2022 UPCEA Mid-Atlantic Region Conference | Program

PCO education, like all higher education, has moved decisively to embrace the principles of inclusion, diversity, equity, and access (IDEA) in recent years. These efforts have been valuable for maximizing learned experiences for many traditionally underserved groups; however, individuals with disabilities - including developmental, learning, cognitive, and physical disabilities - have often been left behind in these efforts. In this keynote, the presenters will first highlight the traditional access gap most commonly associated with disability inclusion in higher education. They will then introduce the importance of recognizing disabilities as part of the identity of many PCO learners, even and especially when those identities are not disclosed. Finally, they will discuss the opportunities that arise from moving towards ultimately valuing the unique experiences of learners with disabilities, and demonstrate how doing so can manifestly increase the value of PCO education to other students, educators, and themselves.

• Matthew Lerner, Stony Brook University
• Ava Gurba, Stony Brook University
• Brooke Ellison, Stony Brook University

A Degree is Closer than You Think: Recognizing Professional Learning for College Credit
FDR | Alternative Credentials | Applied
In 2021, Thomas Edison State University awarded 66,000 college credits to students for professional learning, saving students more than $25 million. The average student using TESU’s Professional Learning Review (PLR) method to accelerate their degree completion received 38 credits. PLR at TESU is a method by which non-collegiate learning, apprenticeships, and credentials are evaluated for college-level equivalency by subject matter experts (SMEs) in the appropriate academic discipline. Through this method, TESU is able to conduct prior learning assessment at scale. Join us to learn how we do what we do and learn about educational partnership opportunities.

• Mary Kierst, Thomas Edison State University
• Jeffrey Harmon, Thomas Edison State University
• Cynthia Baum, Thomas Edison State University

Rewrite the Narrative: Powerful Storytelling on Social Media as an Online Institution
Betsy Ross | Marketing, Enrollment, & Student Success | Applied
For online institutions (or online programs), it can be increasingly hard to market using a traditional storytelling approach. Utilizing an integrated approach of content, social media, thought leadership, and public relations- we've had success in humanizing our brand through what can be impersonal channels.

• Emily Miller, Excelsior University
• Erin Coufal, Excelsior University
• Ermenita Kacani, Excelsior University

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: A Collaborative Approach to Developing High-quality OER
Penn | Program Planning and Implementation | Strategic
As awareness of open educational resources (OER) grows, more faculty are interested in publishing OER in the areas where they’ve identified needs. Teaching-learning centers often want to capitalize on faculty enthusiasm but may not have the roadmap to support a high-quality product and sustainable model. Attendees learn how instructional designers collaborate with librarians to support faculty projects to develop OER. We share our collaborative model to launch an open access digital textbook to address the evolving demands of the arts industry. It prepares music graduates with essential career skills, filling a gap beyond student needs to also support practicing artists. As attendees have different resources available for these projects at their institutions, our presentation provides attendees with tools to develop their own needs assessment that identify gaps in knowledge and resources related to developing OER. This will help attendees identify opportunities to scale this work for their own institutional context.

• Valerie Hartman, Johns Hopkins University
• Kathleen DeLaurenti, Johns Hopkins University
• Zane Forshee, Johns Hopkins University
• Joseph Montcalmo, Johns Hopkins University

A Systematic, Integrated, and Sustainable Process to Address DEI Principles in Courses
Betsy Ross | Program Planning and Implementation | Applied
This session describes MUIH’s systematic and integrated process to address diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) principles in academic courses, and the strategies that have sustained the process for two years. A comprehensive rubric plus guide was developed and serves as the basis for a variety of activities designed to address DEI principles, course design, and assessment, and to build faculty capacity, knowledge, and expertise in these areas. The rubric/guide is used by DEI Faculty Champions to systematically review courses; department chairs and faculty use these reviews to enhance the courses. Individual faculty use the rubric/guide to enrich their courses and teaching and develop individualized diversity statements for their syllabi. A 12-week intensive training combines Columbia University’s Inclusive Teaching MOOC with nine concurrent MUIH asynchronous and synchronous discussions. This framework is now being used to model a process to conduct DEI reviews of administrative practices and policies.

• Christina Sax, Maryland University of Integrative Health

Changing Channels: How to Grow Opportunities in the Non-Credit Space
Penn | Marketing, Enrollment, & Student Success | Strategic
What channels are you using to reach prospective students? There are more options than ever, and a new approach could greatly improve outcomes. The differences between channels to market non-credit programs versus degree programs are nuanced, as highlighted through real world examples in this session. Understanding the prospective student’s journey and their buying criteria can inform how your program should go to market. Learn from our panelists about how they have leveraged their best assets, unique attributes, and brand differentiators to stand out in a competitive market. This session will also address the relevance of alternative credential/certificates and microcredentials and the growing legitimacy of non-credit pathways.

• Jody Malordy, The New School
• Pat Malone, Stony Brook University
• Lee Maxey, MindMax

Session Canceled: The One Word That’ll Solve Every Enrollment Challenge
Marketing, Enrollment, & Student Success | Strategic
The silver bullet. Every higher ed institution who’s struggling to survive every day is looking for it. What’s the answer? How do we motivate a team throughout term after term of enrollment decline? How do we find a path forward amidst the chaos of the industry, giant monopolies, and seemingly insurmountable challenges that engulf our days in the higher ed industry? There is an answer, and it’s one word: leadership. With the right amount of reflection, honesty, tools, frameworks, and ah-ha moments, you can be the leader your institution needs to solve their biggest challenges. Yes, YOU. Our goal is for this group to come together and inspire one another to say, what am I waiting for? This is my chance to lead. To inspire. To change. To impact. And to solve this enrollment crisis once and for all from the inside, out. Learn from our presenters at Rebel Interactive and Regis University on how they have been solving Regis University's biggest challenges over the past decade.

• Allison Minutillo, Rebel Interactive Group
• Kim Frisch, Regis University
• BJ Kito, Rebel Interactive Group

In this dynamic, facilitated panel discussion, learn from PCO leaders how they are building the case for alternative credentials on their campuses, leveraging legacy structures and policies, partnering internally and externally to address workforce needs, and cultivating quality across non-degree credentials. Audience questions will play a critical role in this conversation—bring yours!

• David Schober, Rutgers University
• Nora Lewis, University of Pennsylvania
• Bili Mattes, Harrisburg University

Moderator:

• Bob Hansen, UPCEA

Coffee with Exhibitors (Hancock-Sherman)

Three Excel Features that Changed My Life: Using Excel to Analyze Data
Penn | Business & Operations | Applied
It feels like our jobs require more skills around analyzing data every year. “Data driven decision making” comes up in almost every meeting! Excel skills can be valuable when trying to convert raw numbers into actionable data. This will be an applied, practical session using Excel to summarize a data set then identify trends and patterns. Bring your laptop and be ready to work along with the facilitator as we use vlookup, sumifs and pivot tables as well as conditional formatting, filtering and combining of multiple data sets. Some familiarity with Excel will be needed to get the most out of this session.

• Trisha Wells, University of Maryland Baltimore County

Scaling Career Services and Creative Agency through Blended Learning in Arts Higher Education
FDR | Program Planning and Implementation | Strategic
In an evolving arts industry, professional business skills are critical for higher education arts graduates. Through blended learning practices and curricular integration with career services, an arts conservatory is tackling this challenge to ensure students have equitable access to entrepreneurial resources to build and sustain creative careers in the arts. Instructional design and career services teams collaborate to develop required courses that offer rich technological integration, both real-time and asynchronous learning opportunities, spatial choices for faculty and students, and high-tech pedagogical strategies. The blended delivery allows for a diverse range of faculty voices and student choices. Instructors are working professionals spanning a variety of arts careers. This session shows how to increase the scalability of general resources while also offering flexibility, mentoring opportunities, and personalized learning pathways for students. This practice provides a consistent learning experience and appropriate administrative support to ensure staff, faculty and student needs are met.

• Valerie Hartman, Johns Hopkins University
• Joe Montcalmo, Johns Hopkins University
• Zane Forshee, Johns Hopkins University
• Christina Manceor, Johns Hopkins University

The ITIPping Point of Virtual Instruction: From Concept to Practice
Betsy Ross | Online Administration | Foundational
Through an active learning process, presenters will use the ITIP (Instructional Theory Into Practice) model. They will review how they transformed an in-person curriculum into a live virtual instruction experience for a national-level organization. Participants will be introduced to best practices and materials to assist in converting curriculum from in-person to live virtual instruction.

• Fern Gilkerson, Temple University Harrisburg
• Beth Lease, Temple University Harrisburg

Save Them Now: Developing a Holistic Experience for Students
Betsy Ross | Marketing, Enrollment, & Student Success | Applied
Within the last two years, universities have seen a significant decrease in learners enrolling in colleges. As enrollment in online education decreases, university administrators face many challenges in providing the necessary support and retaining their existing population. The session will focus specifically on developing strategies to tackle this challenge and improve student success.

• Jasmeial "Jazz" Jackson, Thomas Edison State University
• Cynthia Baum, Thomas Edison State University

Development of an Online Peer-Education Course on Health Disparities in Medicine
Penn | Program Planning and Implementation | Applied
This session will present the process for development of a self-directed online non-credit course exploring complex issues of systemic racism, bias, and inequality in the U.S. health care system. The course content was designed by a team of pre-health students as a peer-education project aimed at enriching the learning experience of students enrolled in the Pre-Health Post-Baccalaureate Preparatory Programs at the University of Pennsylvania. The 5-hour course explores societal, political, and economic influences on health with a goal to equip students to recognize inequalities in their future practice and understand how these inequalities impact their patient’s health outcomes. To date, twenty-seven students have completed the course. While this project and our evaluation remain a work in progress, it is an example of an innovative response to the need to advance knowledge and understanding on concepts of health equity among future health care providers.

• Jackie McLaughlin, University of Pennsylvania

Session Canceled: When Objects in Motion Stop: Finding Momentum in a Budget Model or Leadership Change
Online Administration | Applied
Making the most of the in-between period when a new budget model is taking effect or as leaders transition is difficult. Some are unwilling to make decisions, forward progress on strategic initiatives slows, and confusion can spread quickly. Leaders at multiple levels within the organization can be ready for these doldrums by anticipating challenges and collaboratively planning action steps to ensure progress continues despite the uncertainty. WVU Online experienced this as its funding model changed during the pandemic when distance fees were suspended. The institution also is adopting a modified RCM budget model, further changing how program launches and enrollment marketing activities are funded. Join us for insights on moving initiatives forward while everyone around us wants to stay in a wait-and-see holding pattern. Attendees will work through an exercise during the session that has them identifying areas they can impact in their own organizations.

• Julie Thalman, West Virginia University
• Stacy Snow, Kennedy & Company Education Strategies

Designing Faculty Development Using Lean Methodology
Betsy Ross | Program Planning and Implementation | Strategic
In this session, we will model a Lean Customer Discovery process for investigating and responding to organizational problems at the university. In 2019, the University of Alaska Fairbanks eCampus used a Lean Customer Discovery process to survey and interview university instructors about their professional development goals, barriers, and needs. With 171 survey responses and 15 in-depth interviews, we developed a new set of faculty development programs just before the pandemic drastically changed how all of us work. In 2022, we are repeating the survey and will bring a new data set to share with our colleagues at the conference, where we will facilitate a micro Lean discovery process, moving from data-based “Insights” to collaboratively developed responses.

• Kendell Newman Sadiik, University of Alaska Fairbanks
• Jennifer Moss, University of Alaska Fairbanks
• Karina Gonzales-Smith, University of Alaska Fairbanks

From the Depth of Our Experience: The COVID-19 Pandemic and Distance Education: Resistance, Resilience, and Renewal
FDR | Online Administration | Strategic
The COVID-19 Pandemic radically transformed the operational context in higher education worldwide. The scope, rapidity, and relentlessness of these conditions, amplified by discontinuous global change, challenged institutional and academic leaders to adapt to shifting requirements on student engagement, technology-based instructional delivery, unanticipated resource scarcity, and financial upheaval. Organizations unable to evaluate, act and persist in these conditions jeopardized their ability to survive, compete, and sustain in the emergent new normal. This presentation focuses on three leadership and practice areas experience by diverse professional populations in higher education: projective decision making; chaos as context for rapid innovation; and reframing the student experience. Central to this presentation are framing, tracing, and evidencing the critical steps associated with these three practice areas operationalized at each institutional level at Thomas Edison State University throughout and in the post-pandemic environments.

• Michael Williams, Thomas Edison State University
• Jeffrey Harmon, Thomas Edison State University
• Cynthia Baum, Thomas Edison State University

Google Trends: User Behavior & Insights
Penn | Marketing, Enrollment, & Student Success | Applied
Changes in user behavior and smarter search strategies mean that marketers have to work faster and be more relevant, personalized, and available in order to reach prospects and their influencers. In this session, through updated user behavior data and insights, you’ll get the inside information on what is new and next at Google and how to stay ahead of the curve.

• Jaime Oleksik, Carnegie
• Tomea Knight, University of Pennsylvania

Join us for a look into the big picture of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in higher education as presented by an esteemed group of Mid-Atlantic member institutions. This general session will provide an opportunity to hear from Dr. Christina Sax, Maryland University of Integrative Health, Dr. Judith B. Clarke, State University of New York at Stony Brook, and Dr. Brighid Dwyer, University of Pennsylvania on each of their institution's DEI strategies, overall trajectory (where they've been and where they're headed), challenges, and opportunities, along with their ideas for the future of DEI in higher education. Q & A to follow the presentations.

• Chris Sax, Maryland University of Integrative Health
• Judith B. Clarke, Stony Brook University
• Brighid Dwyer, University of Pennsylvania

Coffee Chats are informal, table-based, 45-minute, facilitated conversations around an emerging topic of import, which are heavy on networking and connecting, light on didactic, and sponsored by the UPCEA Networks (communities of practice open to all UPCEA members). Chats are open to any event attendee, regardless of Network-affiliation.


Coffee Chat hosted by the OA Network: Designing Self-Paced [Noncredit] Online Programs
FDR | Online Administration | Foundational

• Jim Morris, Rutgers University
• Lorelee Isbell, Shippensberg University

Coffee Chat hosted by the PPI Network: Demonstrating Program Impact
Betsy Ross | Program Planning & Implementation | Foundational

• Vanessa Williams, Rutgers University
• Allison Jones, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
• Jazz Jackson, Thomas Edison State University

Assessment-driven and Engaging Course Development for Adult Learners
FDR | Program Planning and Implementation | Applied
Thomas Edison State University is conducting a Barrier Course Initiative, supported by assessment and technology, in which DFW (drop, failure, withdrawal) data is used to identify courses that may act as barriers to overall student success and academic progress. Identified courses are revised using a newly developed learning experience design (LXD) model, which expands the current instructional design model. TESU’s current ADDIE model (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation) sets a standard for designing courses that aligns learning objects, module objectives, course objectives, programmatic outcomes, and institutional outcomes. The LXD adds a focus on three broad design themes (student construct of knowledge, inclusive teaching, and intentional and consistent design), allowing for the creation of learner-centric design elements geared toward enhancing student engagement and inclusivity. Improved engagement in the context of strong outcomes-based assessment results in courses that reflect the evolving nature of instructional and learning experience design for adult learners.

• David Schwager, Thomas Edison State University
• Matthew Cooper, Thomas Edison State University
• Cynthia Baum, Thomas Edison State University

Workforce Redesigned: Building the Regional Workforce Ecosystem to Meet the Needs of the Employers
Betsy Ross | Community and Economic Engagement | Applied
This workshop will highlight a unique partnership in South Central PA between government, workforce & economic development, employers, and higher education that is exploring various ways to collaborate on solving employer needs around developing a pipeline of workers and the upskilling and reskilling of the incumbent workforce. The partnership is also focusing on underserved populations and how to incorporate career and support services to assist those populations during training and development and into the workforce

• Tracy Montoro, Office of Continuing Education
• Lorelee Isbell, Shippensburg University

Be A Part of the Conversation: Leadership and Big Decisions
Penn | Business & Operations |
An interactive session where you can share your thoughts and explore ways to define your position as a leader. Consider how you approach making hard choices, have conversations that address difficult decisions and explore your reaction to organizational changes that you have faced or are yet to face within your professional career.

• Susan Ryan, SUNY Stony Brook

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” –John Quincy Adams

Join three of Mid-Atlantic's prestigious leaders as they discuss their perspectives on managing challenges in recent years and their ability to help their institutions rebound and look towards the future.

• Margo DelliCarpini, Penn State Abington
  
• Nora Lewis, University of Pennsylvania
• Vicki McGarvey, Temple University

In the post-pandemic world, the New Adult Learner will be the difference on whether colleges and universities thrive or survive. To better prepare our members, Jim will present the results of a meta-analysis UPCEA and corporate partner sponsored research on the New Adult Learner. The research will show the complexities of the adult learner and the breadth of segments they represent. Jim will offer insights on motivating factors, delivery and credential preferences, support services and needs and how these might relate to marketing, recruitment and retention. In a competitive market, understanding the differences of the many adult learner segments is critical to institutional success.

• Jim Fong, UPCEA