President's Letters

Committed, Enthusiastic Membership Defines UCEA

(UCEA InFocus, January 2005)
James Broomall, UCEA President 2004-2005

During the first several months of my UCEA presidency, I have been continually impressed by the commitment and enthusiasm our members demonstrate. Given the pressing work demands and heightened institutional expectations facing our units and ourselves, this spirit of volunteerism is all the more amazing. At one level, intellectual curiosity and the need to remain abreast of continuing higher education trends are motivators to involvement. Yet, it is something greater than that. I suggest it is our common search for community united around shared values and aspirations that draw us to associations such as UCEA.

In the most recently celebrated works of Robert Putnam and the longstanding efforts of the Kettering Foundation, the vitality of community is posed as an antidote to contemporary anxieties and alienation. Increasingly, hypercompetition among continuing higher education providers and a public policy context within which education is viewed more as an individual than social good requires that we look toward those forces that draw us together rather than apart. Here, UCEA organized around the vectors of geography across our regions, core competencies within our communities of practice, and macro-issues-of organization, environment, and teaching and learning-within our commissions as a fulcrum to cultivate a professional community.

At their most essential level, relationships in a community are ends in themselves, not exclusively means to an end. This Gemeinschaft definition is threatened in the market economy, and by the privatism that characterizes many of our institutional homes. Still, a professional association with goals that transcend its structure and functional manifestations provides a common ground for collegial discourse and inquiry.

This month, the UCEA Board of Directors and our three Commissions moved forward with several initiatives to sustain and further cultivate community among our members. First, the Board accepted task force reports on continuing professional education and the arts and humanities. This will provide the foundation on which to expand our professional community, to draw continuing educators from diverse professional fields such as engineering, the fine arts, and the academic disciplines. This will help UCEA to more broadly define itself as the most inclusive organization devoted to adult continuing and professional studies. Second, a collaborative effort of the commissions and the national office has led to the development of an enhanced Member Forum. This electronic community allows members to exchange ideas and explore mutual interests in a "just-in-time" setting. Finally, the UCEA Executive Leadership Academy-to be held at New York University in July-is designed as a cohort experience with informed conversation among current and aspiring continuing higher education leaders. Each of these endeavors share a common theme of providing an academically informed and professionally directed means to community.

UCEA's definition of community is far from an insular one restricted to the traditional Academy. A recent initiative with the Lumina Foundation, and the sustained corporate sponsors' involvement at the regional and national levels, expand the viewpoints expressed in the conversations at our meetings, in our publications, and through electronic communications. Discussions are ongoing with organizations to further develop the role of our clients and stakeholders in the community.

I encourage you to join our community at the upcoming National Conference, March 30-April 2 in Boston. This annual professional highlight will be the Association's 90th annual meeting! Our longevity, balanced with continuous redefinition, enriches our community of continuing educators in our personal and professional lives. Please share your unique talents in a manner that is meaningful to you and contributory to colleagues and the field!