Leadership in Online Learning
UPCEA is dedicated to advancing quality online learning at postsecondary institutions and is uniquely focused on excellence at the highest levels–leadership, administration, strategy. Learn from the experts as you network with our engaged community of leaders in education who steward the online enterprise at their institutions.
UPCEA provides resources for educational leaders in online learning, ranging from industry-leading events, quality standards and best practices, research and benchmarking, and consulting.
News & Events
2026 Digital Teaching & Learning (DT&L) Conference
February 4-5 - Virtual | Free to UPCEA Members
The 2026 Digital Teaching & Learning Conference (DT&L) is centered around the theme of Designing the Future. DT&L is a free* and virtual event dedicated to showcasing innovative practices, research, and digital teaching design and strategies within postsecondary education. Instructional designers, faculty developers, and technologists working in the field of teaching and learning are encouraged to attend. As a reconceptualized event in UPCEA’s portfolio, attendees will be encouraged to share their insights, lead meaningful discussions, and connect with peers shaping the future of learning design. By eliminating the time and cost associated with travel, UPCEA will provide a superior peer-reviewed teaching and learning community event while staying true to the guiding principles of the Distance Teaching and Learning Conference (1984 - 2024).
*Free for UPCEA members.
2026 Summit for Online Leadership and Administration (SOLAR) Conference
July 29-31 - Boston, MA
The Summit for Online Leadership and Administration (SOLAR) conference is an opportunity for leaders in education and practitioners in postsecondary online learning to convene in beautiful Boston, MA to focus on digital learning, innovation, and strategic leadership in higher education.
Digital leadership is integral to the access mission, commitment to excellence, and sustainability of today's institutions. SOLAR’s program focuses on the best practices, thought leadership, and strategy that school leaders need to embrace digital transformation, online teaching and professional development in postsecondary education. The event, located at the Westin Boston Seaport, affords us the opportunity to offer a more intimate and curated conference that lends itself to meaningful networking, fellowship, and idea sharing.
Join key educational leaders – presidents, provosts, deans, instructional designers, faculty, and others focused on digital leadership – July 29 - 31, 2026.
Online and Professional Continuing Education News
Get top news articles curated daily by Senior Fellow at UPCEA and Professor Emeritus at University of Illinois Springfield, Ray Schroeder.
Get Involved
Join the Online Administration Network
The Online Administration Network (OA) serves as a bridge between the administrative functions of online learning (marketing, online student services, program development, etc.) and the design of online learning. Participation in the OA Network provides access to authentic institutional online operational models, best practice trends in online management, professional analysis of learning design applications, and the formulation of best practices in the use of educational tools and learning design in online instruction.
Join the eDesign Collaborative Network
The UPCEA eDesign Collaborative (eDC) Network serves higher education instructional design teams (instructional designers, multimedia developers and team administrators) seeking networking and professional development. Participation in the eDesign Collaborative Network provides access to a community of professionals who are interested in best practices for online course creation, advancing the work of leaders in education who drive innovation in digital learning within their education systems and institutions.
Gain Knowledge and Advance Your Career with UPCEA’s Online Professional Development
Get the essential skills and knowledge you need with UPCEA’s Learning Center. Bringing you the leading experts in the field of professional, continuing, and online (PCO) education, these programs offer high-value and relevant content for educational leaders at all levels. Learn from expert facilitators and connect with peers online as a part of UPCEA's Professional Development courses.
UPCEA offers standalone courses focused on key PCO education topics, along with two PCO certificate programs: UPCEA PCO Professional Certificate and UPCEA PCO Leader Certificate.
UPCEA Professional Development Courses:
Resources and Publications
UPCEA Hallmarks of Excellence in Online Leadership
Online education is critical for the future of America’s universities, and requires institutional strategy and structure to accomplish this major undertaking. These Hallmarks focus on the features and principles that will empower institutional leaders to 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.
Online: Trending Now
Unique, biweekly insights and thought leadership from Ray Schroeder, Senior Fellow at UPCEA.
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…
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…
Should All College Degrees Come with a Lifetime Professional Ed Contract?
Information and knowledge are growing at an accelerating rate. As we usher graduates out of college, much of their knowledge is useless, already out of date. On Medium, Futurist Jim Carroll writes “In 1900, knowledge doubled approximately every 100 years. By 1945, this rate accelerated to every 25 years, and by 1982, it was every…
How Can I Protect Myself from Job Obsolescence Caused by AI?
When I make presentations about AI, I am most often asked, “What can I do now to ensure that AI doesn’t take my job?” And, that’s a challenge to answer. We do not know just how, and how quickly, AI will roll out. However, a Gallup Poll released last week showed nearly one-quarter of American…
Affective Intelligence in Artificial Intelligence (AI)
As we look at Artificial Intelligence in teaching and learning, we must look beyond facts, figures and formulas to ensure that the skill of perceiving and managing feelings, emotions and personalization are engaged in the process. Looking back on my lifelong history of learning experiences, the ones that I would rank as most effective and…
The Rise of the Agentic AI University in 2026
Agentic AI is no longer merely an interactive tool we talk to; it is a colleague that acts for us. In a very active and highly competitive environment, AI has grown at breakneck speed. As with so many technologies, business and industry have moved far faster than academe to embrace the cost savings, capability expanding…
AI in Higher Ed Will Come Slowly, Until All of a Sudden!
AI in Higher Ed Will Come Slowly, Until All of a Sudden! Higher education is, by nature, very slow to change. So it is with embracing Artificial Intelligence (AI). Yet, when it finally comes, the changes will come in an avalanche. In discussions with faculty and staff, I have encountered some reluctance to take AI…
The New Cliff Facing Higher Ed and How AI Might Help Solve It
There is a new “cliff” in American higher education, and it is not the demographic cliff. Rather, it is the dramatic cliff in math knowledge, skills, and abilities. Let me be clear that other discipline deficiencies are found in this new generation of college students, however they are dwarfed by those in math. These have…
Transitioning to the Agentic University 2026–27
Most 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…
Universities Teaching Wisdom Skills 2030
Two 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…
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To learn more about how UPCEA can help you and your organization navigate the vastly changing landscape of online and professional continuing education please complete this form or email us at [email protected]