Pre-Conference Session

Recruiting Adult Students: A Profile of Demand Among Classroom and Online Adult Students

Carol Aslanian, President, Aslanian Group

This session will review the results of market data gathered among recent adult and graduate students throughout the country in 2007 in order to profile the current state of demand for higher education among busy working adults. Among the many questions addressed: Are adults pursuing degrees, certificates, or other forms of credentialing? To what extent are adults participating and interested in online study? How attractive and convenient is hybrid study? What courses of study are most in demand? Gaining a full understanding of these and other questions will allow you to position your institution to recruit AND retain the ever burgeoning adult student market sector.

About Carol Aslanian

Carol Aslanian is president of Aslanian Group. In a career that began at the College Board, where she was Director of the Office of Adult Learning Services and now at Aslanian Group, she has assisted hundreds of colleges in analyzing the supply and demand for adult learning among community constituents, resulting in targeted marketing decisions and data-based marketing plans. Carol is a national authority on the characteristics and learning patterns of adult students and has made hundreds of presentations to educational institutions, state agencies, and national associations, focusing on her major area of expertise – access to higher education for place-bound and time-bound students. In recent projects, she has focused on the changing patterns among adult students in regard to where, when and how they prefer to study.
 

General Session I

Choices and Challenges: Lessons Learned in the Evolution of Online Education

Dr. Andy DiPaolo, Executive Director, Stanford Center for Professional Development
Stanford University

What are the critical challenges and lessons learned by continuing education organizations and new providers offering online education? How can those lessons be applied to assess opportunities, create strategies and design new, innovative online continuing education programs? This session will address the promise and peril of internet delivered education, identify the changing education needs and expectations of professionals and their employers, provide advice on the institutional strategies to successfully offer continuing education at a distance and offer a vision of the future of online delivery in support of lifelong learning.

About Dr. Andy DiPaolo

As the founding Executive Director of the Stanford Center for Professional Development, Dr. Andy DiPaolo is responsible for leading one of the largest university continuing education organizations and distance education networks in the U.S. delivering engineering, science and management programs to knowledge workers in Silicon Valley and around the world. Using a variety of distance education and e-learning technologies the SCPD delivers an extensive portfolio of professional education and graduate programs in support of career growth and corporate competitiveness.

During the early stages of the internet DiPaolo led the team to develop award-winning Stanford Online, the first system designed to use video-streaming to deliver academic courses and professional education programs. He also led Stanford’s efforts to create the world’s first online graduate engineering degree. DiPaolo has conducted research and published in the area of distance education and e-learning in relation to graduate and continuing education. His recent work is in the development of asynchronous education applications, the use of Web 2.0 networking and collaborative tools, and the creation of marketing strategies for offering professional education to global markets.

In 2005, DiPaolo was selected by the United States Distance Learning Association to receive the “21st Century Best Practices Award” for Stanford’s advancements in the use of the internet to deliver graduate and professional education. Also in 2005 SCPD’s Advanced Project Management Program received the Distinguished Program: Non-Credit Award from the Association for Continuing Higher Education.

DiPaolo is frequently called upon as a keynote speaker and commentator based on his extensive experience in distance education and e-learning in support of economic growth, innovation and lifelong learning. He has a distinguished history as a member of national and international boards and as an advisor to universities, corporations and government agencies in North America, Europe and Asia on the strategic use of technology to address education and training needs and in the development of new models for distributed learning. His current focus is on the development of Stanford’s professional education activities in China, India, the Middle East and Europe.

General Session II

The Political Economy of Continuing Education in the 21st Century

Dr. Brian Pusser, Associate Professor and Director of the Center for the Study of Higher Education, University of Virginia

A central question facing the higher education community in the 21st century is “In what ways will we meet global, national, state and local postsecondary educational needs in the decades ahead?” This presentation will address that question with a specific focus on the political and economic drivers of demand for postsecondary education and the role of adult continuing education in meeting that demand. A political economic approach turns attention to the emerging competition for adult and nontraditional postsecondary student enrollments and the ways in which continuing education programs and other providers may position themselves for success in the changing landscape of higher education.

The research presented here draws on longitudinal studies of state and federal postsecondary policy, surveys of adult learners and institutions that serve adult learners, and data on global trends in workforce preparation, national competitiveness and education. These data are combined with analyses of the effects of political demands and policy trends in shaping such issues as adult student access and success, finance and program choice. Taken together, these factors predict a more central role for adult continuing education in state and national postsecondary education going forward.

About Dr. Brian Pusser

Dr. Brian Pusser is Associate Professor and Director of the Center for the Study of Higher Education of the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia. His research focuses on the organization and governance of higher education institutions, the politics of higher education policy making and the role of state and federal policies in shaping postsecondary access and success for adult learners. Dr. Pusser is currently a principal investigator on the Emerging Pathways project, a longitudinal study of adult and nontraditional students in innovative postsecondary programs, funded by Lumina Foundation for Education.

His recent publications include:

Pusser, Brian (2008) “For-profits and the political economy of higher education.” International Higher Education, Number 52, Summer.

Pusser, Brian (2008) “The State, the Market and the Institutional Estate: Revisiting Contemporary Authority Relations in Higher Education. Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research, Volume XXIII. Springer Press.

Pusser, Brian (2006) “Reconsidering Higher Education and the Public Good: The Role of Public Spheres,” in Governance and the Public Good, Tierney, William G. (ed.). Albany: State University of New York Press
 

General Session III

What you Say is What You Get: Communicating on the Job in 2008

Bob Valentine and Dr. Bob McGaughey

Bob Valentine and Dr. Bob McGaughey discuss the ease of modern communication and the confusion, catastrophe and comedy that often results. Old lessons can dissolve new challenges if we put them to work in the right way, right now.

Since their first appearance in 1978, The Communicators—Robert Valentine, also known as “Dr. Vee,” and Robert McGaughey, better known as “Dr. Trey”—have made people fall right out of their seats in fits of laughter. Their comedic performance, however, also demonstrates the importance of effective interpersonal communication.

Both Doctors Vee and Trey are incredibly qualified to speak on the subject considering their extensive experience and education in the field of communication.

About Bob Valentine

Valentine is an author, publisher and playwright. A graduate of the University of Kentucky with a B.A. in history and master's in communications, Valentine also serves as a Senior Lecturer in the accredited Department of Journalism and Mass Communications at Murray State University. He heads Theater Arts Enterprises, a company he established in 1982. Known as Kentucky's foremost interpreter of Mark Twain, he is the founder of “The Circle of Four Rivers,” the state's only professional storytelling troupe.

He has served as director of the regional Chamber of Commerce, Commissioner of Tourism, and in 1992, received the prestigious Lowery Award for Business Support of the Arts. In 1996, Valentine was named the Duke of Paducah. He was named Most Committed and Outstanding College Head for six years at MSU and in 2005 he was awarded the Service Award for Professional Excellence.

About Dr. Bob McGaughey

McGaughey is allegedly retired from his professorship from Murray State University's Department of Journalism and Mass Communications where he has taught since 1969. He served as faculty chairman for 23 years and was named Distinguished Professor of the Year by the MSU Alumni Association in 1990. Among his other recognitions are the Outstanding Teacher Award and the 1989 Boss of the Year Award from the Professional Secretaries International. The Radio and Television Society named him the Frank Stanton Fellow and Distinguished Broadcasting Educator in 1987.

Although Dr. Trey has been threatening to retire for the last 10 years, he is no stranger to Murray State, having obtained both his bachelor's in history and master's in communication from MSU. His doctoral work was done at Ohio University in mass communications.