Room changes have occured. Please see the listing below the viewable PDF or in the conference app for the most up-to-date listings.
8-9am Continental Breakfast
Regal/Wurlitzer
9-11am Emerging Leaders Pre-Conference Program (included in registration)
Roxy
11am-noon Newcomer’s Welcome Session
Roxy
Noon-1pm Welcome Luncheon
Regal/Wurlitzer
1-1:30pm Exhibit hall open, networking
1:30-2:30pm Concurrent Sessions I
Extended Education Fee for Service – A Defensible Model
Leadership & Strategy
Regal/Wurlitzer
Extended Education units come under scrutiny and some skepticism when it comes to charging fees for services to campus partners. Come learn how Cal State University- Dominguez Hills College of Extended and International Education came up with a defensible model for tuition, fees and administrative costs associated with operating the college. The Round Table format will also encourage discussion among attendees on how they charge for services and what percentage goes back to the university.
Measuring Student Engagement as a Response to a New Technology
Online Leadership & Administration
Registry
Distance learning program managers, online instructors and instructional designers know that using new technology to create and present content in innovative and engaging ways in an online class can be beneficial for learning outcomes of online students. However, when trailing new technology, it is important to measure any increase in engagement to assess the software’s usefulness to the organization. This is especially important given the cost (both financial and time) in changing platforms, or adding new technologies, for instructor and institution alike. Using a current project at Montana State University, which is trialing new technology (Softchalk) to develop interactive lessons in an online science class, we will present an example of how to set up the trial in order to measure changes in student engagement and knowledge retention. We are conducting trails with a split class to assess the effectiveness of these technologies on learning outcomes. We propose that our methods could be used elsewhere to provide quantifiable metrics for distance learning staff to make evidence based decisions regarding the wider adoption of new technologies.
Ensuring IT Software Project Failure – Why Organizations Don’t Do the Right Things BEFORE the Project Begins
Program Innovation
Roxy
Enterprise-class software projects make or break careers. Once underway, the organization’s users resist the inevitable changes. Executive sponsors, product owners, project managers, implementation partners and technical leads clash. Amorphous requirements abound, scope creeps ever upward, timelines grow and budgets explode. The project moves into the dreaded rescue mode and now everyone is watching! Volumes have been written about best practices in IT project management. Project management institutes and programs flourish. Experts abound. However, what is often overlooked by these experts are the critical and foundational actions and decisions leaders and stakeholders must make before the project begins. Small investments in proactive and early planning can have a significant and positive return on investment months later. Join senior leaders from the University of Washington’s Professional and Continuing Education units, each with decades of enterprise-class IT project experience, as they describe the essential project pre-planning steps that can ensure peace and harmony once the real work begins.
Rebuilding for the New Traditional Student
Marketing, Enrollment and Student Services
Ambassador
The future is built on thinking about the students we currently don’t serve. But how do we take those generated ideas and get the deeper research, actionable plans and buy-in to deliver to the new traditional student? We’ll take insights we gleaned rebuilding the University of Washington Professional Continuing Education web site to help you think strategically about a redesign. Using anecdotes and examples from a year-long journey, we’ll discuss how UWPCE approached: finding design and strategy partners; gaining deeper knowledge about the new traditional student; fostering team collaboration and interdisciplinary thinking; planning for more thoughtful, cohesive experiences; laying a foundation to support long-term development, creative execution, and governance.
2:30-2:45pm Exhibitor showcase, networking
2:45-3:45pm Concurrent Sessions II
Operate Your CE Unit Like a Business to Stay in Business
Leadership & Strategy
Registry
This is a nuts and bolts view of how CE and corporate learning leaders run their learning units for business and academic success, and sustainability. As higher education continues to struggle with costs and experiment with different delivery and business models, schools of professional, continuing and online education are on the front lines of innovation. Entrepreneurial spirit and agility make our schools home to new program offerings and pricing models. We can still benefit from implementing more finely-tuned business practices to run our operations more effectively and to develop programs that better address market need. Our heads of learning divisions in higher education and the corporate world will dialog on challenges both experts experience in program development and marketing “learning products” and share evolving best practices around meeting these challenges. What can we learn from each other about ideating, budgeting, and running the business of learning in increasingly competitive and decentralized environments? Audience members are invited to share challenges and solutions and to draw on the experience of our experts to address ongoing concerns.
Engaging Faculty in Quality Online Education: The Role of Financial Models
Online Leadership & Administration
Roxy
This session will review funding models that effectively allocate university resources to increase quality and incentivize faculty to teach online. This session will discuss funding models used by four public higher education institutions to successfully incorporate online education programs into their traditionally face-to-face curriculum. With the growth in online education, university and college leaders see such programs as crucial to their institutional missions. But gaining faculty engagement remains a challenge. Fiscal resource support for faculty and the programs that support them is surely a part of the solution to that challenge. How have sustainable funding models been used to engage faculty at public higher education institutions in ways that increase both the quantity and quality of online education?
Balancing Work, Family, and a Terminal Degree: Completion Strategies for Professional Development Professionals (Or, UPCEA Members as Nontraditional Degree Seekers)
Ambassador
UPCEA members are professional development professionals, meaning that we advocate for adult/nontraditional students, build structures for their success, and cheer them on from the sidelines. But what about members who are also in the trenches, pursuing advanced degrees? How best can we balance what is usually a more-than-full-time job, a personal life, and the demands of schoolwork? How can we transition from professional, continuing, and online practitioners to students? What does it take to not only survive the journey but to succeed (and avoid the dreaded ABD…)? Whether you’re contemplating an advanced degree or have already started your own path, join this lively discussion led by UPCEA members who have recently completed their own journeys.
3:45-4pm Exhibitor showcase, refreshment break, networking
4-5pm General Session: Jobs of the Future and the Emergence of Alternative Credentials
Ambassador/Registry
Jim Fong, Director, Center for Research and Marketing Strategy, UPCEA
A review of labor and other secondary data, including trend reports, employer surveys and futurist blogs, reveals major changes to job classifications and the identification of emerging professions. These changes span many industries ranging from healthcare to information technology to agriculture--among others. Some of these evolving professions may not require a traditional degree, while others may benefit from degree holders enhancing their education through an alternative credential. And while the degree remains the standard of higher education, colleges and universities need to make informed decisions regarding the role of alternative credentials in workforce education. This presentation and dialogue will identify these jobs of the future and the intersection of credentials needed for success.
5:15-6:30pm Opening Reception and Hawks Aloft Presentation (presentation hosted by the University of New Mexico)
Regal/Wurlitzer
6:30pm Dinner on Your Own / Optional Dinner Groups
8-9am Networking Breakfast
Regal/Wurlitzer
9-10am KEYNOTE General Session: A Personal Journey of Leadership and Service
Regal/Wurlitzer
Michael Canfield, President and CEO of the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center
Mr. Canfield’s address to the UPCEA conference attendees will include his personal history as it relates to his Native American background including:
10-10:30am Exhibitor showcase, networking
10:30-11:30am Concurrent Sessions III
Understanding the CE Organization: Most Efficient Structure and Duty Delegation
Leadership & Strategy
Roxy
Stay competitive, become efficient, and grow your programs into thriving profit centers. Determine the most efficient use of your staff time to meet your programming, revenue, and enrollment goals. It is important for each person in your organization to fully understand and achieve their individual and departmental objectives. Even though every CE department is unique, the optimal organizational structure and assignment of duties tends to be similar. In this session, we will discuss how an organizational chart is set up to and how to ensure the right person is doing the right job to bring you the most efficiency to focus on your goals.
Future Proofing Your Course for Students with Disabilities
Online Leadership & Administration
Ambassador
When building an online course there are simple things you can do to make sure the experience will be welcoming and accessible to all students. Supporting accessibility for students with disabilities is an important legal requirement and a best practice that provides greater usability for all students. Retrofitting an existing course to become accessible requires time and energy. Instead of waiting to be told that you need to make your course accessible, this session will help you prepare your course materials so that they will be ready from day one for any students who comes into your classroom.
Meet the Post-Traditional Learners & Institutions of Tomorrow
Marketing, Enrollment & Student Services
Registry
Nearly 8.7 million adult learners are enrolled in higher education, says Eduventures, and that population is expected to hit 10 million by 2022. This shift in learner demographics is impacting the programs institutions offer, the way they offer them, and the way they manage them. Keeping pace with the students of tomorrow means institutions must advance academics and operations, adopting new technologies, data analytic processes, and even Online Program Management (OPM) strategies. From degree completers to career advancers, adult learners of tomorrow are challenged to balance work, life and school. We will explore: • Enrollment drivers • Digital literacy • Learning styles and delivery preferences • Academic and career goals As institutions try to keep pace with evolving student demographics, they are challenged to deliver meaningful experiences that support students across the student life cycle and optimize the cost of graduation. We will explore: differentiation, importance of program strength and value/cost ratio, personalization, enterprise OPM approach, flexible partnership, cost savings.
11:45am-1:15pm Awards Luncheon
1:30-2:30pm Concurrent Sessions IV
What’s in a name? Getting to “Why”
Leadership & Strategy
Ambassador
Continuing Education divisions change names more than any other units on campus. Such changes are a reflection of the ever-evolving role we play. Extension, Adult and Continuing Education, Division of Continuing Studies, are among the many names we call ourselves. The University of Washington’s Educational Outreach unit will take on a new name this fall: UW Continuum College. A name is, however, much more than an opportunity to rebrand. It is a chance to really explain “why” you exist and not just “what” you do and “how” you do it. Learn how the University of Washington Continuum College is using Simon Sinek’s “Golden Circle” to give campus partners, external constituents, and most importantly, our own staff a new reason to believe. Join the Vice Provost for UW Continuum College, Dr. Rovy Branon as he takes you through our journey to a new identity.
Best Practices in Instructor Training
Online Leadership & Administration
Roxy
Over the last two years, UCLA Extension’s instructor training has undergone iterative change based on review and feedback. It has gone from dividing instructors into separate tracks based on course format, to creating a single track, and now assuming once again a more differentiated format. Throughout this process, the instructional design team has evaluated the strengths and drawbacks of each approach. In the current phase, we are once more taking into account the needs of academic departments and instructors to differentiate instruction into Refresher, Standard, Advanced, and Custom training courses. In this round-table discussion, we will share our experiences with instructor training. Our goal will be to prompt vibrant reflection on how best to support, cultivate, and retain instructors.
Professional Development for the 21st Century: Digital Badges for Educators
Program Management and Innovation
Registry
Collaboration between the Center for Professional and Continuing Education at the University of the Pacific and PD Learning Network, LLC created an innovative partnership offering digital open badge credit for K-12 teacher professional development. Learn how these two very different entities joined together, with the successes and pitfalls along the way, and implemented a new approach within a thriving field.
2:30-3pm Exhibitor showcase, refreshment break, networking
3-4pm General Session: Diversity and Inclusion in Online Education: A Panel Discussion
Regal/Wurlitzer
Designing programs for an increasingly diverse student audience provides both challenges and opportunities for educators. A panel of senior instructional designers will utilize this session to broaden an understanding of what diversity and inclusiveness means, how best to design inclusive programs, and pitfalls to avoid.
4-4:30pm Prize Drawing and Announcements
Regal/Wurlitzer
5-9:30pm Offsite excursion and dinner (hosted by the University of New Mexico)
8:45-9:45am West Business Breakfast Meeting
Regal/Wurlitzer
10-11:15am Dean’s Panel
Regal/Wurlitzer
11:15am-noon Wrap-up and Grand Prize Drawing
Regal/Wurlitzer
Noon Adjourn