UPCEA Updates

Your one-stop shop for the latest Association happenings, plus thoughts from the desk of CEO Bob Hansen.

Encourage your students to complete the Census

By UPCEA | April 1, 2020

We are excited to announce that we are partnering with the U.S. Census Bureau to support the 2020 Census. As a partner, we will be working to make sure our community is accurately represented in the upcoming decennial count.    The census counts everyone in the United States. Census results are the basis for congressional…

“In conversations with my counterparts, it became clear to us that the scale and importance of the online learning sector within higher education required a more coordinated advocacy effort than we were able to do separately,”said Bob Hansen, CEO of UPCEA. “So we joined forces, leveraging our respective strengths to advance the field together.”

Leading Digital Learning Organizations Partner to Establish National Council for Online Education

By UPCEA | April 1, 2020

For Immediate Release   OLC, QM, UPCEA, WCET join forces to advance online and digital postsecondary education   WASHINGTON, April 1, 2020 – Four leading organizations in higher education and digital learning today announced a partnership to establish the National Council for Online Education (NCOE), creating a formidable voice for online and digital education within…

Keeping you connected

By UPCEA | March 26, 2020

While you are leading campus responses to the pandemic, our goal is to help you stay connected to the larger PCO community. This community, this professional association, is one of your greatest assets during this challenging time. Now more than ever we are learning from each other. Helping each other solve problems. Supporting each other. …

2020 UPCEA Annual Conference Cancellation

By UPCEA | March 17, 2020

Today we have been forced to cancel the UPCEA Annual Conference originally scheduled for March 18-20, 2020, at the Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel. This year’s conference will not be rescheduled.     As we shared previously, we originally opted to postpone the conference due to conditions stemming from the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Though we had every…

Joint Response Regarding COVID-19 and Advice on Transitioning Face-to-Face Courses Online

By UPCEA | March 12, 2020

Updated March 12, 2020 During the week of March 2nd, the Online Learning Consortium (OLC), Quality Matters (QM), University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA), and WCET (the WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies) released a joint statement on the spread of COVID-19 and academic continuity planning. Since then, a number of institutions of higher education…

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Response from OLC, QM, UPCEA, and WCET

By UPCEA | March 4, 2020

The Online Learning Consortium (OLC), Quality Matters (QM), University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA), and WCET (the WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies) represent diverse perspectives from across the field of online learning. In this capacity, the four organizations have the ability to mobilize around topics and concerns relevant to our collective memberships. The Coronavirus…

Identifying Local Skills Gaps (Inside Higher Ed)

By UPCEA | February 29, 2020

Cities in California and Minnesota both have growing medical technology manufacturing industries, but job seekers in those states need different skills to be competitive in the industry. In California, the jobs focus more on programming and life science skills, while the jobs in Minnesota focus more on product development and industrial engineering. […] This may…

UPCEA Releases Competency Statements for Professional, Continuing, and Online Practitioners

By UPCEA | February 18, 2020

WASHINGTON, February 18, 2020 – UPCEA, the leader in professional, continuing, and online education, is pleased to announce the release of the association’s Competency and Attribute Statements for Professional, Continuing, and Online Practitioners.  The competency and attribute statements consist of the essential knowledge, skills, and dispositions required of Professional, Continuing, and Online (PCO) Education practitioners,…

Other Blogs and News:

Foreword by Bob Hansen Featured in The COLO Guidebook

We 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 More

The Compensation Compass: Navigating Professional Value with the 2024 UPCEA Salary Survey

If you’ve ever set out on a hike without a map and compass, you know the feeling: creeping uncertainty about whether you’re still on the trail, how far you’ve come, and how far you have to go. In 2017, when I was walking from Mexico to Canada, the snow level in the Sierra Mountains was…

Read More

International Student Visa Review Resumes, Social Media Vetting Instituted | Policy Matters (June 2025)

Major Updates Trump Administration Resumes Embassy Review on Student Visas, Implements Social Media Vetting Requirements The Trump Administration has lifted its pause on F‑, M‑, and J‑visa processing but simultaneously unleashed sweeping new social-media vetting requirements: all international student applicants must now make their Facebook, X, Instagram and other accounts public for consular review, with…

Read More

UPCEA Announces Updates to Board of Directors

June 25, 2025 – WASHINGTON — UPCEA, the online and professional education association, announces recent updates to its Board of Directors, effective immediately. Susan Seal, Ph.D., Dean of the College of Professional and Continuing Studies at Mississippi State University, has been appointed to serve as a Director At-Large, filling the remainder of the 2025–2026 term…

Read More

Results of Global Lifelong Learning Study Released

UPCEA supported the Universities Association for Lifelong Learning (UALL)’s comprehensive global study. WASHINGTON (June 18, 2025) – UPCEA, the online and professional education association, today announced the release of an international study, “Making lifelong learning central to university strategy,” conducted by the Universities Association for Lifelong Learning (UALL) and CarringtonCrisp.  UPCEA (alongside EUCEN) is proud…

Read More

New Book Offers Strategic Blueprint for the Decade of the Chief Online Learning Officer

UPCEA and Routledge Publish Landmark Guide to Elevating Online Education Leadership WASHINGTON (June 17, 2025) – UPCEA, the online and professional education association, proudly announces the release of The Chief Online Learning Officers’ Guidebook: A Framework for Strategy and Practice in Higher Education (co-published with Routledge). This essential new volume, co-edited by two of the…

Read More