UCEA Mid-America and Great Plains Regional Conference

Wednesday–Friday • October 15–17, 2008

Hyatt Regency Crown Center, Kansas City, Mo.

Tentative Agenda

Wednesday Agenda October 15
7:00 a.m.	Conference registration opens
8:30 a.m.	PreConference Workshop Ethics and Ethical Decisions in Everyday Life, the Professions and Public Affairs Presenter: Dr. William Bondeson, University of Missouri Curators’ Distinguished Teaching Professor of Philosophy and Family and Community Medicine This participant-driven workshop focuses on views about ethics and developing a format for making ethical decisions. Discussion by workshop participants will include types of ethical cases encountered in a variety of areas. If time permits, there may be a discussion of the ethics of proposed health care policies in the presidential campaign. Dr. Bondeson has published four books and numerous articles on health care, ancient philosophy, higher education, and teaching, and is currently editing a volume of essays from a conference he organized on ethical issues in managed care. He has served as a consultant to the Missouri Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, and is a Missouri Humanities Council American Mirror Lecturer. He is one of the founders of the Wakonse Foundation for College Teaching and Learning, and helps direct the Annual Wakonse Conferences on College Teaching.
Noon	Opening General Luncheon and Awards Presentation Presenters: Marie Barber, University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Kay Taube, University of Wisconsin-Extension
2:00 p.m.	Concurrent Sessions 2+2=More (>Access & Opportunities) Jennifer Pfortmiller, Kansas State University Melinda Sinn, Kansas State University Distance education students demand clear, concise and attractive curriculum information. 2+2 guides are emerging as a bridge between community colleges and universities. The 2+2 concept is a creative and innovative service to meet the needs of the distance student and enhance recruiting efforts. This session will be dedicated to discussing the development of 2+2s, how to formulate and build partnerships with community colleges, and how to connect campus partners. In addition, learn how the 2+2s can enhance your marketing strategies. Discussions will include the benefits of 2+2s for the two- and four-year institutions, and, most importantly for the distance student. Structural Changes in the Provision of Continuing Education, Indications of a Shift in Access to Higher Education for Non-traditional Learners? Christopher Smith, University of Wisconsin-Stout During his 25 years at University of Wisconsin-Stout, Christopher Smith has developed a deep understanding of the structures required to provide access to higher education for adult learners. In this session, Smith will provide the results of a study of outreach units in public comprehensive institutions in the upper Midwest. Smith finds evidence of a slightly positive shift (increase) in the desire of comprehensive institutions in the upper Midwest to address the needs and attract an audience of non-traditional learners, and responses seem to provide evidence of a polarizing shift toward centralized services. Improving the Wisconsin Economy by Degrees Mary S. Grant, University of Wisconsin-Extension David Schejbal, University of Wisconsin-Extension The nature of the world economy is changing, and knowledge is increasingly more valuable. The University of Wisconsin-Extension and UW Colleges have launched the Adult Student Initiative (ASI) to enable residents anywhere in the state to take advantage of the resources of the UW, earn bachelor's degrees, and help Wisconsin remain nationally and globally competitive. By helping more adult and non-traditional students earn bachelor's degrees, the ASI is a strategic effort by UW Extension and the UW Colleges to fuel the knowledge economy. You will learn how the three parts of the ASI (creating awareness, providing services, and increasing the array of courses and programs) are managed to increase access for working adults to degree completion programs. You will also learn about the processes for coordinating multi-campus collaborations and creating a single financial model to convert existing and new programs to accessible formats.
3:00 p.m.	Refreshment Break
3:15 p.m.	Concurrent Sessions Inter-agency Collaborations: Serving the Offender Population Patricia Aceves, St. Cloud State University Patty Popp, Minnesota Correctional Facility-St. Cloud Marcie Koetke, Minnesota Department of Corrections Shannon Watson, St. Cloud State University Take an in-depth look at Pathways Program for Incarcerated Students, a 40-year partnership between a state university, a correctional facility and a state department of corrections. This session will cover the history of this partnership, how to develop partnerships in providing offender higher education, public attitudes toward offender education programs, and tips on forming relationships with correctional institutions and recruiting faculty. Motivation isOut …Engagement is In Jan Allen, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee What do you do when you’re under a hiring freeze and you have to tell your employees that there will be no annual salary increases? How can you keep your best employees from leaving for the corporate world and its attractive compensation packages? It’s time to get creative! This session will introduce ways to engage and retain your staff during tough economic times. Finding a ‘Best Fit’ for Online Instructor Evaluation Dr. Marthann Schulte, Park University Schools are implementing online instructor evaluation mechanisms and many seem to vary between two extremes: adherence to policy or adherence to best practice. This session is based on audience sharing and will focus on the following questions: When should you use policy and/or best practices in online instructor evaluation? When should you implement policy changes? What kinds of resources are needed (personnel and technology)? Participants will be encouraged to share their lessons learned with online instructor evaluation.
5:00 p.m.	Mid-America Executive Board Meeting Dan Gaymer, Presiding Great Plains Executive Board Meeting Kerry Kerber, Presiding
6:00 p.m.	Mid-America and Great Plains Joint Executive Board Meeting Dan Gaymer and Kerry Kerber, Presiding
Thursday Agenda October 16
8:30 a.m.	Continental Breakfast
9:00 a.m.	Town Hall meeting Facilitators: Dave Stewart, Kansas State University and Dan Gaymer, Eastern Michigan University Join colleagues for an informal forum on current issues in continuing education. Ask questions, offer advice, and gain helpful information. This is the place to discuss ideas, challenges and successes with other continuing education professionals.
11:15 a.m.	Luncheon and Keynote Speaker The Increasing Importance of Strategic Communications: Purposeful Communication to Achieve Your Organizational Mission Bob Basow, University of Kansas What is "strategic communication" and why is it so critical? This keynote presentation addresses this question from both an academic and a marketing perspective. The speaker’s insights into strategic communications in academic institutions will provide timely and intriguing information to help any organization achieve their mission. When we talk about strategic communications, "strategic" essentially means "purposeful:" communication takes place in order to achieve a result. "Communication" means "two-way:" receiving as well as sending. Do your strategic communications hit or miss the mark? Strategic communication fails because it was misdirected--to the wrong people, for the wrong reasons, and with unreasonable expectations. Finding the right people, identifying the right reasons and setting reasonable expectations is not easy, but it's the key to successful results.
1:00 p.m.	UCEA Presidential Address Dr. Bob Wiltenburg, Washington University Several trends, in the nature of work, in technology, and in society are making more urgent the convergence of liberal and practical education. More and more jobs require creativity and decision-making; people change jobs or the jobs change while we're in them —and we're increasingly acting in a global, multicultural environment. Thus the traditional virtues of liberal education have become increasingly "practical." On the other side, every job now includes functions "low" as well as "high"; and technical knowledge is presumed of all, and often essential to future creativity.
2:00 p.m.	In-Depth Concurrent Sessions The Online Development Institute: A Kinder Way to Help Faculty Begin Teaching Online Clarence Maise, University of Missouri-St. Louis For many faculty, the transition to online teaching has not been smooth. They quickly find that teaching online requires a different skill set than classroom teaching. The Online Development Institute (ODI) was created to help faculty make a smooth transition to online teaching. This session will review the formation of the ODI, the desired outcomes of the Institute and the technology tools used. Survey data of faculty who participated in ODI sessions will be presented, including what worked, what did not and what has been changed or corrected. Generational Differences in the Workplace Dr. Tracy Russo, University of Kansas Four generations of employees working together in today’s workplace presents both challenges and opportunities. Participants will learn about the experiences and worldviews that have influenced Veterans, Boomers, Generation X and Millennials and how these influences may lead to misunderstandings in the workplace. T his session will give participants information and effective tools for understanding different perspectives, behaviors and motivational factors, and reflect on communication strategies to help each group achieve organizational goals.
4:00 p.m.	Adjourn for the day
Friday Agenda October 17
7:30 a.m.	Breakfast buffet
8:00 a.m.	Mid-America Business Meeting Dan Gaymer, Presiding Great Plains Business Meeting Kerry Kerber, Presiding
9:15 a.m.	Concurrent Sessions Partnering for the Future Connie Beene, Baker University Howard Rhoden, Baker University Baker University has developed partnerships with business and industry, universities, school districts and nonprofit organizations. Participants will gain information and insight about methods for discovering new partnership opportunities, partnership development procedures and benefits and challenges of partnerships. A sharing of "what is working, and what is not" will be utilized to lead into an interactive discussion/question and answer period. Networking in the Community, Professional Organizations and Community Colleges Cheryl Aubuchon, Eastern Michigan University Participants will gain new ideas for promoting programs, reaching students and ways to engage the community and receive name and brand recognition. Based on brainstorming audience participation, this session focuses on evaluating organizations within a community and aligning networking opportunities with those organizations to build partnerships. An Innovative Program Delivery for the Future Dr. Joyce Piveral, Northwest Missouri State University Dr. Sandra Eckert-Stewart, Northwest Missouri State University These two "designing women" will review the process used to design and deliver the Educational Leadership’s Collaborative program of study. This new process began as an effort to meet the needs of adult students’ time frames, the need for the "real world" experience, and to better use the level of technology provided. A portion of the presentation will be interactive with you, the participant, to better achieve collaborative ideas. You will depart with the knowledge from this interactive group to assist you in integrating change into your current delivery mode.
10:30 a.m.	Concurrent Sessions Engaging Online Students with Active Mathematics Courses Using MyMathLab Catherine Fields-Shultz, eCollege This session demonstrates how institutions are using MyMathLab to dramatically increase student success and retention in online math courses. MyMathLab's innovative collaboration of text-specific online courses using Pearson Education's proven mathematics textbooks and eCollege's intuitive course management system will be demonstrated. How to Get Found When Lost in the Recruitment Wilderness: Three Survival Tactics for Enrollment and Admissions Professionals Todd Gibby, Intelliworks If you're like most recruitment and admissions professionals, you are tasked with not only managing contacts and cultivating relationships with existing prospects, but generating new leads through proactive marketing efforts. Citing real-world examples, Gibby will address some of the main points of integrating data in today's higher ed environment and how institutions could benefit from a single repository for actionable marketing information that then integrates seamlessly into existing CRM and SIS. From 6 Degrees of Separation to 2: Accelerate your Network through Partnerships with the Private Sector! Jay Fisher, Destiny Solutions After nearly a decade of exclusively servicing the Continuing Education sector, Destiny Solutions has developed deep and meaningful relationships with your peers across North America and the world! Join us to find out how you can accelerate your professional network by leveraging the knowledge and expertise that private organizations such as Destiny possess. All attendees are guaranteed to expand their own personal network by at least 1 degree!
11:30 a.m.	Conference debriefing/evaluation Presiding, Clark Hickman, University of Missouri-St. Louis Jean Redeker, University of Kansas Take a moment to participate in a wrap-up of the conference with this year’s hosts, planners and the incoming chairs. This opportunity to reflect and offer suggestions will help shape future conferences.
Noon	Conference Adjourns