Transcending Boundaries

Professional and continuing education has much to offer in these demanding times, as we are the people in higher education who know how to work-and thrive-at the boundaries: boundaries between our institutions and the world near and far; between the established and the experimental; between risk and reward. Our acquired skills in perceiving, negotiating, and transcending boundaries puts on us an important obligation, and opens to us a special opportunity, to lead in defining and addressing the needs of students, institutions and communities in this rapidly evolving world.

• engaging with communities and working collaboratively to solve problems affecting their well-being;
• developing educational strategies to address the changing nature and needs of the workplace;
• promoting accountability through the establishment of assessments to track student achievement and evaluations of institutional effectiveness;
• creating innovations - technical, programmatic, and conceptual - that will carry us forward.

The Conference Planning Committee for the 2009 UCEA National Conference solicits recommendations and nominations for presentations to inform our annual "learning event." Our program should address important issues and trends in the field of professional and continuing education. We seek thought-provoking proposals that will stimulate discussion and contribute to the on-going professional education of our colleagues.

Robert Wiltenburg begins his term as UCEA President after the 93rd Annual Conference in New Orleans concludes.

The experiences of a continuing education leader can often mirror those of a CE student. Many find their way into CE from other areas of higher education, and find that their new careers come with ever changing job requirements and responsibilities. Like adult learners who must broaden their educations to stay ahead of advancing workforce demands, CE leaders require ongoing learning opportunities and professional networking opportunities to advance the field.

"One thing that is true of all professions is the need to learn from the people who do it best," says Robert Wiltenburg, Dean of University College at Washington University in St. Louis, who begins his term as UCEA President following the Association's Annual Conference this month. "Most in this profession sort of sidestep into it, which puts a special obligation on, and also creates an opportunity for, an association like UCEA to be an absolutely crucial experience to those in the profession."

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Two major national newspapers - the Washington Post Company and The New York Times - are reaching out to new audiences with professional and continuing education online offerings. Such diversification can be seen as another response by newspapers to the decline of traditional revenue streams as more readers have moved from print to online.

The Washington Post Company has been in the education business for several years, having purchased Kaplan in 1984. Still, the important role of education in the Post's business model was not widely appreciated until last December when the Company announced that it was no longer solely a newspaper company, but rather an "education and media company."

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Photo courtesy SVA
A magazine advertisement for the School of Visual Arts Division of Continuing Education's ¿Hablas Diseño? program, in which courses are taught in Spanish.

SVA Asks, ¿Hablas Diseño?

In New York City, a large media market caters to and targets the Hispanic community. The mission at the School of Visual Arts is to educate students who aspire to become professional artists, and the Division of Continuing Education is taking a proactive approach toward supporting this market.

“We thought, wouldn’t it be great if SVA cultivated a talent pool of non-traditional, Spanish speaking artists for this industry?” says Joseph Cipri, Executive Director of the Division of Continuing Education. “We are not creating an industry, we are providing for its needs, which is no different than what we do with our traditional programming.”

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