UPCEA Updates

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

Constructing the Future: Why Credential Innovation Needs Bold Leadership

By UPCEA | November 21, 2025

The tagline for Convergence, Credential Innovation in Higher Education, raises two important questions: First, what kind of credentials are we talking about?  Is the scope of credentials unlimited, blue sky, or confined to incremental changes on the margins of the status quo?  And second, who is leading that innovation, and what do they need to…

Learning Mobility in Action: Removing Barriers and Recognizing the Whole Learner

By UPCEA | November 17, 2025

Learning Mobility: A Movement Taking Shape At this year’s AACRAO Technology & Transfer: A Learning Mobility Summit, higher education leaders from UPCEA member institutions gathered to explore a question at the heart of the learner mobility movement: How can postsecondary institutions recognize, record, and reward all learning—wherever and however it occurs? Moderating this conversation alongside…

Convergence in Action: Building Strategic Credential Frameworks Through Collaboration

By UPCEA | November 10, 2025

At Convergence 2025, a conversation unfolded that perfectly captured the spirit of the event—collaboration across boundaries, disciplines, and traditions to create something more unified and learner-centered. In Convergence in Action: Strategic Credential Framework Collaborations Across Campus, I had the pleasure of moderating a panel featuring Elizabeth Kerr and Molly McDermott-Fallon of the University of Cincinnati…

Friday Focus: Nurture Your Career and Yourself

By UPCEA | November 7, 2025

In celebration of National Distance Learning Week, UPCEA is highlighting key resources each day that showcase how online and professional education leaders continue to drive innovation, resilience, and transformation. It’s Friday—a perfect moment to pause, take a breath, and focus on you. Your career, your growth, and your well-being all deserve attention. UPCEA offers ways…

Future-Forward: Trends and Strategic Directions in Online and Professional Education

By UPCEA | November 6, 2025

In celebration of National Distance Learning Week, UPCEA is highlighting key resources each day that showcase how online and professional education leaders continue to drive innovation, resilience, and transformation. Higher education is standing at the edge of rapid transformation, where the choices made today will define the universities of tomorrow. From shifting learner demographics and…

Online Leaders Have a Community — and It’s UPCEA

By UPCEA | November 5, 2025

In celebration of National Distance Learning Week, UPCEA is highlighting key resources each day that showcase how online and professional education leaders continue to drive innovation, resilience, and transformation. Behind every successful online learning initiative is a strong community of leaders who share ideas, solve challenges, and push the field forward together. At UPCEA, that…

Data-Informed Decisions: Why You Need Data and What Data You Should Curate

By UPCEA | November 4, 2025

In celebration of National Distance Learning Week, UPCEA is highlighting key resources each day that showcase how online and professional education leaders continue to drive innovation, resilience, and transformation. Data is the language of modern leadership. In an era of constrained resources and heightened accountability, online and professional education leaders can no longer rely on…

The Decade of the COLO: Why Online Leadership Matters

By UPCEA | November 3, 2025

In celebration of National Distance Learning Week, UPCEA is highlighting key resources each day that showcase how online and professional education leaders continue to drive innovation, resilience, and transformation. As higher education continues to navigate economic pressures, evolving technologies, and shifting learner expectations, one thing has become clear, strong online leadership is no longer optional;…

Other Blogs and News:

The Modern Online and Professional Continuing Education Leader: Roles, Pressures, and What High-Performing Units Do Differently

Online and professional continuing education plays a pivotal part in expanding educational access and shaping contemporary workforce development. These programs serve a critical function in our communities, yet they face considerable challenges. Today’s leaders must navigate complexity tied to virtual learning and employer partnerships, along with changes in what communities expect from online and professional…

What is a “Professional” Degree? Lawsuits and Legislators Push Back against Trump Admin | Policy Matters (June 2026)

Major Updates What is a “Professional” Degree? Lawsuits and Legislators Push Back against Trump Admin Determinations The definition of a “professional” degree has quietly become one of the most consequential terms in federal financial aid, and it lands squarely on the graduate and professional programs many continuing education units operate. Under the One Big Beautiful…

What to Look for in a Higher Education Professional Association

Online and professional continuing is crucial for those in higher education leadership positions. Whether you are working to develop new programming at a college or university or serving as an academic dean, professional associations offer access to the leading seminars, conferences, higher education workshops, and networking events. Thus, choosing the right higher education association is…

Member Benefits You’ll Use Immediately (Not “Nice to Have”)

Joining a professional association should deliver tangible benefits right away — not just perks that look good on paper. For leaders in online and professional continuing education, the difference lies in benefits that solve real-world challenges, such as training teams quickly, validating budget decisions, troubleshooting with peers, and aligning strategy with emerging trends.  The most…

UPCEA Announces 2026-2027 Leadership Team for Council for Credential Innovation

UPCEA, the online and professional education association, announces the 2026-2027 leadership team for the Council for Credential Innovation (CCI). The association extends its gratitude to the 21 member volunteers serving in leadership roles for this body. The Council for Credential Innovation (CCI) and its members focus on leveraging the strategic potential of non-degree credentials, workforce-focused…

From Experimentation to Institutional AI: Early Lessons from UPCEA’s AI Study Groups

Across higher education, the conversation about artificial intelligence has moved rapidly from curiosity to consequence. Institutions are no longer asking only whether AI will affect their work; they are asking how to lead through that change responsibly, strategically, and in ways that advance mission.  That shift is at the center of UPCEA’s AI Study Groups,…