It has been quite a spring

It has been quite a spring; actually it’s been quite a year.  It has included trips to Dubai to present at the I4th Annual International Conference on Drug Discovery & Therapy, attending the University Association for Lifelong Learning in Cambridge UK, presiding over the UPCEA annual meeting in Portland, returning to Laramie, WY and the University of Wyoming, visiting multiple higher education institutions in China, and finally a short trip to Richmond to watch our youngest child graduate from college (VCU) and celebrate our second grandson’s second birthday.  Lots of memories, and lots of lessons learned in the process.  While I intend to write more about each of these experiences, today I want to simply reflect quickly on this whirlwind of travel.

 Dubai: There are a lot of smart people out there who are busy trying to find cures for an untold number of diseases.  What struck me the most is that drug discovery is extremely expensive, and thus driven by profit.  The result is that there is little reward for working on drugs that will assist lower income patients, or drugs to treat diseases that only affect small numbers of the population.  We need to find a way to encourage more research that can assist in addressing drug discovery for diseases impacting a small population, the need for drug therapy for impoverished countries and further the work on drugs that are no longer under patent. 

 Cambridge: I don’t know if you know this, but everything is really old in Cambridge, and it’s wonderful.  I learned a great deal from my UALL colleagues, and thank them for their hospitality.  The challenge and opportunity for providing access to higher education is a global responsibility and the good news is that there are wonderful advocates for furthering this effort throughout the world.  I am particularly moved by the quote I learned from James Stuart which I see as a call to action: “The object of all education is to teach people to think for themselves, that is the direct or specified object of what is called Higher Education…..a man who is educated in the truest sense may even be unable to read or write, for an educated man is a man who is capable of thinking about what he sees.”  (Thanks, Adrian.)

 Portland: In a word “WOW!” And two more words: “Thank you!”  It really does take a community to pull off something like the UPCEA annual meeting.  I learned that members of UPCEA have no limits in terms of what they are willing to do for our profession and for those we serve.  I was and continue to be humbled by the opportunity I was given to serve as president of UPCEA.

 Wyoming: Apparently you really can go home again.  Many thanks to the Outreach College for hosting me at UW and for sharing your insights.  Visiting Laramie was a great reminder of how lucky I was to start my career and quite honestly grow up as a professional at the University of Wyoming.  Go Pokes!

 China: I was delighted to spend 12 days in China and visit a number of higher education institutions in April.  This was my third trip to China, and each time I come away amazed and appreciative of the how open our colleagues in China are to partnerships.  I learned that people are resilient; we visited Aba Teacher’s College which was destroyed by the 2008 earth quake and was moved to a new site and completely rebuilt. It is amazing what they have accomplished in such a short time.

 Richmond: There is nothing like a family gathering to celebrate special events.  For us, it was our grandson’s second birthday party and the graduation of our youngest child, James (I still call him Jamie).  Our grandson, like all our grandchildren, are the cutest and smartest kids that ever existed, and this two-year-old is no exception.  There is something special about watching two-year-olds eat birthday cake, truly more on their faces then in their mouths.

 And the graduation (pardon my parental moment) — Peggy and I couldn’t have been more proud.  I don’t usually cry at graduations but when Jamie walked across the stage I saw our little boy receive a degree and launch the next stage of his life.

 The common themes that not only tie all these trips together but also are the driving forces in my life; providing access to the promise of education, re-discovering the passion and selflessness of my colleagues throughout the world, and finally, there ain’t nothing like being a parent and grandparent, and by the way, there is no place like home.

Review of 2012 UPCEA Annual Conference

It is hard to believe that the UPCEA Annual Conference took place nearly three weeks ago.  I’ve put on a few miles since then, with trips to Florida, Wyoming, and tonight I find myself in China for the next several days.

 I’m sure there will be more on Shaeffer’s Forays about our trip to Florida, which included a trip to Disney world with two of our grandchildren (and of course their parents), my visit to the University of Wyoming, and my journey in China, but tonight I want to reflect on the UPCEA Annual Meeting in Portland.

 Any reflection about the 2012 UPCEA Annual Conference must begin by thanking David Schejbal and his excellent conference planning committee for bringing together an excellent annual conference.  The conference planning committee, with the expert assistance of the UPCEA National Office, implemented a number of new initiatives for this conference that included establishing program tracks that centered on the primary professional responsibilities of our members, kicking off the conference with half-day intensive sessions for each track, and featuring a track based on the conference theme of Resilience which examined sustainability from several perspectives including environmental, programming, organizational, and financial.  Many thanks to all involved in planning the 2012 Annual Conference.

 I felt that our keynote speakers, Carl Safina and Michael Horn, provided excellent bookends for the conference.  Carl opened the conference by challenging us with the many growing issues we face with the oceans due to overfishing, global warming, and pollution.  I will not soon forget the slide he shared of the bird that had digested several plastic lighters in the feeding process. While the challenges we face are large, Carl provided examples of how we can address some of the issues we face, but at the same time was clear about our responsibilities for assuring the survival of our blue oceans and supporting the view from Lazy Point.

 Michael Horn also challenged us with the leadership opportunity we have to utilize the disruptive innovation of online learning. He questioned whether the higher education model is sustainable if our institutions continue to see research as the primary measure of “quality.”  I am confident, based on Michael’s comments and the work he and his colleague Clayton Christensen have done, that those of us in professional continuing higher education are well positioned to provide leadership in harnessing this disruptive technology to provide greater access to higher education and to positively impact the teaching and learning experience for our students and faculty.

 One of the insightful initiatives the planning committee offered this year was the addition of intensive sessions to kick off the conference. In the past we’ve had two or three specialized seminars we offered to members, but this year the planning committee choose to kick off the entire conference with half-day intensive sessions included in the conference registration fee. These intensives included a keynote speaker addressing areas from workforce development to distance education, followed by a panel of expert colleagues that provided insights into these areas based on their campus experiences.  The planning committee augmented each intensive half-day session with programming throughout the conference that supported participants’ professional development. I was very pleased to hear very positive feedback about this new format.

 We also built on a program that was initiated last year that is the New and Aspiring Leaders program. Last year’s program was very well received and quite successful, and thanks to the leadership of our volunteers, this year’s program in Portland was equally successful.  I had the opportunity to talk with the New and Aspiring Leaders participants in Portland, and I’m happy to tell you that our profession and association has much to look forward to from these new and aspiring leaders.

 I was also extremely pleased with the ongoing support we received from our vendor colleagues, not only at this event but also throughout the whole year.  At this year’s conference we made several attempts to be more inclusive of our corporate sponsors; many members teamed up with their vendor partners in presentations as well as active participants throughout the conference. Many thanks to our corporate sponsors for not only their support at the annual conference but also for providing their insights in further our profession.

 We also enjoyed the wonderful city of Portland and the outstanding services and facilities of the Hilton. The addition of city walking tours that provided participants an opportunity to visit the unique sites of Portland made this conference more place-based than ever before. In addition, a highlight for many in the Sustainability track was the planned field trip visiting examples of Portland’s efforts to enhance environmental sustainability such as one of their hospitals on the hill.  I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention the wonderful cafes and restaurants in Portland that many of us discovered.

 As with many of the national conferences, what I appreciated most were the opportunities to spend time with old friends and meet new friends in our association.  The insights I gain from listening to my colleagues are invaluable and the friendships I make are lasting.

 Many thanks to all who planned and executed our successful 2012 Annual Conference in Portland, and many thanks to those who participated and made it an outstanding event.  See you all in Boston next year for another great event!

 

 

 

An open letter of thanks!

An open letter of thanks!

While I may be a bit prejudice, I felt that the UPCEA annual conference in Portland was a success.  To make sure that I wasn’t looking at the conference only through my glasses, I reached out to members and vendors to get their impressions and I was pleased to hear a number of positive comments.

Peggy and I arrived home this morning about 1:30 am (April 1, I don’t believe there is significance with the April Fools date) and to be honest I spent the trip back as well my time today thinking about how lucky I’ve been to have served as president of UPCEA.  I have some many people to thank for their contributions and support.

First, many thanks to Tom Gibbons for his leadership of the Strategic Plan and thanks to all those who helped draft the plan, to those who provided feedback on the plan and for those who supported the plan.

Second, thanks goes to Alice Warren and Burt Bagerstock for their leadership of the Transition Team and to the Transition Team for their willingness to step up to providing direction in terms of next steps with the implementation of the strategic plan.

Third, I was very pleased and humbled by the support of the Commissions, COPs, and Global Associates in the writing and implementation of the strategic plan.

Fourth, I must have been like others that present a new plan to the membership in that I was a bit anxious, so many thanks to the Institutional Representatives for the rich discussion of the plan and the bylaws and for the unanimous support of the plan and the bylaws at the business meeting.

Fifth, as I indicated at the annual conference, as president I stood on the shoulders of those who came before me and I enjoyed the support of the past presidents, thank you.

Sixth, we instituted a number of new things with our annual conference and I can’t thank David Schejbal and the planning committee enough for their vision and their willingness to try new things with the annual conference.  It was an exciting conference with great content as well as great opportunities to interact with fellow members, our corporate partners as well as the city of Portland.

I need to pause and thank our hosts in Portland; this includes the local higher education institutions as well as the staff at the Hilton, well done and thank you.

Seventh, I had a super board.  The best phrase I’ve found to describe this board is that they did a great deal of heavy lifting.  The association and I asked a great deal of the board this year and they delivered.

Eighth, we could not have accomplished what we did this year without the support and leadership of Bob Hansen and the Washington office.  So much of what the office does is behind the scenes and often invisible to the greater membership and to their credit they strive to keep it that way as they provide service to the members and our field.

Ninth, how luck am I that my presidency was sandwiched between Judy Ashcroft, past president and Tom Gibbons the new president of UPCEA.  Judy your insights and encouragement were invaluable and Tom, you took on so many responsibilities and were so supportive, thank you.

Tenth, any president of UPCEA will tell you that there is no darn way that he or she can take on the challenges of being president without outstanding support from their home office and I learned this in so many ways this year.  Many thanks to the JMU Outreach and Engagement crew, without you this year simply wouldn’t have happened.

Eleven and finally, I want to thank my wife, my partner, and my friend, Peggy.  You were always there to give me the push that was needed, the perspective when I may have felt overwhelmed, and the gentile guidance and love when I needed it most.

I will finish with the wonderful home run call from Harry Carrey, it seems most fitting given what happened at the annual banquet and I think best describes this year.

“It might be, it could be, it is a home run! Cubs win Cubs win!”

Challenges Here and There

Greetings from Cambridge UK.  I had the good fortune to join the University Association for Lifelong Learning’s annual conference here in Cambridge.  Being in Cambridge is simply a thrill — walking the streets and visiting the colleges is more than worth the trip. While I took hundreds of photos, the pictures do not do justice to the beauty and majesty of the Colleges of Cambridge.

The theme of the UIALL conference is Higher Education for the Social Good? The Place of Lifelong Learning.  The conference began Sunday evening with a wonderful reception, with a book signing by Adrian Barlow in celebration of his recently published book called Extramural: Literature and Lifelong Learning.

He begins his book asking what we should call what we do as professional continuing educators.  In one of its earliest forms it was called extramural education, and from there it has been called extension, continuing education, outreach and engagement, and others.  In some ways, he argues that we change the name to fit the needs of whichever political party is in charge.  While I don’t believe this to be the case in the US, he does make the argument that extramural remains a descriptive term because universities can “resemble medieval walled towns with their gatehouses, towers, and halls…[and] so, the idea of scholars leaving their research to go and take their scholarship to those outside the academic community is well summed up as ‘extramural.”

The first full day of the conference was Monday, and I learned from the presentations and my conversations with my UK colleagues that they are facing many similar issues as we are in the US.  For example, they are exploring ways to better interact with business and industry, whether it be with undergraduate and graduate programs or workforce development.  In other ways, as institutions it seems that some have gone full circle from being part of their local community to concentrating on research, and now have come around again to becoming more a part of the community. In some ways, they are returning to their roots of collaborating with their local communities in addressing local needs.  Like most US institutions, they too are wrestling with how to be an engaged institution.

They have also found themselves in the role of what I call being the translator; we see more and more business terms being used in academia, and they (like us) are helping to interpret these terms to their colleagues in academic departments.

And while they become more engaged, they are trying to find ways of better organizing and accounting for all of the engagement activities on their campuses.  This particular issue hits very close to home for my own institution; I’ve found, and the UK institutions are finding, that there are all sorts of wonderful engagement activities going on at their institution. The issue then becomes how best to track and organize these activities so that the community can have one point of contact.

I want to close this post by sharing two WOW moments I had while in Cambridge UK

First, Monday night we were hosted at the Cambridge Press for cocktails.  Not only did I find myself surrounded by any number of volumes published by this venerable press, but the Cambridge Press bookstore is in a building that has been a bookstore since the 1500s.

The other WOW moment came at dinner.  Our dinner was held in the Great Hall of Clare College, and it was magnificent.  It was a room with a head table and long tables stretched out in front with stained glass windows, surrounded by wood paneling.  It was really quite something. And of course, the experience brought out my inner Harry Potter….expecto patronum.

http://www.clareconferencing.com/images/newImages/finedining/img002-big.jpg

Off to Cambridge

Off to Cambridge

One of the great opportunities I have as president of UPCEA is that I am invited to attend the annual meetings of our sister associations, CAUCE and UALL.  Last summer I  joined our colleagues in Canada for their annual conference in Toronto, where they explored sustainability with excellent keynote and session presentations.  For more about the CAUCE meeting http://shaeffersforays.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/greetings-from-the-cauce-meeting/.

 

This weekend I am off to Cambridge for the UALL Annual Conference with the theme “Higher Education for the social good?  The place of lifelong learning.”  Having never been to Cambridge, I am very excited to have the opportunity to simply walk their historic grounds and to spend time with my European colleagues.

 

In addition to inviting me to the UALL annual meeting, I have the honor to have been asked to deliver a keynote address as part of the meeting.  To say the least, I am more than just a little anxious to be speaking in front of my colleagues, because I truly wonder what I can address where those in the audience surely have more experience and expertise than I.

 

My anxiety notwithstanding, the title for my address is Why Engagement is Critical to the Future Success of the 21^st Century Colleges and Universities.

 

As I look at the future of higher education, I am confident that the most relevant and great higher education institutions will be those that engage with their communities in addressing pressing issues as perceived by the community.  And when I think about community, I mean not just our local community but also our global community.

 

Why do we engage?  We engage first and foremost because we have a moral obligation as institutions of higher education to make our resources available to the community to assist with addressing pressing issues.  Secondly, we benefit as institutions by engaging because true engagement is a reciprocal, mutually beneficial relationship.  Each of us bring strengths to the table, and we all benefit by leveraging these strengths.

 

We engage because there are pressing social and economic issues where higher education holds the key.  For example, economically we know the unemployment rate is doubled for those who do not have college experience, and we also know that those with college degrees tend to be more civically involved including voting and volunteerism.

 

How do we engage?  When I think about how we engage, I go back to the Forays or the 4 A’s that is the tag line for this blog. I engage by first being an advocate for lifelong learning and learners.  As a continuing professional educator, I also advocate for the accessibility and affordability of education.  Quite honestly, what drives me as a professional is continuously seeking the answer to how I can make education available to more people and if possible make it more affordable.  And I advocate for accountability — are we really doing what we said we would do and are students learning what we hope they do.

 

Another way that we engage as professional continuing educators is through innovation.  I have believed  and often said that our units, whether they be called Outreach and Engagement or Continuing Education, must be the Research and Development arms of our institutions.  Why?  Because we deal in a market environment and we are continually looking for more efficient and effective ways of making education accessible.

 

I believe, and I’ve talked about this in a previous blog post, http://shaeffersforays.wordpress.com/2011/03/04/is-the-collegeuniversity-model-sustainable/ that we are well positioned to take advantage of the disruptive technology. We are what Michael Staton calls the “survival guide” for our institutions, if and when the current model of higher education bursts.  We are positioned to lead the disruption because we are using new business models, new technologies, and we use creative program development to make education accessible and affordable.

 

When I think about the importance of being an engaged institution, this importance is only magnified when I think about being a member of the global community.  The need to provide the opportunities and promise of education to those in need on a global basis is the highest service we can provide as institutions of higher education.

 

With this in mind, I’ve no doubt that our associations must be leaders in encouraging engagement and we must find a way to bring a collective voice in leading the engagement of our associations and our institutions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guest Post from Amy Heitzman, New CLO of UPCEA

It is hard to believe but we are only a few short weeks away from the 97^th Annual UPCEA conference in the beautiful and eclectic city of Portland.  I am very excited about our conference –not only do we have two outstanding keynote speakers, Carl Safina (author of Song for the Blue Ocean) and Michael Horn (co-author of Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns), but we will also feature interactive presentations from our colleagues addressing the professional development issues we face on a daily basis.

The person who has been at the eye of this hurricane of bringing all the moving pieces together is the new Chief Learning Officer for UPCEA, Amy Heitzman.  She has done a marvelous job (to no one’s surprise) and I’ve asked her to share her thoughts with us as the conference content has come together.  As if she needed another task….but she stole a minute from the conference planning and offers these insights into what we can expect in Portland:

Amy Heitzman:

As I reflect on the road to Portland, I’m struck by one word in particular: synergy. 

Defined as cooperative interaction among groups, such that cooperation creates an enhanced effect greater than the individual parts, I see myriad examples of synergy specifically with regard to the UCPEA Annual Conference.

I’m amazed at the brilliant ways in which our collective concerns about resilience and sustainability align with the characteristics of our host city — Portland has come to embody for all of us specific ideas about how we go about what it is that we do, not just what it is that we do.

The “Intensives,” deep dives designed to kick off the conference experience, bring together for us the challenges and successes of our practice—addressing crucial needs by blending expertise and experience.

Guided morning tours, an afternoon of excursions and a special musical performance at our banquet serve to bring us into close connection with our environment, both within our hotel and without.

The culminating sessions of the conference, “Colleague Conversations,” present a rare chance for cooperative reflection and synthesis at the end of what is certain to be a monumental few days.

And perhaps the gathering itself, the meta-work of what we do, most clearly denotes for me this synergy—coming together highlights our common goals, and as such, the pieces of our varied backgrounds appear to me to be more alike than different the closer we get to Portland.

Stepping into this role at UPCEA, I wondered what would change as I transitioned from professional member to a member of the association staff. This new lens has granted me a rare set of permissions: to recognize the synergy that comes from seeing our shared values and needs from multiple viewpoints.

It is from this perspective, this lens of alignment, commonality and shared values, that I have the privilege of describing my new role as a responsibility for cultivating that synergy.  To this end, I invite you to Portland to experience an outstanding conference and city, and to see the synergy of all these pieces coming together.   

Many thanks, Amy. And if anyone needs any further enticement to join us in Portland, here’s a list of the top things to see and do in Portland: http://www.travelportland.com/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/top-sights. You won’t want to miss this – see you in Portland.

Greetings from Dubai!  I’ve had the good fortune to be invited to speak at the 4th International Conference on Drug Discovery & Therapy.  Most of you will ask, what does Shaeffer know about drug discovery and therapy? The answer is “what the little boy shot at” – nothing. (Harry Cary used to say this when referring to the Cubs score).  What I do know about is innovation and how to encourage innovation.  I’ve learned that to be successful in our field, professional and continuing education, we must be continually reinventing ourselves through innovation.

 Last week I participated in a Strategic Operations and Reconstruction conference/workshop in D.C. which brought together representatives from the armed forces, NGOs, various government agencies (Dept. of State, Defense, etc.) and representatives from higher education.  The issues discussed at this meeting actually dovetail with what I’ve learned about encouraging innovation in drug discovery and therapy.

 The intent of the Strategic Operations and Reconstruction conference was to encourage better communication across agencies in preparing for and responding to crises. The principal success factors mentioned by many of the speakers were consultation, cooperation, and compromise.  They called on the different agencies to work together to develop a common vision for the core skills that are needed to preserve security including flexibility, creativity, and adaptability. Hopefully, one of the items that will emerge from that meeting will be a common vision that will feed the creation of curriculum to provide quality education and training for individuals from the armed forces and the various government agencies that will work together on the all-important issue of security and stability operations around the globe.

In preparing for my presentation on innovation in drug discovery here in Dubai, I found that similar factors lead to success.  With the cost of drug discovery increasing and the financial rewards decreasing, the literature suggests that we are neglecting continuing exploration of drugs that have gone off patent, and because of this we are not discovering secondary treatments for these drugs. For example, Botox was first developed to treat muscular disorders of the eye, and now is used for skin generation.  There is also little incentive to work on drugs that only impact a small population or a less fortunate population. One of the suggestions for drug discovery is using open source research.  This has worked effectively in software development and there has been some, although limited success, in drug discovery.  The keys to successful open source drug discovery are the same as collaboration in stability operations: flexibility, creativity, and adaptability.

 As we prepare for the UPCEA Annual Meeting in Portland, I am confident that the success of our field also depends on similar success factors.  We must share our lessons learned and best practices with our colleagues.  The success of our colleagues will lead to our success and more importantly the success of our students.

 The members of the planning committee, under David Schejbal’s leadership, have worked hard on multiple tracks that reflect the professional responsibilities of our members.  The programming for these tracks has been developed by our colleagues who live the challenges that we face, and I am confident that these tracks will serve as a great professional development opportunity.  In addition, we also have a track dedicated to the topic of sustainability that will feature great speakers and a series of excursions to visit sites in Portland where the ideas addressed by the speakers are being implemented. 

 In addition to the tracks we have two outstanding keynote speakers: Carl Safina, author of Song for the Blue Ocean: Encounters Along the World’s Coast and Beneath the Seas, and Michael Horn, co-author of Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns.

 If you are like me, what I find most helpful about our annual meeting (and actually what I look forward to the most) is the opportunity to meet and discuss with my colleagues the challenges we face and the creative ways in which they are addressing the challenges.  These conversations are not only informative, they are often inspirational, and I often return to my institution inspired to try new things, to innovate, and to be flexible, creative, and adaptive.

 I invite you to join me and your colleagues in Portland, March 28-30, to connect, reconnect, and to be inspired.