2020 UPCEA Annual Conference

Business & Operations Network Track

Sponsored by

Networking Break in Exhibit Hall (Galleria)

UPCEA Trail Stops hosted during Networking Break

Taking its cue from Boston’s historical journey, a “Freedom Trail” presentation is an opportunity to host a thematic conversation at a metaphorical “stop.” Supported by each of the six UPCEA Networks—affinity groups for the areas of practice that make up professional, continuing, and online education, these informal conversations are hosted around a specific topic in the Exhibit Hall during one of the various 30-minute Networking Breaks during the conference, offering a chance for engaging, thoughtful conversation between attendees and presenters. This experimental format is particularly designed to provide opportunities for attendees to expand both their professional knowledge as well as their individual networks, in low-risk, engaging, and likely small group dialogues.

Using Design Models in Continuing & Professional Education
Galleria | Track: Business & Operations
Level: Strategic | Format: Freedom Trail

• Gerry Rhead, Michigan State University
• Meni Sarris, Spur CG

Moderator: Lyla Garner, Mississippi State University

A Journey in Data Integrity and Data-Driven Decision Making
Grand Ballroom D | Track: Business and Operations
Level: Foundational | Format: Case Study
As enrollment professionals we rely on applicant data to help us make decisions, identify trends, shape a class. But what do you do if you suspect your data is not reliable? Eight years ago the NYU School of Professional Studies (NYUSPS) Admissions Office partnered with the school’s Office of Institutional Research and Analytics with the end goal of developing a reporting structure that since then has helped the school monitor and meet enrollment targets year to year. We'll share how we brought our teams together to assess and optimize operational procedures supporting a rolling-admissions process, build them into our systems of record, and leverage data transfer and visualization solutions to develop meaningful reporting dashboards.

• Cynthia Perez, New York University
• Alexandra Cazangiu, New York University

Moderator: Jean de Sousa-Hitzler, Ryerson University

From Surviving to Thriving: Exploring the Future of Higher Ed With Current Examples
Commonwealth C | Track: Business and Operations
Level: Strategic | Format: Presentation
Unity College has had to face the realities of the potential fiscal stability of a small college. The school has done so with a focus on thriving and reinventing how and what the school can do while staying true to its core of being America’s Environmental College. With its residential campus almost at capacity, Unity College launched its online program to grow in a different way.  By expanding its audience, Unity College has created an entirely different market to target and has successfully increased their opportunities for sustainable growth. Join us as we discuss how a school can move from ‘surviving to thriving’ with paradigm-shifting approaches and strategies.

• Melik Khoury, Unity College
• Lee Maxey, MindMax

Moderator: Ruth Pacheco, Barry University

Boost Your Efficiency with Project Management and Agile
Grand Ballroom D | Track: Business and Operations
Level: Foundational | Format: Workshop | Tag: Best in Show South
Agile, Kanban, and Scrum, oh my! Hear tips and techniques from experienced project managers that you can begin using tomorrow to increase collaboration, visibility, efficiency and effectiveness on your projects. This workshop will provide an overview of agile practices and its usefulness in knowledge work. Leave with tactics to make any team more agile, including specific tools such as kanban and scrum, and broader concepts such as task management, collaboration, and transparency. Hear how we have applied techniques at NC State University, Distance Education and Learning Technology Applications, to bring courses online faster and produce marketing collateral with fewer revisions all while increasing team morale and collaboration. Learn from hands-on activities that can be used back at your institution tomorrow, such as lean task management and retrospectives.

• Katie Bean, North Carolina State University
• Laurie Gyalog, North Carolina State University

Moderator: Monica Yelverton, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

The “Integrated OPM” (IOPM): How Schools of Professional and Continuing Education Can Power Online Programming University-Wide
Grand Ballroom D | Track: Business and Operations
Level: Strategic | Format: Presentation
Online higher education is exciting, dynamic, engaging—but often requires outside help to kickstart digital innovation. The integrated OPM (iOPM) explores the powerful middle ground between totally DIY and fully outsourced strategies. How can schools of Professional and Continuing Education leverage third-party partnerships to fuel their own internal capacity-growth and scale high-quality online programs? What tools and resources do they need to position their staff for success? Through my work producing and scaling online degree programs with dozens of top-tier universities over the last decade, I’ve identified some of the major challenges, pitfalls and successful strategies associated with excellent online higher education. This session will share how Schools of Professional and Continuing Education can leverage a combination of in-house teams and third-party resources to construct a thriving internal online ecosystem, in a model called iOPM.

• John Katzman, Noodle Partners
• Karen Sibley, Brown University

How Optimizing Processes Will Help You Get the Most out of Your People and Technology
Grand Ballroom D | Track: Business and Operations
Level: Strategic | Format: Case Study
In this session learn valuable insights you can gain by understanding your processes, developing a plan to improve points of friction, and create greater cohesion across an entire unit or between functional areas. The Collge of Extended & International Education (CEIE) at California State University, Dominguez Hills, undertook an effort to map its work processes to create greater business continuity, identify areas for process improvement, and prepare for the imminent launch of a new technology implementation. CEIE identified 40 positions that represent the essential work being completed by its employees, then invited a third party to map the work that is carried out in each position, what processes are used to support that work, and where hand-on and hand-off points create greater business continuity by allowing for easier coverage when an employee is out, is promoted, re-assigned, or is separated from the organization.

• Kim McNutt, California State University, Dominguez Hills
• Guy Felder, SpurCG

Moderator: Teri Markle, University of Denver

Business and Operations Network Meeting Spotlight: Critical Conversations: Deep Dives into Special Topics
Grand Ballroom D
Level: Applied | Format: Network Meeting Spotlight
Using the “World Café” format, a flexible approach to hosting interactive, guided small-group discussions, table hosts will facilitate brief but deep conversations on a handful of topics imperative to the practice of Business & Operations in professional, continuing, and online education. Attendees will each select two of four topics, participating in a round of discussion around each, with a short period of time for transition between topics/tables. At the end of each round, the table host will present key points from each discussion; results from all table-based conversations will be shared with the whole group for a brief, collective discussion, that will be used to inform the plan of work for the Business & Operations Network in the coming year.

• Nicole Westrick, Temple University

• Lyla Garner, Mississippi State University

• Teri Markle, University of Denver

Moderator: Nicole Westrick, Temple University

Digital Dependency: Emerging from a Cyber Attack
Grand Ballroom D | Track: Business and Operations
Level: Strategic | Format: Case Study | Tag: Policy
New Mexico Highlands University (NMHU) experienced a cyber-attack on October 9, 2019.  The scale and impact was institution-wide; our entire technology environment was down, and we were not as prepared as we thought. Emergency planning is typically thought of in terms such as active shooter, natural disasters, fire, etc. Should the operations of your digital platforms be considered in that category? How dependent is your organization on technology? How would you respond if your digital presence were down for multiple days, maybe even weeks? This case study will explore NMHU’s response to cyber-attack and how the university and local communities, vendor partners, and higher education community pulled together to recover. The experience has resulted in NMHU reviewing their emergency response activities, communications protocols, establishment of priorities, preventative measures, and overall use of technology at NMHU moving forward.

• Roxanne Gonzales, New Mexico Highlands University
• Joe Gieri, New Mexico Highlands University

Moderator: Brad Hamel, Northern Michigan University

Key Ingredients for Designing a Successful Destiny
Grand Ballroom D | Track: Business and Operations
Level: Applied | Format: Presentation | Tag: Diversity & Inclusion
Destiny One project implementation marked a new era at The Chang School of Continuing Education at Ryerson University. The goals of the project were ambitious: 1) replace The Chang School’s website, 2) streamline the enrolment process, and 3) enhance business processes using the cloud platform Destiny One. Comprised of representatives from The Chang School, Registrar’s Office, Computing and Communications Services, and Financial Services, the project team demonstrated highly effective teamwork, communication and innovation. In addition to creating an award winning, user-friendly Chang School website, the project vastly improved the student experience. The project’s success is owed to this team’s exceptional demonstration of cross-functional collaboration.This session will guide the audience through the process of phased implementation approach and benefits that such approach provided for our learners, the project team members, and support staff. In this session, the participants will learn how to successfully design and implement a communication strategy and communication plan with a focus on promoting awareness, understanding, acceptance, and commitment to the project’s solution and execution activities. The presenters will share best practices identified for project implementation to enable information sharing and knowledge transfer among project team members, champions and supporters. The presenters will take the attendees through the project steps, discuss opportunities and challenges that this project presented, and outline an actionable roadmap for successful implementation of a project of this scale and complexity.

• Branka Halilovic, Ryerson University
• Debbie Wilk, Ryerson University

Moderator: Rodney Tosten, Gettysburg College

Changing with the Times: Can Traditional Non-Profit Universities Compete in the World of Mega-Universities
Grand Ballroom D | Track: Business and Operations
Level: Foundational | Format: Presentation
This session examines the competitive pressures faced by traditional, campus-based online and professional education programs in a market dominated by large, private online education providers.  As the market for traditional 18 to 22-year-old students tightens, campuses look toward adult and lifelong learners as a new enrollment and revenue stream. However campus-based programs are not typically as agile and competitive as the online mega-universities, as they face challenges in marketing, recruitment, lead conversion along with competitive scheduling and compensation models. We will consider these challenges from both a public and private non-profit university perspective, and share strategies that have aided these institutions and programs to grow in a highly competitive environment. The presenters will solicit challenges from the audience and also share strategies adopted on their respective campuses to address these challenges.

• Steven Tello, University of Massachusetts Lowell
• Nancy Ludwig, University of Massachusetts Lowell
• John Wells, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Moderator: Eric Turner, Lasell University