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.

No matter how many books I’ve read about leadership and change, when you find yourself personally in the middle of trying provide leadership for a significant organizational change, for some reason all the textbook responses seem to fly out the window.  I am very proud of what was accomplished last week by UPCEA, and it was a great opportunity for me to re-learn some lessons about change.

Change is hard.  I can see why organizations resist change. It’s hard work to effect change.  It seems to start simply enough: looking at the current state and thinking you know we can do better, we can do better if we are organized differently, we can do better if we used different, more streamlined procedures.  In the end, we will be better by changing.  After that, everything becomes much more complicated.  Once you have the vision for the change, you need to be able to communicate the “why” for the change, and what the end state will look like.  Then comes building the plan, followed by vetting the plan, and then assuring that the plan is fully communicated to the stakeholders, and finally building support for the plan.  Well, that isn’t really “finally” because then comes the hardest step: implementing the plan.  No matter how well you do in the previous steps in change, you cannot falter in the implementation of the plan.

Change should NOT be a zero sum game.  This can best be summed up by the phrase “don’t through the baby out with the bath water.”  When I find myself completely caught up in the change process, I’ve found that I need to stop and assure that I understand “what is working” and build upon it in making the change.  I’ve been lucky, I’ve surrounded myself with people who are not shrinking violets, and who don’t hesitate to remind me that we often have a firm foundation on which to build change.

Change is messy.  I’ve found that there are no straight lines in making change.  Instead, leading and making changes is a series of fits and starts, as well as a process of moving forward while spending time circling back to assure we are moving in the right direction. (I’m dizzy just writing that sentence.) Part of this is because if we are really seeking input and buy-in for the change, we must stop and really listen to what people have to say and make modifications (circling back) based on the input and then move forward.

Change requires making hard decisions.  For change to actually happen, at some point you must make hard decisions.  Certainly one of the greatest challenges in leadership is making the tough decisions, because there are consequences in those decisions.  For example, change entails shifting priorities, and with that there will be organizational changes, i.e., some offices and/or program areas may be eliminated and/or refocused.   In making these changes, it is difficult to avoid hurt feelings, a sense of loss, the unintended result of giving some a sense of being disenfranchised.  I hate that, but leading change requires having the courage to make tough decisions.

Change requires a personal touch.  Taking into consideration the feelings of those impacted by change, I find that we need a variety of ways of communicating the reasons for the change, and what the end state will be.  We’ve become so accustomed to “just sending an email” or responding to questions through email, but I’ve found a phone call or two helps me to not only better express my thoughts but it truly is the best way for me to better understand the thoughts of others.  As Covey reminds us, “seek first to understand, then be understood.”  I am the first to admit this is hard to do, it is a continuing aspiration for me and one that I know I don’t reach with consistency.

Change is good.  I do believe that change is good.  Don’t get me wrong, I do not believe in change for change’s sake.  Heavens, I’ve been in higher education for over 30 years, I’ve seen my share of change for change’s sake.  I do, however, believe that an organization that is not changing is falling behind.  As one of my friends reminds me, if you are standing still you are falling backwards because everyone else is passing you with new ideas. 

While I recognize that change is all the things I suggested above and more, I for one am more than willing to deal with the ambiguity that change brings. Our organizations are well served by reinventing ourselves, and by reinventing ourselves we discover and develop new programming and services to better assist those we serve.

Looking back on my Musings for 2011 (http://shaeffersforays.wordpress.com/2011/01/06/musings-for-2011/), at best I was hit and miss. On the miss side, I don’t know that I saw a great deal of movement away from discipline-based departments as compared to problem-based departments and programs. One of the examples I used a year ago was Michael Crow’s efforts at Arizona State (http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/07/16/crow). I continue to believe that that the great universities and colleges will be those that are responsive to needs of our communities (local to global), and we can best respond through a problem-based approach as compared to a disciplinary approach.

On the hit side, I believe we are seeing growth in “design it yourself” opportunities. Straigterline continues to add partners with the major additions of the University of Phoenix and Western Governors University. In addition, we continue to see growth in open course materials and the latest announcement from MIT concerning the creation of MITx is the logical next step.

Also on the hit side was watching the interesting dance of balancing access with accountability. This push-pull was played out last year and continues to be played out in the enforcement of Department of Education’s state approval regulations.

So what about 2012?

Designing it yourself:
I believe that this trend will only continue to grow. As I indicated above, MIT is offering a new program in addition to their OpenCourseWare (OCW) that will provide greater interaction for students with other faculty and other students and the content. In addition, students who show mastery of the content can receive a certificate, not from MIT but from MITx. For me this is the logical next step in the open courseware movement, providing an incentive to complete the area of study and recognition of mastering the content, i.e., a certificate. Given the need to provide greater access to quality higher education, wouldn’t it be something if we encouraged faculty to design complete courses with this content and these courses would be specifically targeted for under-served students. Heavens, could we actually build a full degree program using open courseware?

Balancing access with accountability:
This will continue to be a challenge with the implementation of regulations such as the state approval regulations from DOE as well as the expanding oversight of regional accreditors. Don’t get me wrong, I am fully supportive of maintaining the quality of higher education no matter how it is delivered. My concern is that we put up barriers that restrict access. To learn more how institutions were responding to the state by state authorization, UPCEA and WCET surveyed their membership (http://upcea.edu/pdfs/UPCEA-WCETExecSumm08-18-11.pdf. Information from 215 institutions from 34 states revealed that the costs of complying with the regulations in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and because of the cost as well as the effort required, 59% of the institutions reported that will no longer accept students from some states.

Clearly these regulations while attempting to assure quality have had an unexpected outcome: decreasing access to higher education at a time when there is a national push to increase access.

I am confident we will continue try to find the balance between access and quality.

Measure of success beyond time to completion:
In earlier blog posts I suggested that we need new measures of success of our adult students (http://shaeffersforays.wordpress.com/2010/11/10/how-do-we-measure-success/ and http://shaeffersforays.wordpress.com/2011/05/09/measuring-success-part-2/) beyond time to degree completion. Is time to degree the appropriate measure for adult students who stop out of college due to family and work obligations? Without other measures, do we follow the lead of one of my colleagues who has used the measure of time to degree completion as a measure? As an aside, he found that the time to completion for his students is similar to that of on-campus students.

Going into the New Year, I have two goals for our office relative to measuring success. One is to develop a report related to time to completion for our students in our degree and certificate programs. We must have this baseline information. The second goal is to develop other measures of success that not only better tell the story of our adult degree program graduates, but that also clearly show why our institutions and our state and national government should be supportive of these students and their efforts, and find ways to measure their incredible successes and hard work.

For me, 2011 was a great year personally and professionally. In professional continuing education we have outstanding and giving colleagues. Thanks to all of you. And I’ve been blessed with a great family. Those close to me know that our household went from 2 to 14 people over the holiday, and it was simply great.

So let me end with a note of thanks and a wish for a happy, safe, and productive 2012.

A couple of important events took place in the last few weeks that may not seem to be linked but in my head they are.

One event was a private meeting that President Obama and Secretary Arne Duncan had with a dozen college presidents.  The purpose of the meeting was to engage the President and the Secretary in discussions with higher education leaders related to increasing access and success, improving graduation rates, and curbing the rising cost of college. (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/06/education/obama-meets-with-college-leaders-on-rising-costs.html?_r=2)

Accounts of the meeting would indicate that discussions ranged from the sharing of best practices to enhance excellence and contain costs, to the role of the federal government in encouraging innovation in higher education.

At first blush, the fact that the President and Secretary are engaged in these types of discussions about higher education should be celebrated. One can only hope that this will lead to positive results.  While I wasn’t invited to the meeting, I would have suggested that in terms of expanding access there are some very quick wins to be had.  The first is to rethink the state approval regulations that the Department of Education is enforcing.  It seems to be that this has only curbed the willingness and ability of higher education institutions to provide access.

The second is the recent Department of Defense’s (DoD) Memorandum of Understanding for the Military Tuition Assistance program.  Many institutions have not and will not sign the MOU because there are inconsistencies between the MOU and other existing academic policies and administrative practices.

I understand that both of these are efforts to combat fraud and questionable educational entities; however, efforts to create regulations to keep out the bad apples often create collateral damage to good institutions providing greater access to students.  And worst of all, these sorts of policies end up punishing the student by limiting their access to education.

If I had been at the table, I would have reminded folks that the unfortunate prejudice is that courses and programs offered using innovative technologies and approaches are simply not as good as on-campus courses. We know that this prejudice is not correct, and if we are to address the concerns of the President and the Secretary, we must embrace and champion the potential these innovative approaches have for increasing access, enhancing quality and controlling costs.

The other large event has everything to do with someone finally being invited to join the club.  The club in question is the Baseball Hall of Fame, and the invitation was given to a long-time Cubs fan, announcer, and one of the best third basemen that ever played the game.

My friend and long-suffering Cubs fan, Larry McGill, said it best in a note to me the day that Ron died a year ago: “Can’t believe Ron Santo passed away today….This is a nightmare I’ve long feared. Santo’s qualifications for the Hall are bonafide and he deserved to go in before he passed away. Most serious baseball analysts have rated Santo among the top ten third basemen of all time (including Bill James, who rated him 5th in the first edition of his Historical Baseball Abstract). What people may not realize about Santo is that during his heyday, he was one of the best run producers in baseball. And not just among third basemen. Between 1963 and 1970, he hit 25 HR and drove in 90 or more runs every year. And during those eight years, he drove in more runs than any other player in the major leagues except a guy named Hank Aaron and Aaron only surpassed Santo by a total of 10! Santo AVERAGED 105 RBI per year during that time. What more does a guy have to do to get into the Hall of Fame? Play with a potentially debilitating medical condition? Oh yeah, he did that too.”

Yes, the Baseball Hall of Fame waited too long to put Ron Santo into the club, but at least they got it right and he now joins his Cubs teammates Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and Fergie Jenkins, as well as my all-time Cubs favorite Ryne Sandburg.

Two big events: one may start a conversation that will benefit higher education and more importantly our students.  The second: heck, simply better late than never.

When I started Shaeffer’s Forays, I had no idea that I would keep up my blog posts for over a year (55 posts and counting).  And who knows how long it will last? (And for those who are cheering for me to quit, not so fast my friends!)  Living in the Commonwealth of Virginia, where we believe the first Thanksgiving took place, the Thanksgiving week is an excellent reminder to stop and reflect about not only those things we are thankful for, but to also say thank you to those that support us.

Last year I shared a list of things that I was thankful for, from my garage door to the Cubs (http://shaeffersforays.wordpress.com/2010/11/23/forgetting-to-be-thankful/).  As I look back over the year, so many great things have happened , and I have much to be thankful for.  So here is an abbreviated list for what I am thankful for, and my thanks to those who have supported me.

1)    I am thankful for UPCEA’s highly engaged members, and many thanks to all of you who do the work of UPCEA on a volunteer basis.  I had the opportunity to visit a number of the UPCEA Regional Meetings this fall, and I found the content timely and the presentations insightful.  Many thanks to all the regions for being the front door to UPCEA.

2)    I am thankful for my JMU Outreach & Engagement Staff and I can’t thank them enough for their on-going support.  Taking on the responsibilities of being president of UPCEA doesn’t “just happen.”  There is no way to take this position on without a great deal of support from the those who keep the home fires burning and make sure that not only the trains continue to run on time but also move our agenda forward.  Thanks to a great bunch of professionals in Outreach & Engagement at JMU.

3)    I am thankful to JMU’s upper administration whose support is key to being UPCEA president, and thanks to John Noftsinger, who left us much too early, for his support.

4)    I am thankful that I have a great UPCEA Board and thanks to each of you for giving of your time freely.  I sent a note of thanks to the Board last week and it best describes my thanks:

“Since our meeting in Toronto, we’ve built upon the leadership of Judy Ashcroft and the hard work of Bob Hansen and the national office to accomplish a number of strategic initiatives.  We’ve launched the CRC and the number of new partners has exceeded expectations; we partnered through the CRC with WCET to provide the first “real data” about the impact of the state approval regulations; Bob spearheaded the first Summit on Online Learning in cooperation with WCET, ACHE, Sloan-C, and EDUCAUSE; under Tom Gibbon’s leadership we are in the midst of a game-changing strategic planning process that, again thanks Tom and Bob, has been as transparent a process as possible; and we’ve been to Vegas, baby! and had a very successful marketing conference.

While not as visible as the above items, great work is being done on our annual conference, Portland 2012, by David Schejbal and his committee; our Opportunity and Equity Committee under Bea Gonzalez’s leadership; and many thanks to Bili Mattes and her awards committee, who are not only facilitating the selection of our award winners but are also reviewing the whole awards process.

I am sure that I’ve failed to mention other accomplishments and I apologize for that.  Please know that I feel very lucky to also have the support of Bob and the national office staff.  As any past president will tell you, they make being president an enjoyable and doable job.”

5)    I am thankful that I finally got a hole-in-one, and I can take that off my bucket list. I’m also thankful that I get to remind my kids on a regular basis that the old man has a hole-in-one and they don’t.  Yes, I can occasionally be petty.

6)    No list of thanks would be complete if I didn’t say I’m thankful for the UPCEA national office.  Bob, it has been a great year. And to the whole UPCEA office staff, thanks for your help and support.

7)    I am thankful for a supportive family, and many thanks to my wife Peggy for putting up with me and helping keep me in balance.  I am pushing for Peggy to be voted in as an honorary member of UPCEA.

8)    Finally I am thankful for all those people who have a sense of humor and thanks for bringing that sense of humor to the work place.  I want to especially thank the flight attendant on my last flight from Dulles to the tiny Shenandoah Valley Airport.  It was a delayed flight, it was very late and most of the passengers, me included, were tired and not happy.  She simply took over and made some of the best wisecracks I’ve heard. (Sometime you will have to ask me about how she convinced at least one passenger that we were on the “eco-friendly” flight because the left propeller hadn’t started yet.)  It was such a great experience that she didn’t get the usual Shaeffer “thanks,” she got the Shaeffer “HIGH FIVE.”  So for those of you who bring your sense of humor to wherever you go, THANK YOU, and to those who don’t, now is a good time to start.

In closing, I want to thank my younger sister who has taken on the major caregiver role with our parents.  Anyone who is dealing with aging parents knows the trials and tribulations that this can bring.  Thanks to all of you who are in the sandwich generation and are finding a way to balance your life in which you celebrate the lives of your children and at the same time honor the lives of your parents.

Peggy and I wish you and your families a safe, restful, and happy Thanksgiving.

PS This is the year for the Cubs.

The September 4, 2011 Chronicle of Higher Education had an op-ed piece written by Murray Block called “My 64 Years of Fighting for Innovation.” As I read this piece I couldn’t help but think that Mr. Block’s 64 years of fighting for innovation represent the good fight we all share in continuing and professional education.

Like many of you, I have a great belief in the power of education and how education can assist people in reaching not only their educational goals but also their life goals. Mr. Block says it well: “In each of my jobs, I believed I was working to strengthen higher education for students.”

For me, this is all about the students. It is all about those we serve. It is all about those who would not have access to higher education if there were not programs delivered in alternative formats whether they be evening, weekend, blended, or online programs.

We keep up the good fight as Mr. Block indicates, knowing we are reaching a vital segment of our learning population: those adults without the resources for traditional college programs; those who needed to support a family while learning; those who were seeking a faster vocational path to the work force.

And as we do this, we continue to be challenged by our universities, regional accreditors, and the DOE as to the efficacy of our offerings. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the scrutiny because it results in a better product and thus enhanced learning for our students. We’ve taken on this challenge and as Mr. Block reminds us, we must prove and are proving ourselves through the success of our students. In the end we share the mission that “advocacy for an educational program serving working adults, with a nontraditional learning model, is my [our] daily work.”

Being on (what some would call) the fringe of higher education, and being the lead advocate on our campus for new learning models that serve students unable to come to our campus, takes a great deal effort because we are “swimming against the traditional tide” of academia. I do appreciate the wisdom of Mr. Block: “What I have learned from my years in education, and in life, is that swimming against the traditional tide can result in muscle power, acceptance, and, eventually, a warm embrace.”

Over time our advocacy has not only raised the national awareness of a whole new population of learners but also the introduction of innovative teaching/learning models. In the end, “Perseverance pays, particularly when it comes to finding ways to provide education for adults who want to learn.”

It is fitting that I am dedicating this blog post to a friend and colleague, Dr. John Noftsinger, who died suddenly last week. John spent his career advocating for those beyond our campus, and he often found himself swimming against the tide of tradition in introducing programs and centers that served the greater public. We will miss him and thank you John for fighting the good fight.

It was my great pleasure to have been hosted at the New England UPCEA Regional meeting in Providence at the Biltmore. Two things: if you’ve never been to Providence, make plans to visit — wonderful history, great higher institutions, art, and great places to eat. And if you’ve never stayed at the Biltmore, book it now. Many thanks to Wendi Richardson and her committee for being wonderful hosts.

The New England Regional Conference’s theme asked the question, “Where in the World is CE?” Their answer, “It’s Everywhere!” The opening keynote by Burke Smith, CEO of Straighterline, provided an excellent context for this theme by outlining his vision of truly disrupting not only how our students can obtain learning experiences but also disrupting the cost of high education. Imagine the entire freshman year for $999.00.

In my Musing for 2011 (http://shaeffersforays.wordpress.com/2011/01/06/musings-for-2011/), I suggested that one of the areas to watch was the DIY U movement, and one of the major reasons for that is the progress being made at Straighterline. Under Burke’s leadership you see new higher education partnerships, including the University of Phoenix. Even more important to me has been endorsement by ACE and the College Board of some of the Straighterline courses.

What is Burke’s motivation? No different than my own and many of us: making higher education accessible both in terms of delivery mode and cost. Where is CE? It is not just on our campuses, it is with startups like Straighterline, it is with our vendor partners who are seeking new ways to assist with student success, it is with our students who WILL find ways to “design it themselves,” and it is with those who provide leadership on their campuses in finding new ways of opening the gates of higher education.

Answering the question, “Where in the World is CE?” was also explored in a session titled “CE Leaders Address Today’s Issues.” This session was expertly led by Bill McClure and it was amazing to see 35 colleagues fully engaged in sharing the major issues facing today’s continuing education leaders. I believe that this session has become a tradition at the New England conference and it was outstanding.

I found it very interesting to hear the number of issues on the minds of the New England CE leaders. There were some ongoing issues, like doing more with less, and there were some emerging issues, like what and when to outsource specific services. It seemed like the issues shared by all were defining the role of CE, dealing with growth, and on the flip side dealing with shrinking budgets.

The conversation about the role of CE brings me back to the question, “Where in the World is CE” on our campuses? For some CE leaders, the “where” is a leadership position in the development of new programming, the exploration of new delivery mechanisms, and the opening of new revenue streams. For others, the “where” meant being caught in the middle; that is, the unit would plough new ground with new programs but once those programs were successful, they would then be subsumed by other departments, which leaves the CE unit with revenue loss and the need to redeploy personnel in the development of new programs.

And others were simply frustrated because their institution is re-organizing their units, some moving from administratively centralized to decentralized, for any number of reasons (although a major one had to do with re-directing revenue).

“Where in the World is CE” on our campuses? Quite honestly, from my perspective it depends. CE units range from highly centralized (administratively and academically) to highly decentralized. Is there a best practice in terms of the organization of CE? Again from my perspective, it depends. I know of successful units/universities on each end and in the middle of the spectrum.

No matter the structure, I strongly believe that the time is ripe for us to answer the question, “Where in the World is CE?” The answer is that CE is in the leadership position. I believe that (more than any other time I can remember) our units are poised to be leaders on our campuses who can help our institutions embrace what Clayton Christensen calls the disruptive technology of online learning.

Michael Staton provided the call to action better than I can in his September 15, 2011 Inside Higher Ed piece, “The Disruption is Here.” (http://app3.insidehighered.com/views/2011/09/15/essay_suggesting_that_higher_education_needs_to_change) One of his top pieces of advice for higher education institution is to regard any type of CE unit as a research and development startup in your university, and to allow these units to operate independently exploring new models for programming and serving students. He suggests that universities hire the best, smartest, and most courageous people to run these units, and then allow them to innovate. Finally, let these units and their operation serve as a model for the larger campus.

Where in the World is CE? No doubt, we can and should be the lead.

Again many thanks to New England for a great conferen

A couple of asides before reflecting on a great South Regional meeting.  Did you know that one of the most efficient ways to get from Orlando to Sandestin is to fly through Houston? Really.  I also can’t believe that I had back-to-back meetings at golf resorts in Florida and no golf was played by moi.

The South Regional Meeting was held at the Grand Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort, and let me tell you, you can underline golf and resort.  It is just a beautiful spot and the facilities were excellent.  High praise goes to Carroll Scherer and her planning committee for putting together great content for the meeting, and many thanks to the crew from the University of West Florida for their skillful handling of the on site logistics.  The meeting truly was flawless.

The theme for the meeting was Sink or Swim:  Sustainability through Innovation.  In my presentation at the meeting I suggested that the theme could be modified slightly to be Sync or Swim.  I believe that if we don’t “sync up” with our fellow UPCEA colleagues, with like-minded professional associations and with our vendor partners, we miss opportunities for our voices to be heard.  The perfect example is the Summit for Online Learning that was the result of collaboration between UPCEA, ACHE, WECT, and Sloan C, and with support from EDUCAUSE.  Clearly the combined voices of our associations have a greater potential to be heard.

We have many challenges moving not only our online programs forward (e.g., new federal regulations, misperceptions of quality of online programs, etc.) but we have similar challenges with many of the other professional and continuing education programs we offer.  One of the measures of effective associations is to pursue alliances that relate to existing strategies or that forms a tight fit with their mission and purpose. (http://shaeffersforays.wordpress.com/2011/03/22/moving-from-good-to-remarkable/t). We are all better served when we sync with our colleagues and work as partners.  It may be as simple as Sync or Sink.

I want to again thank Region South for hosting a great conference and many thanks to those who presented and to our vendor community for your insights and assistance.  I had the opportunity to have three staff members attend the meeting.  This was possible in part because of the generosity of our colleague Chuck Havlicek from ACEWare and his support of scholarships to UPCEA Regional meetings.  I’ve asked each of them to add a few words about their experience below.

I will start it out; my favorite part as you may guess was the opportunity to sync with my friends and colleagues in the South Region.

Carol: I’ve always enjoyed attending UPCEA’s conferences and this one was no exception. UPCEA South is made up of an array of people, those who have been in CE for many years and those who just joined the profession. This creates a great atmosphere to share and learn from one another. The networking that goes on between those in universities and colleges as well as with partnering vendors is invaluable to my own professional development. The best thing about UPCEA South is that these colleagues have become friends, and you can never have too many of those.

Sarah: One highlight (of many) for me was the Town Hall session where Bob Hansen presented the association’s Strategic Plan. The transparency of this process and the many opportunities to gather ideas and share feedback have helped create a vibrant and visionary strategic plan that I think will serve us well. (And of course I enjoyed talking with and learning from friends and partners, but everyone else already said that!)

Lindsay: This was my first UPCEA conference and it was a great experience! I was most struck by the incredible camaraderie among the CE professionals in our region and the positive energy of the group. My fellow attendees were clearly there with the expectation to learn from the presenters and from one another and to innovate their programs and organizations. I am very thankful for the scholarship provided by ACEWare that allowed me this wonderful professional development experience!

Last week I had the good fortune to be a guest at the ACHE annual meeting in Orlando, Florida.  Many thanks to Tish Szymurski, outgoing ACHE president, and Charles Hickox, incoming ACHE president, for their warm welcome and limitless hospitality.  Also thanks to the ACHE “home office” James Pappas and Ynez Walske for all their help.

The theme for the conference was “Sustainable Leadership-Bold Thinking about Who We Are,” and the content of the conference more than lived up to the far-reaching theme.  One of my opportunities was to serve on the 2^nd Annual Leadership Symposium panel: Moving Forward through Sustainable Leadership.  My fellow panelists were James Pappas, ACHE Executive Vice President; Harvey King, CAUCE President; Clare Klunk, AAACE President; and Chris Dougherty, our panel chair.  The panel was asked to address three themes:

Creating and sustaining leadership excellence

Bold thinking about innovation and collaboration

How to engage the next generation student

Harvey led us off and did a wonderful job of providing a comparison and contrast in regards to the environment in Canada.  He was followed by Clare who responded to each of these themes from the perspective of our adult student population.  Jim Pappas asked a number of good questions related to the themes, and suggested that as professional continuing educators there are skills that we need to develop to be successful in our roles as innovator, interpreter, and politician.

I took a slightly different approach in that I relied on the words and quotes of others to help me make my points.  Here is an abridged version of my comments:

How do we create and sustain leadership excellence?

1)    Drawing from the speakers at the conference, leadership begins with what we do for others.

2)    We must ask ourselves if we are creating an environment where we encourage the planting of forests instead of the mere tending of pots. (See Neal Gabler, The Elusive Big Idea, NY Times).

3)    Do we make wisdom the preserve of only the leader or do we foster distributed leadership? (The Wise Leader, Harvard Business Review).

4)    Do we recognize and encourage leadership in all its forms? (see Shaeffer’s Forays, http://shaeffersforays.wordpress.com/2011/06/02/leadership-in-action/).

How do we encourage bold thinking about innovation and collaboration?

1)    In terms of collaboration, our friends at the Carnegie Foundation have set a high and aspirational definition of collaboration: “the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity.”

2)    Are we avoiding the Zenger’s ten fatal flaws that derail leaders? The top four for me are:

1. Lack of clear vision and direction
2. Don’t collaborate
3. Resist new ideas
4. Don’t learn from mistakes (Zenger, J. Ten fatal flaws that derail leaders, Harvard Business Review, June, 2009).

3)    Do we follow the advice of T. Asacker: The passionate will not only survive, they will thrive?  The future belongs to those unwilling to accept the stifling status quo; the future belongs to those who stay puzzled, excited, frustrated and surprised.

4)    Finally, Steve Jobs challenged the 2005 Stanford class to connect the dots and to stay hungry and stay foolish.  We need to recognize that our time is limited and we should follow our passions, and that many a great idea has emerged from what others called foolish.

How can we engage the next generation student?

1)    We need to come to grips with the fact that technology is playing and will continue to play an ever growing role in the learning process.  As an example, did you know that the number of wireless devices now exceed the US population? Yes, in the first six months of 2011, there are now 327.6 million wireless devices and a US population of 315 million.  I am one of those with three wireless devices for my office use and two for my home use.

2)    We also need to recognize that this “new generation” will include first generation college students, will be multigenerational, and represent the most diverse audience of students to be served by our institutions.

3)    The challenge and opportunity in my mind for professional and continuing educator professionals and our units is to provide leadership in how to engage this next generation of students.  After all, we have long been the leaders in reaching out to diverse audiences, using technology, and developing curriculum to meet the needs of these audiences.  Peter Smith in Harnessing America’s Wasted Talent: A New Ecology suggests that in order to harness the talent of our potential students and moving these students to degree completion, we need to challenge and develop a new teaching learning model; recognize learning that happens outside the classroom; and examine/challenge our current transfer policies.

I ended my comments by challenging participants to be leaders in finding new measures beyond time to degree completion that are measures of success (http://shaeffersforays.wordpress.com/2011/05/09/measuring-success-part-2/).

It was wonderful to be part of the ACHE Annual Conference, and again many thanks to my ACHE colleagues for including me.

I came home from the conference pumped about exploring news ways of increasing access to higher education and providing multiple pathways to degree completion.  Eve Mandel, Curator of Education at the Historical Society of Princeton, provided an excellent metaphor for my re-invigoration in finding new pathways and expanding access to higher education.  She shared with us that every graduating class from Princeton gives a gift to the university. Often that gift is ivy, and as I walked through the campus, the beautiful and majestic buildings were decorated with ivy with the graduating class years proudly displayed.  One class in the 1970s did something a little different; their gift was to open the gates that separated the Princeton campus from the town.  There it is, my call to action: as a field, as an association and as a leader of a professional and continuing education unit, my  responsibility is to literally and figuratively open the gates and provide opportunity and access to the promise that education provides.

What really put the spark in my thinking was the last keynote. Peter Smith, a long time advocate for providing access to higher education and his latest book, Harnessing America’s Wasted Talent, provided insights in how higher education can assist students to graduation.

Peter’s comments about the many ways in which students can validate their learning as well as the other avenues in which they can pursue their studies challenged me to look at the possibilities I have in our own adult degree program.

While I’ve read DIY U by Anya Kamenetz in which she outlines the various paths adult students can take for degree completion, I only philosophized how that might be done in our program.  If I am serious about opening the gates, I need to move beyond philosophizing and move to action.

The action I will be taking (of course this includes the support of our great staff at JMU) will be establishing a catalog of the various ways students can demonstrate learning.  This will include looking at such things as StraighterLine, open courseware, ICAL, ACE, military training and learning experiences, and other new and alternative ways for students to document their learning.

The key for me will be to concentrate on learning outcomes and to work with faculty and staff across campus in assuring that students are meeting the learning outcomes even though they may be taking alternative routes.

In my mind, the only response to the challenge of increasing the number of people in our state and in our county that have a degree is by opening the gates of higher education.  That  is my call to action.