Online Education Leadership
The resources, tools, and network you need to run a successful online enterprise
UPCEA is dedicated to advancing quality online learning at the institutional level. UPCEA is uniquely focused on excellence at the highest levels – leadership, administration, strategy – applying a macro lens to the online teaching and learning enterprise. Its engaged members include the stewards of online learning at most of the leading universities in the nation.
UPCEA advances online learning by providing:
- professional development and events
- industry-leading networking
- quality standards and best practices
- research and benchmarking
- advocacy; and
- consulting
UPCEA Hallmarks of Excellence
Standards, aspirations, and principles essential to a successful enterprise
Online education is now critical for the future of America’s universities. Institutions can no longer establish a presence in this arena without a concerted institutional strategy and structure to accomplish this now major undertaking.
The UPCEA Hallmarks of Excellence in Online Leadership are an attempt to articulate those features and principles that will create opportunities for students that far exceed anything already achieved in higher education, take pedagogy to a new level, and demonstrate the capacity of universities to be an even more vital force in our society.
The Hallmarks of Excellence in Professional and Continuing Education are an opportunity to define a set of standards that reflect the ambitions, potential, and importance of the PCE unit’s work—standards few achieve often enough to be complacent. Commitment to mission, enrollments, innovation, and academic excellence are the inseparable aspirations of professional and continuing educators.
These Hallmarks of Excellence presume that professional and continuing education is central, pervasive, and critical within institutions of higher learning—crossing internal boundaries and extending external ones, promoting change, and responding to current dynamics that convert challenges into opportunities.
The Hallmarks of Excellence in Credential Innovation are intended to be both aspirational and a practical toolkit to assist those in Online and Professional Continuing Education to think systematically and concretely about the nature of credentials at their institution as well as the strategy and logistical components of supporting learners throughout their lifetimes.
These Hallmarks focus on alternative credentials, which includes certificates, micro-credentials, digital badges, or micro-certificates, signaling specific competencies, certification, and sometimes licensure.
Benchmarking Research & Consulting
Data you can use, and the experts to help you get it
UPCEA offers the gold standard of research and benchmarking information in the industry. UPCEA Research and Consulting conducts several free studies per year for the benefit of all UPCEA members.
Whether you need benchmarking studies, market research for a new program, or specific information to evaluate and develop strategies to take your online programs and instructional design to the next level, UPCEA Research and Consulting is the right choice. UPCEA also offers Peer Review Teams for on-site visits.
Career Center
Job Board - Connect the right person with the right role for your team
UPCEA offers online job recruitment advertisement on its website. Ads are posted immediately for members and within 2-3 business days for non-members. Ads are posted for 60 days. UPCEA also provides social media and publication promotion of job listings.
To submit an ad:
- If you want to post a job ad and have a UPCEA login, click here.
- If you are a non-UPCEA member: Please complete our online job ad form.
Benefits of a UPCEA Job Ad:
- Prominent mention in one of our UPCEA Briefing email communications sent to all UPCEA Members
- Posted to our social media pages
Rates Per Individual Job Posting:
Member Rate: $500
Non-member Rate: $675
If you have any questions or problems with posting a position on our Job Board, or are a third party posting on behalf of an organization and need to receive the member rate, please contact Mel Edwards at [email protected] or 202-400-2569.
For UPCEA internal positions, please follow the instructions for applying. We do not accept calls from recruiters.
There are no refunds given for job ads. Credit card payment due prior to posting of ads.
Executive Search with AGB Search
UPCEA has partnered with AGB Search to bring full executive search capabilities to professional, continuing, and online education. AGB Search is focused exclusively on all aspects of executive search for higher education institutions.
Publications
The timely and topical information you need
UPCEA Weekly Briefing
The UPCEA Weekly Briefing gives UPCEA members and others in the field a quick look at professional, continuing, and online education news, along with upcoming events and association updates. Delivered most weeks, this newsletter features content by and for our higher ed community.
Membership Matters
Membership Matters is a monthly newsletter exclusively for UPCEA members. Members have access to a wide array of benefits, including discussion groups, resources, and networking. Look forward to each issue of Membership Matters for membership news and updates on maximizing your benefits.
Unbound: Reinventing Higher Education
Unbound: Reinventing Higher Education served as UPCEA's online journal dedicated to exploring innovations and addressing the challenges shaping higher education, particularly for adult learners. The name "Unbound" symbolized the limitless possibilities of education, transcending the boundaries of geography, technology, and tradition.
While Unbound is no longer publishing new content, its rich archive of articles and videos remains accessible, continuing to inspire educators and leaders committed to advancing the future of higher education.
Learn & Work Ecosystem Library Glossary
Maintained by our partners at the Learn & Work Ecosystem Library, this comprehensive glossary provides real-time access to terms and definitions from the learn-and-work ecosystem.
UPCEA Blogs
Catch up on the latest news from the UPCEA blog suite
AI Search in Higher Education: The Student Search Trends You Can’t Ignore
Search 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…
Leading in the Age of AI: Learning from Lincoln
“How would you describe your leadership style?” This question is a common one for both mid-level and senior-level candidates in the interview process. In the past, many relied on descriptors such as transformative, collaborative, or authentic to explain how they approached people and built teams. But as you think about your next career step, perhaps…
Reflections from Convergence 2025: Lessons in Agility, Leadership, and Lifelong Learning
There are few conferences that truly bring together such an inspiring mix of vision, innovation, and authenticity as UPCEA’s Convergence. This year, the event in Washington D.C. proved why it’s one of my favorite gatherings in the field of continuing education. The energy, the openness, and the collective drive to redefine learning for a changing…
Higher Education AI Transformation 2030
We have begun a transformation in higher education that will make us more responsive, efficient, and effective at achieving our multiple missions. This will not be easy or without trauma, but it is necessary. I had the honor and good fortune to be invited by the generous and insightful Board Chair of the International Professors…
AI Tools Are Driving Prospective Student Decisions, UPCEA and Search Influence Research Shows
Half of prospective students use AI tools weekly, and early-adopting institutions stand to gain in enrollment visibility. NEW ORLEANS, La., October 13, 2025 – 50 percent of prospective students now use AI-powered search tools at least weekly, making artificial intelligence a critical first step in discovering and evaluating higher education programs. The 2025 AI Search…
Maximizing Audience Lifetime Value: The Role of Branding, Partnerships, and Alumni Networks in Credential Success
Shifting Student and Employer Priorities Create Opportunities for Higher Education Interest and innovation in workforce-related programming and credentials continue to surge, emerging as one of the fastest growing markets in higher education. Two-thirds of colleges and universities are making significant investments in this area, with more than one-third also embedding professional certifications into their online…
AI and Cybersecurity: The New Power Couple on Campus
Innovation attracts attention, and not all of it good. Protecting data, students, and credibility now means securing every AI experiment before it secures you. The Bright Side, and the Blind Spots, of AI in Higher Ed AI is higher ed’s new favorite partner and, like any power couple, it comes with complications. It’s rewriting…
UPCEA Virtual Forum Recap: Expanding Institutional Capacity for Employer Engagement in Credential Innovation
September 17, 2025 marked UPCEA’s first-ever Virtual Forum on Employer Engagement and Credential Innovation. The event, curated by Amy Heitzman, Ph.D., UPCEA’s Deputy CEO and Chief Learning Officer, brought together senior leaders in professional, continuing, and online education to examine how institutions can strengthen partnerships with employers and scale credentialing strategies that align with workforce…
Workforce Pell Is Now Law Under the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB)
Is your institution ready to deliver, comply, and compete? This update is intended to highlight key portions of the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) that affect colleges and universities. The goal is not to offer opinion, but to bring clarity around the law’s implications—especially the arrival of Workforce Pell. The OBBB is a broad, multi-issue…
UPCEA Publishes “The Future Is Now: Essential Conversations for Building Tomorrow’s University Today” to Guide Higher Education Leaders into a New Era
Advocacy piece serves as a guide for institutional leaders to navigate challenging times WASHINGTON, D.C., ISSUED OCTOBER 6, 2025…UPCEA, the online and professional education association, today announces the release of its latest advocacy piece, “The Future Is Now: Essential Conversations for Building Tomorrow’s University Today.” Designed to raise awareness of critical questions every campus leader…
Professional, Continuing, and Online Education Update by UPCEA
A curated, daily update of news, research, and trends brought to you by our Senior Fellow, Ray Schroeder. See what's the latest in Professional, Continuing, and Online news!
Alternative Credentials in Higher Ed by UPCEA
Curated by our Senior Fellow, Ray Schroeder, this daily update provides the latest trends and news in the innovative and alternative credentials space.
Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education by UPCEA
Stay on the cutting edge of artificial intelligence news with this curated, daily update from UPCEA Senior Fellow Ray Schroeder.
Books
Featuring thought leadership from UPCEA members and others in the field
Using ROI for Strategic Planning of Online Education (2022)
Edited by Kathleen S. Ives and Deborah M. Seymour
Foreword by Paul LeBlanc
Published by Routledge in association with UPCEA
The Great Skills Gap (2021)
Edited by Jason Wingard and Christine Farrugia
Stanford University Press
Centennial Conversations: Essential Essays In Professional, Continuing, and Online Education (2015)
Edited by Daniel W. Shannon and Robert Wiltenburg
Foreword by Robert J. Hansen
Podcast
The Intentional Teaching podcast is hosted by Derek Bruff, and sponsored by UPCEA.
The Intentional Teaching podcast is aimed at college and university educators to help them develop foundational teaching skills and explore new ideas in teaching.
The name Intentional Teaching is a spin on Derek Bruff's 2019 book, Intentional Tech: Principles to Guide the Use of Educational Technology in College Teaching. The name Intentional Teaching is being used to indicate that we should be intentional in how we teach, but also how we develop as teachers over time.
Catch new episodes every other Tuesday in most of the usual places you get your podcasts. Just search for “Intentional Teaching” wherever you listen to podcasts.
