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
Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Student Recruitment
I recently contributed a chapter in the recently released book, AI Applications in Online Higher Education Administration: Strategies for Maximizing Returns and Improving Outcomes edited by Kathleen Ives, Marie Cini, and Ray Schroeder. This blog highlights key take-aways from my chapter. Higher education recruitment is undergoing one of the most significant transformations in decades. Traditional…
What Three Leading Models of AI Say Are the Most Vulnerable Jobs in Higher Ed
I asked Gemini 3 Thinking, ChatGPT 5.4 Thinking, and Sonnet 4.6 Extended to tell me what jobs in higher education are most vulnerable to replacement by Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the next five years. I also asked for recommendations for current and prospective employees in the field. First, let me share with you links to…
Public Comment Period Opens on Workforce Pell Implementation Rules (Due April 8) | Policy Matters (March 2026)
Major Updates Public Comment Period Opens on Workforce Pell Implementation Rules (Due April 8) The U.S. Department of Education has officially opened the public comment period on proposed regulations to implement Workforce Pell Grants, with comments due April 8, 2026. These grants offer a new federal financial aid pathway that will allow students to use…
Leading Change in a Time of Financial Pressure: Insights from UPCEA Senior Leaders
In March 2026, UPCEA convened senior leaders from across higher education for a timely conversation about how institutions are navigating one of the most challenging periods the sector has faced in decades. Hosted in partnership with the UPCEA Council for Chief Online Learning Officers and the UPCEA Council for Credential Innovation, the 2026 Senior Leader…
Microcredentials at an Inflection Point
Microcredentials remain firmly embedded in the higher education landscape, but institutional momentum appears to be leveling off. In the recently released 2026 Institutional Perspectives on Microcredentials Report, jointly produced by UPCEA, The EvoLLLution, and Modern Campus, institutional leaders describe a sector that is committed to workforce alignment but constrained by structural and strategic barriers. Based…
New Book Explores How Artificial Intelligence Is Transforming Online Higher Education Administration
Release offers practical strategies for ethical, student-centered AI integration WASHINGTON, DC — March 11, 2026 — Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping higher education, particularly in online and professional continuing education. A new book published by Routledge in association with UPCEA, the online and professional education association, examines how institutions can thoughtfully integrate AI into administrative…
How to Explain AI SEO ROI to University Leadership (Without Overpromising)
Discover how to explain AI SEO ROI to university leadership when attribution is imperfect, with insights and strategy from Search Influence. Across higher education, marketing teams are being asked to explain AI search visibility before institutions agree on how to measure it. Leadership discussions are moving quickly, while reporting frameworks remain centered on keyword rankings,…
A Comprehensive View of the Role of AI in the University
Today as I publish the several curated reading lists I maintain, it strikes me that we are approaching the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into our universities in a piecemeal rather than a comprehensive fashion. It seems that most universities began taking up the topic in a transactional way following the release of ChatGPT ‘s…
UPCEA’s Corporate Member Blog Series #2 | Fixing the Machine: How Corporate Partners Can Address COLO Needs in 2026
The current environment for online higher education is defined by what the 2026 Landscape of Higher Education Report calls a decade of “structural change,” making the job of a Chief Online Learning Officer (COLO) complex and intensely stressful. COLOs are not operating in a vacuum; they must manage a landscape of operational complexity. The Benchmarking…
Honoring the Life and Legacy of Dr. Gary W. Matkin
UPCEA joins colleagues, friends, and the broader higher education community in mourning the passing of Dr. Gary W. Matkin, a distinguished leader in online and professional continuing education whose nearly five decades of service shaped institutions, expanded access, and advanced innovation across the globe. Dr. Matkin began his career with the University of California, Berkeley…
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.
