Imagine your bellwether program stepping into a modern search arena with a glossy tri-fold and a storied reputation, ready to battle any challenger. Across the ring rolls a robotic rival as “The Imperial March” blares over the speakers. The ref signals start; a blinding spotlight from the robot makes your program vanish from view. The…
Read MoreIntroduction At the 2025 UPCEA Annual Conference, the session “Owning Your Awesomeness” reminded us that professional growth isn’t just about mastering skills—it’s about recognizing and amplifying the unique strengths we already have. For leaders and practitioners in professional and online education this means embracing both the outward image we present and the inner narratives that…
Read MoreMost of us in higher education are now familiar with generative AI bots, where you formulate a prompt and get a reply. Yet, we are now beginning the advancement to agentic AI, the autonomous 24-7 project manager. The dramatic enhancement in the capability of AI as it moves from bots to agents will bring about…
Read MoreTwo weeks ago, we examined the transformation of higher education in the next five years. Today, we look at how this transformation will shift the emphasis of our teaching. As with the prior column, this week’s thesis evolves out of the Zoom Keynote to the Rethink AI Conference, sponsored in part by the International Academy…
Read MoreGeorgia Tech’s Dean of Professional Education Nelson Baker to Serve as UPCEA President
WASHINGTON, March 29, 2019 – UPCEA, the Washington, D.C.-based association for university leaders in professional, continuing, and online education, welcomed Dr. Nelson Baker as the association’s 2019-20 President during the 2019 UPCEA Annual Conference. Baker is the dean of Professional Education at the Georgia Institute of Technology and professor in the university’s School of Civil…
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…
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…
Read MoreWe 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…
Read MoreStudent success starts with the right conversation. By uniting data, technology, and human connection, institutions can shift from reactive outreach to proactive engagement that strengthens trust, equity, and long-term retention. Every Student Is a Story, Not a Segment “On the other side of every data point, every phone number, every email address, there’s a person…
Read MoreSearch behavior has evolved, and so has the path to enrollment. Generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google’s AI Overviews shape how people gather information, verify details, and form opinions. For higher education marketers, that means program visibility depends on showing up wherever students look for answers, not only in search results but across…
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