Opportunity, Potential, Engagement, Now | Connecting Workforce with Higher Ed
The 2018 UPCEA New England Region Conference, OPEN for Business, focuses on the shifting priorities for institutions of higher education and today’s learner, expanding upon our more traditional programs to new, innovative programs that meet the needs of today’s learner, as well as providing practical training and educational needs.
OPEN is an acronym for Opportunity, Potential, Engagement, Now. The conference sessions will focus on how higher education can better Engage with industry to meet the educational needs to develop skilled workers for high demand professions. We are hearing so much about the shortage of talent in many growing fields. Professional, continuing, and online education divisions are uniquely positioned to respond to these needs.
Additionally, being OPEN for Business also means meeting the needs of our students - who are most often working professionals trying to balance work, family and education. The issues of shortened time to degree completion, relevance to work application, cost of education, and prior learning assessments, are still critical areas of focus for institutions of higher education. We must still be innovative in the ways that we offer Opportunities for our students.
Institutions are already responding to the shifting demands of today’s learner, by offering new programs that target learning and earn credentials. We have to focus on our partnership with businesses to understand their education needs and to identify the Potential programs to best prepare today’s learner. We want to continue the discussion from last year about credentialing opportunities, as well as supporting the needs of today’s learner.
And this work needs to happen NOW. Higher education must become more agile and responsive. There is a tremendous amount of change happening in higher education. If we want to continue to fulfill our mission, we must be OPEN to change. Let’s talk about the ways that we can influence our institutions to respond to these new demands.
Higher ed is OPEN for Business. Join us October 24-26, 2018 in the city of Providence, Rhode Island, as we explore the opportunities between education and industry that could best meet the evolving needs of our learners and our institutions. See you at the Renaissance Providence Hotel!
Stacy Chiaramonte
New England Region Conference Chair
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
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