Online and professional continuing education leaders collaborate with external partners to advance local and regional communities and economies and to extend the reach of campus communities. The CEE track focuses on institutional-community engagement as well as university-partner entrepreneurism. As such, proposals for this track will highlight how UPCEA members identify new ways to open pathways between the campus and diverse communities, explore and nurture new and existing markets (e.g., geographic, demographic, skill sets), develop regional workforces, increase the impact of higher education among diverse adult learners, and provide the skill sets and knowledge demanded by today’s employers. We highly encourage proposals that feature innovative ideas that showcase success and include tangible take-aways and practical step-by-step guides to support adoption and implementation at other sites/across the sector.
Presentations involving multiple organizations and international partners, as well as content which may be scaled or optimized by attendees from a wide range of institutions and credit-bearing scenarios (e.g., credit, noncredit, alternative credential) are strongly encouraged.
Proposals for this track are encouraged to focus on (but are not limited to) the following topics:
Initiatives that positively impact the quality of life in communities
Responding to changing employer and community needs
Innovative partnerships with external organizations
Service and experiential learning projects and programs, including apprenticeships
Embracing the academic mission of contributing to economic prosperity, but in sustainable ways
Alternative credentials that meet communities’ and employers’ needs and individuals’ abilities to move ahead
Innovations to address student debt from credit and non-credit study
Recognizing and leveraging future trends, including Generative AI
Address opportunities (e.g. prison education programs) and threats (e.g. anti-DEI movements) to meaningful community engagement
Consider the importance of equity, diversity, and inclusion in community and economic engagement
Defining, measuring, and demonstrating the success of community and economic engagement
Learn more about the Community and Economic Engagement Network.