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 Professional, Continuing, and Online Education (PCO) 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 through its Center for Research and Strategy. Under the experienced leadership of Jim Fong, the Center 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 Consulting is the right choice. Consulting is offered via the Center for Research and Strategy and the National Council for Online Education. 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
- Tweeted from our UPCEA Twitter Account (@UPCEA)
- Posted to our Facebook and LinkedIn 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 Brandan Kaiser at [email protected] or 202-844-4242.
For UPCEA internal positions, please follow the instructions for applying. We do not accepting calls from recruiters.
There are no refunds given for job ads. Credit card payment due prior to posting of ads. Ads will not be posted until credit card payment has been received
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 is an online journal intended for all those who are interested in higher education issues, especially those that affect adult students. The name 'Unbound' calls to mind the many innovations that are taking place in education across our country and our world, where technology is helping us break the bonds of space and time to make education accessible to a broad audience. As educators, we no longer have to think in terms of limits, whether those are drawn by campus boundaries, geographic location, or even conventional definitions of school and community.
The possibilities for the future are boundless, and we hope to hear from those who are helping to lead the way.
UPCEA Blogs
Catch up on the latest news from the UPCEA blog suite
Report: Who Stops Out of College and Why? (Inside Higher Ed)
[…] Jim Fong, chief research officer and director of the Center for Research and Strategy at UPCEA, said students will be greatly disadvantaged if colleges fail to anticipate the hurdles that cause them to leave. “Given the pandemic and the evolution of a new economy, one that relies on automation and information, students will be…
What I Wish I Knew at the Time: Negotiating Agreements
In the summer of 2021, UPCEA surveyed Institutional Representatives (IRs) and Chief Online Learning Officers (COLOs) in order to understand the issues senior leaders were wrestling with at their institutions. One of the topics found in survey responses had to do with working with service providers and vendors. The Council for Chief Online Learning Officers…
Why Do Students Leave College Before Finishing? New Study Looks at Common Scenarios. (EdSurge)
When a student stops out of college before getting a degree, the college should act fast if it wants to get them back. That’s because there’s a correlation between how long a student has been disengaged and the likelihood that they’ll return. “As soon as a student drops out or stops out or disengages, the…
42% of stopped-out young adults cited financial reasons for leaving college, survey finds (Higher Ed Dive)
[…] For college administrators, reenrolling students starts with acknowledging that students are stopping out in the first place, said Jim Fong, founding director of UPCEA’s Center for Research and Strategy. “Colleges often don’t want to admit how many students leave school before graduating,” Fong said. “Institutions don’t want to tell the community, ‘Oh, we lost…
2021 UPCEA MEMS Award Recipients Announced
11 Recipients Chosen For Three Award Categories WASHINGTON, D.C., December 2, 2021 — UPCEA, the leader in professional, continuing, and online education, has announced the recipients of the 2021 Crisis Management Marketing Award, 2021 Excellence in Enrollment Management Award, and the new Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusiveness in Marketing, Enrollment, and Student Success Award. …
Tech Trends in Higher Ed: Metaverse, NFT and DAO
The next few years in higher education promise to herald a tech revolution. Delivery modes will be the most visible, but autonomous and related smart tech may be the most impactful. The pandemic has served to accelerate tech changes in higher education. Certainly, remote and the more refined online learning modes have been advanced through…
New Research Answers Question Every College Wants to Know: Why Do Students Leave and How Do We Get Them Back?
BALTIMORE, MD and WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 1, 2021) – UPCEA (University Professional and Continuing Education Association) and StraighterLine conducted a critical empirical research study profiling the disengaged learner to better understand their situations and motivations in relation to higher education. The study focused on individuals who have college credits but are no longer attending college…
UPCEA Welcomes 13 New Board Members
WASHINGTON, November 18, 2021 – UPCEA, the Washington, D.C.-based association for college and university leaders in professional, continuing, and online education, is pleased to announce the election of four new officers and nine new directors to serve on the UPCEA Board of Directors. Elected earlier in November, these individuals will assume their roles at the…
Higher Ed from Static to Dynamic
The numbers paint a clear picture of change in demand for higher education. Still unclear is if colleges will adapt from static schools to dynamic institutions in time to survive and thrive. Businesses are accustomed to changes in the marketplace. The demographics of customers and clients change through time. Products and services are constantly under scrutiny to…
Our commitment to your safety
Dear Colleagues, We are looking forward to gathering with you in-person this spring for UPCEA’s Annual Conference and the Summit for Online Leadership and Administration + Roundtable (SOLA+R), April 11-14, 2022 in Orlando, FL, at Disney’s Coronado Springs. For many of us, the Annual Conference and SOLA+R will be the first in-person events since before…
Professional, Continuing, and Online Education Update by UPCEA
A curated, daily update of news, research, and trends brought to you by our Director of the National Council for Online Education, Ray Schroeder. See what's the latest in Professional, Continuing, and Online news!
Virtually Inspired
Showcasing innovations in online learning
From holographs and educational games, to drones and robots, 21st century educators are forging new and amazing trails in technology-enhanced teaching and learning. UPCEA and Drexel University Online (DUO) are pleased to welcome you to Virtually Inspired, your resource center for high-quality videos illuminating how educators worldwide are utilizing the latest technologies in online and blended education.