Will artificial intelligence close the student success gap or widen it into a permanent caste system? That is the question higher education leaders should be asking as AI advising tools move from pilot to procurement. The temptation is to treat AI as a cost-savings lever: deploy a chatbot, deflect the tickets, claim a productivity win.…
Each spring, campuses quietly rehearse a familiar transition. The cadence shifts. Energy returns. Commencement ceremonies are scheduled, and multiple beautification processes are underway, from reenergized flower beds to window washing and clean walkways. What was dormant begins to move again. In higher education, this seasonal rhythm offers more than symbolism. It provides a useful leadership lens for…
Much is being said about the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the hands of students resulting in “too many “A”s being granted! We are seeing colleges and universities across the country cracking down on “grade inflation.” It is my long-held belief that striving to have a near-equal number of “A”s and “F”s in a…
The Chief Online Learning Officers at colleges and universities are increasingly charting the future of teaching and learning. It was three decades ago that my career in higher education took a turn. I was promoted to full Professor and given the golden opportunity of my career to lead our campus in the use of the…
Building the University of Tomorrow
In the recent opinion piece, “Imagine We Are Starting a University Now,” UPCEA Senior Fellow Ray Schroeder reflects on what will be necessary to prepare higher education institutions for the future through an engaging thought exercise of starting a higher education institution from scratch in 2022. Where would you begin? Central to the thought exercise…
National Student Parent Month Declared September 2022 | Policy Matters
Major Updates Public Comment Open on WIOA Indicator of Performance: Effectiveness in Serving Employers The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) legislation denotes that the programs that are part of the bill be measured by six primary indicators of performance. Current regulations define only five of the six indicators. Previously, the Department of Labor…
K-State Global Campus Goes Remote: What a Difference a Year Makes
By Karen Pedersen and Jennifer Thornburg In June of 2021, the lease for the 20,000+ sq foot building housing the Kansas State University Global Campus was up for renewal. Ten months before that, while in the middle of a global pandemic, the Global Campus leadership team began discussions about the possibility of going permanently remote….
UPCEA Announces 2022 Regional Award Recipients
20 Individuals and 14 Programs Honored Across 5 Regions WASHINGTON, September 22, 2022 – UPCEA, the leader in professional, continuing, and online education, has announced the recipients of the 2022 Regional Awards. Each of UPCEA’s five Regions recognizes both individual and institutional achievement of the UPCEA members within the Region. Award recipients will be honored…
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…
The conversation in higher education around AI has shifted. A few years ago, faculty and administrators were asking whether AI belonged on campus at all. Today, most leaders have moved past that question. Students are using AI tools, regardless of whether institutions sanction them. Employers are already factoring AI fluency into how they evaluate graduates….
“Higher ed doesn’t have a strategy problem. It has an execution problem,” says Jim Lummus, Executive Vice President at University Solutions. For Jim, that tension sits at the heart of almost every challenge facing universities today. “Universities can identify the problem. They can plan for it. But getting things done is so challenging,” he says….