations. Leaders are often balancing innovation with stability, making it difficult to introduce new approaches without clear structure. A focused, time-bound strategy can reduce that ambiguity. A 90-day adoption…
The “traditional” student is quickly becoming a relic of a bygone era. The future of enrollment is concentrated in new, non-traditional markets: adult learners seeking rapid re-skilling, dual-enrolled high school students, and the millions of Americans with “some college, no credential” who represent a significant scalable opportunity for growth. Universities know they must pivot decisively…
Many of us utilize AI daily in our higher education work, yet we may not have assessed the ethical and human-centered nature of the tool we have selected and trained through our prompts. AI tools are no longer a relatively simple search engine that is driven by marketing metrics to help us conduct our research.…
The spring semester is coming to a close with the normal host of routines. Yet, beneath those routines, something is unfolding in the labor market that will greet your new graduates who will face an incrementally tighter job market. I asked Claude Sonnet 4.6 Extended Thinking to research the tasks relevant to preparing our new…
Continuing-education leaders need more data and better tech, says report (EdScoop)
The continuing education arms of colleges and universities are poorly integrated into institutional systems and resources, according to survey findings published Wednesday by the software firm Modern Campus. Non-degree credentials and certificates are an important revenue stream for universities and colleges, but many continuing education leaders said they don’t have enough staff, systems or investment,…
Creating Noncredit to Credit Pathways
Alternative credential experts identify the conditions necessary to design and deliver noncredit to credit pathways at postsecondary institutions. Over the course of 2022, the Typology, Terminology, and Standards Subcommittee[1] of the Council for Credential Innovation discussed the conditions necessary to create noncredit to credit pathways at postsecondary institutions. Their deliberations eventually narrowed to noncredit learning…
As Colleges Focus on Quality in Online Learning, Advocates Ask: What About In-Person Courses? (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
As colleges’ online catalogs grow, so too has the push to develop standards of quality for those courses. But are in-person classes getting the same attention? If you ask many online-education advocates, the answer is “no.” While decades of research and the pandemic-spurred expansion of online learning have helped demystify it and build confidence in…
Microcredentials Confuse Employers, Colleges and Learners (Inside Higher Ed)
Reskilling. Upskilling. Certificates. Certifications. Badges. Licenses. Microcredentials. Alternative credentials. Digital credentials. So many terms. So little agreement on what they mean, least of all in higher ed. “Employers say, ‘It’s great that this individual has these skills, but we’ll ask our own questions to verify the learner’s knowledge,’” Kyle Albert, assistant research professor at the…
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…
We are pleased to share the foreword by UPCEA CEO Bob Hansen from the newly released Chief Online Learning Officers’ Guidebook: A Framework for Strategy and Practice in Higher Education. The guidebook, now available from Routledge in paperback, hardback, and eBook formats, provides a comprehensive framework for today’s online learning leaders. Learn more and purchase…
Some conferences feel long. This one flew by. And still, I kept thinking I wish I could have attended even more sessions. Over the past few days at the UPCEA Annual Conference, a few very clear themes kept coming back. Not just in presentations, but in conversations with people across institutions. Yes, AI is still very much…
Online enrollment leaders don’t need another mandate to “use AI.” They need relief. Most teams are already stretched thin by demands to manage inquiry volume, follow-up expectations, data hygiene, and prospect responsiveness. They lack the capacity to take on yet another complex initiative, especially one that feels abstract or disruptive. AI mandates promise transformation when…