October 25 | 1:15 PM – 2:15 PM
Dr. Rebecca M. Wyke, President, University of Maine at AugustaDr, Wyke currently serves as the newly appointed President of the University of Maine at Augusta, an institution that is differentiated in the University of Maine System by its statewide mission to serve non-traditional, adult, and place-bound learners from campuses in Augusta and Bangor. The University of Maine at Augusta also serves non-traditional students through its eight University College outreach centers located in underserved Maine communities, early college partnerships with a number of Maine high schools, and through expansive online and distance offerings.
Dr. Wyke joined the University of Maine System in 2008 as the Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration. Her major focus of work has been the long-term financial sustainability of Maine’s Public University System and system-wide reforms of financial and administrative services to improve efficiency and effectiveness. Wyke also serves as adjunct faculty for the Public Administration Program at the University of Maine at Augusta (UMA) and served as interim President of UMA in 2015-2016.
Prior to joining the University System, Wyke served for five years in Governor Baldacci’s cabinet as the Commissioner of the Department of Administrative and Financial Services for the State of Maine. Wyke also served in the administration of three Maine Secretaries of State, serving as the Chief Deputy Secretary of State for eight years.
Wyke is a member of the Dead River Company Board of Directors and serves on the Finance and Acquisitions Committee.
Wyke received her doctorate in education from the University of Pennsylvania. She also holds a Master of Arts in Public Administration and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Maine.
October 26 | 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM
The goal of this session is to help participants imagine better ways of working towards success with students and in their own professional lives. What is offered is an introduction to what has been called the communication perspective. This perspective recognizes students are active agents in shaping the worlds where they live, work, and engage their studies. Coming to know the communication perspective can teach us people do not simply use words to send a message. Rather they co-create relationships they make with others. Professional, online, and continuing education presents significant challenges in building a community of learners where traditional educational approaches do not always fit. The context is different for the student and the professionals working with them. Yet finding new pathways for success is imperative as this student population is growing. Developing an understanding of how professionals can use the communication perspective to guide students can be valuable and necessary. This session is dedicated to helping professionals learn ways to encourage students to cultivate curiosity about their studies, the leaning process, and how to make practical applications to address issues of everyday life by engaging them in different kinds of communication. The communication perspective offers a new vision to help create new pathways for success.
John Chetro Szivos holds a Ph.D. in communication from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He currently serves as the Associate Dean of Professional Studies and Online Education at Clark University in Worcester, MA. Under his leadership are the Master of Public Administration, Master of Science in Information Technology, and Master of Science in Professional Communication. Prior to coming to Clark, he was a Professor of Communication and served as the Chair of both the Department of Communication Media undergraduate and graduate programs at Fitchburg State University. At Clark University he developed several community-based partnerships offering certificates and graduate education to employees of municipalities, human service agencies, higher education institutions, public schools, public safety departments, and financial and insurance institutions.
In addition to work in higher education, Dr. Chetro-Szivos consults to the World Health Organization, Electricite de France, and other for profit and not-for-profit organizations on issues of communication, culture, and leadership.
Recently he served as moderator for the Economic Forum Forecast for the Worcester Business Journal. He has served as a keynote speaker for numerous organizations including the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Spoleczna Akademia Nauk in Lodz, Poland, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, and Tianjin Medical School, Tianjin, China.
Dr. Chetro-Szivos is the author of numerous publications on subjects ranging from interpersonal and intercultural communication to higher education.
October 26 | 12:15 PM – 1:15 PM
UPCEA recently released its new Hallmarks of Excellence in Professional and Continuing Education. A small group of leaders from our members worked hard under the leadership of Jay Halfond to articulate the seven pillars of excellence practices that lead to success. In this session, two of the authors, Karen Sibley from Brown and Hunt Lambert from Harvard will answer questions from Monique LaRocque as she explores the application of the Hallmarks to the Division of Lifelong Learning at the University of Maine. The goal is to simulate the learning process of how attendees can integrate the seven pillars into their unit’s operations. Half the session will be used to answer Monique’s questions and the other half to discuss issues brought by participants. We will assume that all members have read the document and will not be presenting the contents. Please come with your questions ready so we can have a robust active learning session.
Huntington D. Lambert (Hunt) is Dean of the Division of Continuing Education and University Extension at Harvard University. The Division serves 26,500 students annually and includes Harvard Extension School, with more than 1,000 online and on-campus courses, as well as 40 undergraduate and graduate degree programs and fields of study; Harvard Summer School, which offers more than 500 courses to over 9,000 students each summer and includes study abroad programs in more than 20 worldwide locations; Harvard Institute for Learning in Retirement; Harvard Professional Development Programs; and the Crimson Summer Academy.
Previously, Lambert served as Associate Provost of OnlinePlus at Colorado State University (CSU). Prior to this, Lambert was a founder and interim CEO of CSU Global Campus a new public online university in he helped found. He served as Associate Vice President of Economic Development at CSU. He is also the former Director of the Colorado State University Entrepreneurship Center and a former member of the faculty at the CSU College of Business. During his business career, he was part of 25 startups in 12 countries, 22 of which are still operating. He helped another 15 startups during his time at CSU including Solix Biofuels, EnviroFit, and Keen One Foods. He teaches strategy, entrepreneurship, and business plan development.
Karen Sibley, Brown UniversityKaren Sibley is Vice President for Strategic Initiatives, Dean of the School of Professional Studies (SPS), and Vice Chair of the Department of Education at Brown University, Providence, RI. She is responsible for creating innovative educational opportunities that reach a global audience of learners and include new blended learning (minimal residential requirements) post-graduate and Master’s degree programs, programs for Brown alumni and professionals in leadership positions, innovative faculty efforts in digital education, and programs for K-12 students and teachers. She also serves the University through exploration of new potentials for collaboration across institutions, with new technology platforms and in areas of civic engagement and general institutional innovation.
The School of Professional Studies was formally launched at Brown on July 1, 2014. The School develops and oversees executive Master’s degrees, undergraduate and pre-college summer programs enrolling over 6,500 students, online courses both credit and non-credit, and the Choices Program which develops social studies curriculum materials for use in high schools across the United States and around the world. SPS collaborates with Brown’s Graduate School to enhance outreach to students seeking residential masters degrees and will engage with Brown’s Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship to support fast-track innovation under the leadership of that new unit. SPS is also a partner to activities under the leadership of the Office of Global Engagement.
Sibley is a forward thinking academic leader eager to deploy innovative technologies and address fast-changing circumstances. In her work she creates access to high quality learning opportunities in times that demand continuous knowledge acquisition and capacity enhancement across the learner spectrum, from young people to mid-career and senior executive leaders.
Sibley has long been involved at a national level and served in many leadership capacities in higher education professional organizations. She has made substantial contributions and served as a mentor to many in the University Professional and Continuing Education Association, Association of University Summer Sessions, and the North American Association of Summer Sessions all of which she served as President. Sibley is past Chair of the Alumni Advisory Board for the Executive Doctorate, Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, where she earned her Doctorate in Higher Education Management. She has a Master of Arts in Teaching from Brown University, and a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She completed the HERS leadership program at Wellesley College and the Leadership Development Program at the Center for Creative Leadership. Sibley began her career as a teacher of high school English and writing.
Since 2014, Dr. Monique LaRocque has served as Associate Provost for the Division of Lifelong Learning at the University of Maine. During that time, she has worked to transform the Division to enhance its contributions to the University. Dr. LaRocque has launched several major new initiatives that have had significant positive impact on enrollments and on faculty and student support services including: UMaineOnline, which increased enrollments in online programs by 130%; a new WinterSession, which saw a 40% enrollment growth from the first to the second year; a Think 30 campaign, which has increased students’ potential to graduate in 4 years; and a new Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning, which supports all faculty in innovative approaches to teaching and learning. Prior to UM, Dr. LaRocque served as Executive Director of Continuing and Professional Education at the University of Southern Maine. Dr. LaRocque has a Masters in French from Middlebury College, and a Masters and Doctorate in Comparative Literature from Indiana University.
October 26 | 2:45 PM – 3:45 PM
In just the past year, momentum has shifted more rapidly than expected in a number of sectors and industries, which may dramatically impact related economies and ultimately higher education. Economies and industries are likely to be disrupted and workers shifted to new industries and growth areas. New demographics of power will come into place, which could place more support on new modes of learning such as badging and alternative credentialing. The UPCEA Center for Research and Strategy will show what it believes to be major changes on the horizon based on employer interviews, surveys of Millennials and Generation Z, occupational forecasts and scans of company and news sources.
Jim Fong, Director, UPCEA Center for Research and StrategyJim Fong is the founding director of UPCEA’s Center for Research and Strategy. In his role, Mr. Fong has analyzed demographic, occupational, technological and societal trends and data to help the higher education community better serve the adult and corporate learner. As the Center’s director, he works closely with dozens of colleges and universities annually in new program development initiatives, enrollment management and marketing process analyses and the review of online and continuing education portfolios.
Prior to joining UPCEA, Mr. Fong worked as a higher education strategic marketing and CRM consultant and researcher for two firms and prior to that was the Director of Marketing, Research and Planning for Penn State Outreach. At Penn State Outreach, he was responsible for strategic marketing, marketing management, research, creative and database teams. Mr. Fong played a major role in the early launch of Penn State’s World Campus by assessing new program needs and the development of marketing strategies and systems.
Jim holds an M.B.A., an M.S. in Applied Statistics and a B.S. in Mathematics, all from The University of Vermont. In 2004, UPCEA awarded him the Adelle Robertson Award as its Continuing Professional Educator for the year. That year, he also received the Mid-Atlantic Region’s Distinguished Service Award.
October 27 | 8:45 AM – 9:45 AM
Business, industry, and changing demographics suggest the demand for traditional four year degrees will remain flat or decline, while alternative credentials will increase. Suppliers of alternative credentialing can come from a number of places, but will higher education keep pace? This presentation will showcase essential elements of the Alternative Credential landscape, including foundation support, advocacy for badging and micro-credentialing, institutional responses, and benchmarking data which defines the emerging trends in alternative credentials.
As the Director of Market Analysis for Northeastern University’s Professional Advancement Network, Marina Brauch leads the market research function in the Office of Strategic Research and Analytics. She is primarily responsible for assessing the market viability of both proposed and existing programs, and also conducts analyses to support global expansion and partnership efforts. Marina has held previous roles at Georgetown University, Dartmouth College, and Eduventures, a Boston-based higher education research firm. Marina majored in Economics at St. Lawrence University and earned an MBA from Boston College.
Brian oversees the direction and research agenda of the Sandbox ColLABorative, the research and innovation lab of Southern New Hampshire University. His work focuses on strategic initiatives for the university as a whole, market analysis, and education technology. Prior to joining Sandbox, Brian was a Principal at Tyton Partners, a strategy consulting firm focused on education and human capital management markets, and a Senior Analyst at Eduventures, a Boston-based research firm supporting the higher education community.
Brian earned a B.A. in English from Texas A&M University and a MEd. from Boston College.
Dr. Robert J. Hansen was named Chief Executive Officer of the University Professional & Continuing Education Association in September 2010. Under Hansen’s leadership, UPCEA has grown by 125% in the past six years. He established a number of initiatives targeting the association’s unique role in online leadership and management under the umbrella of the National Council for Online Leadership: the Summit for Online Leadership and Administration, the Online Leadership Roundtable for chief online learning officers, and the UPCEA Hallmarks of Excellence in Online Leadership. He also established the UPCEA Hallmarks of Excellence in Professional and Continuing Education, advancing two frameworks to provide a set of standards that reflect the ambitions, potential, and importance of units that serve adult learners.
Hansen previously served as Associate Provost for University Outreach at the University of Southern Maine, a regional public university located in Portland, Maine. Prior to that position, he spent six years at Saint Xavier University of Chicago as Assistant to the President & Secretary of the Corporation, and then as founding Executive Director of Orland Park Campus & Off-Campus Programs. Hansen also previously served as Assistant to the Governor for Education in the administration of former Illinois governor, Jim Edgar. Hansen earned a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Illinois, an M.A. in English Language and Literature from the University of Michigan, and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Notre Dame.