Five Minutes with ACHE

As you know, we are meeting in Philadelphia from November 15-18. While we have one finishing touch left (we’re waiting on the final decision from a V.I.P. keynoter), the program is already outstanding. We have a level of collaboration that I’ve never seen in a national conference. We’ve partnered with MSP International, local colleges and universities, Graduate! Philadelphia, and the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame. The synergy is incredible!

The welcome and opening session starts on Monday, November 16th, which is a departure from our usual Sunday start. Since Philadelphia is home to so much history, our hope is that you and your family can have a day before the conference to explore the area: see the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, the Betsy Ross House, Franklin Square, and America’s first zoo. On Sunday, we will conduct some of the business of the organization—the Board of Directors meets, for example—and Sunday night we have scheduled A Night at the Constitution Center, an optional event for our attendees. You can see the program schedule in brief on the Program/Keynoters page of our conference web site

Early bird registration for the conference lasts until October 20. After the 20th, the price increases from $445 to $495. As in past years, once two members from an institution have paid the full early bird or full registration, any additional folks from that institution can attend for the bargain flat rate of $395. You can hardly justify keeping any staff at home! The Sheraton Society Hill is wonderful, and we are the only event booked during that time, so we will have all their attention and support. Hotel reservations are also available through our web site. 

I know it’s hard out there for a continuing educator. But we can’t do our jobs unless we can benchmark and measure ourselves against the best programs, ideas, and practices in the field. At our conference, you’ll learn valuable new program ideas, be exposed to award winning programs, and be able to mix and mingle with our leading experts and practitioners.

When all is said and done, we can’t afford not to continue our own education.

Please send us articles on these or other topics of interest to continuing educators:

• Experiences in marketing a continuing education program
• The past and present of Historically Black Colleges and Universities
• A profile of a unique continuing education program at your institution
• Experiences as a professor in adult continuing education
• Article or book reviews

Anything else you can think of that might be of interest to the ACHE membership!

The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation
http://www.mhopus.org/
4370 Tujunga Avenue
Suite 330
Studio City, CA 91604
818-762-4328

"Reaching adult, underserved, distant, and nontraditional students"
Innovative methods for reaching adult, underserved, distant, and other nontraditional student populations with courses, degrees, and certificates.

"Reaching the workforce"
Innovative methods for reaching the workforce with training, professional development and other non-credit activities.

"Practices, partnerships, and paradigms"
Innovative practices, partnerships, and paradigms that transform how we market, how we do business, how we compete, and how we better serve students and clients.

"Transforming the young continuing education professional"
Innovative methods for transforming the young continuing education professional into an educational leader.

"Research, technology and other tools"
Innovative research, technology or other tools that position the continuing educator for success.

The Resolutions Committee is currently seeking resolutions for the 2009 Annual Conference and Meeting. Please submit requests for resolutions on the following items:

• Retirements
• Deaths
• Noteworthy accomplishments by ACHE members

Please contact Scott Evenbeck, chair of the Resolutions Committee, with further questions.

Deadline for submission:  September 30, 2009

The purpose of the ACHE Research Grant is to promote the development and dissemination of new knowledge, theories, and practices in adult and continuing education.  Grants of up to $3,000 may be awarded.

ACHE members or doctoral students with sponsorship from ACHE are eligible to submit research grant proposals.  Members of the Research Committee, national officers and Board members are not eligible to apply for a grant.   The Research Committee urges ACHE members to assist the Committee in contacting current doctoral students and their submission of a grant application.

ACHE Research Grant proposals will be evaluated using criteria found here.

For further information and questions, please contact Dr. Thomas Fuhr, Acting Research Committee Chair at fuhrtw@potsdam.edu or by phone 315-267-3089.

Volume 57, Issue 2 has recently been mailed out. You can also access it online through the ACHE Member Community. Simply log into our Member Community with your Username and Password, then click on JCHE on the left-hand menu.

The Association for Continuing Higher Education-New England and Hesser College present: Helping Adults Learn: Skillful Teaching in Today’s College Classroom Featuring internationally acclaimed scholar in adult education Stephen Brookfield Friday, September 25, 2009 SERESC Conference Center 29 Commerce Drive Bedford, NH 03110 Get registered today!

Amy Johnson from East Tennessee State University attended the planning committee meeting in Cocoa Beach, Florida, for the ACHE South 2010 conference and blogged for us while she was there. After much discussion and deliberation, the theme was announced:

"Blast Off with ACHE South: Exploring New Frontiers in Continuing Education."

Conference tracks will include:

Launching Lives: Transforming Students Mission Possible: Transforming Institutions and Ourselves One Small Step...One Giant Leap: Transforming Programs Defying Gravity: Transforming Services and Policies

Registration is now open for the 10th Annual National Outreach Scholarship Conference. Reduced rates for early registration are available through September 1: Pathways of Engagement: Connecting Civic Purpose to Learning and Research - Locally and Globally - September 28-30, 2009    Hosted by the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education Conference Center & Hotel on The University of Georgia Campus in Athens, Georgia.

Participants will have opportunities to network with colleagues and may attend any of 60 scheduled sessions including: Service Learning Projects: Challenges, Opportunities, and Mutual Benefits Creating New Outreach Opportunities by Linking and Leveraging University Assets University and Community Partnerships for Reducing Social Divides Engagement Through Community-Based Television: Two Stories of Success Research on the Engaged Institution: Understanding Barriers to Faculty Participation Building Bridges Not Towers: System-Wide Strategies for Enhancing Community Engagement More than 90 poster presentations will be displayed covering diverse topics such as: Using Social Work and Sciences as Agents for Community Engagement Engaging Underserved Students - Preparing for the Digital Workforce Global Service-Learning: Experiential Education Through Community Engagement Monday, September 28, 2009: Plan to attend a dinner reception at UGA's Sanford Stadium with members of the outreach and engagement community. Dinner Reception "Between the Hedges" SkyClub, Sanford Stadium, The University of Georgia High over the famous field "Between the Hedges" at UGA's Sanford Stadium, you'll enjoy the best of Southern regional cuisine while mingling with some of the brightest and most passionate members of the outreach and engagement community. For more information... Tuesday, September 29, 2009: Choose one of the three receptions highlighting outreach and engagement efforts at the community, international, and local levels.  The Community Reception Rock Eagle 4-H Center, Eatonton, Georgia The Community Reception will focus on the relationship between university resources and community resources in outreach and engagement efforts with a tour and a dinner at Rock Eagle 4-H Center in Eatonton, Georgia, located adjacent to the Oconee National Forest. For more information... The International Reception Ciné BarCaféCinéma, Athens, Georgia    The International Reception will be held at Ciné, a European-style art house theater in Downtown Athens. Ciné screens a variety of intriguing films from a broad spectrum of countries and cultures. For more information... The Local Reception Terrapin Beer Company, Athens, Georgia The Local Reception will take you to the Terrapin Beer Company in Athens, where you'll learn about local outreach and engagement. For more information... For complete information about registration and other conference details, go to www.outreachscholarship.org. For more information, contact conference planner Melanie Baer 706-542-6638 or melanie.baer@georgiacenter.uga.edu. Sponsored by the National Outreach Scholarship Partnership Member Institutions:   Michigan State University North Carolina State University The Ohio State University The Pennsylvania State University Purdue University The University of Alabama The University of Georgia University of Kentucky The University of Wisconsin-Extension

Please join us in Denver, CO for the 21st Annual WCET Conference, October 21-24, 2009.  This year has certainly brought forth numerous challenges.  Many of us are facing budget cuts, travel restrictions and position reductions.  In a year such as this, it is important that we come together to connect with colleagues, brainstorm new ways to improve eLearning and learn how to do more with fewer resources.

The Planning Committee has crafted a robust program with value-added and timely sessions, including sessions on how to increase enrollment in online programs during economic downturns.  I invite you to view the full program and read the exceptional and exciting session descriptions.  WCET has endeavored to create the strongest program which will provide the most value to the attendees. Following are some of the valuable attributes of our event:

• Over 50 breakout sessions covering eLearning topics in Teaching and Learning, Student Services, eLearning Policies and Practices and Innovative Technologies.
• Relevant concurrent sessions that will address ways to deal with an economic downturn and doing more with less at your institution- consider the conference a sound investment to help your institution move forward.
• Inspiring and provocative keynote speakers including Ed Lazowska, chair in computer science at the University of Washington discussing eScience and the future of eLearning and Brian Lamb, manager of emerging technologies and digital content at the University of British Columbia covering social networking and engagement.
• Registration fees have remained the same since 2007. Plus save 10% per person by gathering five or more colleagues from your institution!  We can help you corral your team, contact us for details.
• Denver is an affordable destination! Three low-cost carriers fly into DIA. Denver was also ranked as one of the least expensive destinations for business travel according to Denver.org.
• The Denver City Center Marriott offers the most competitive rate of comparable hotels in the area. Located in the heart of downtown Denver, you can walk or rid the  FREE Mallride to restaurants and attractions - no need to rent a car!
• Relevant concurrent sessions that will address ways to deal with an economic downturn and doing more with less at your institution- consider the conference a sound investment to help your institution move forward.
• Our new professional development program, CatalystCAMP, is scheduled in conjunction with the conference, extending the value since there is no need to travel twice!

Following the conference you will return to your institution with fresh ideas, new skills and a renewed passion for your role in eLearning.  Your role is crucial to your institution and we look forward to helping your organizaiton advance in the impending months. 

Register soon to take advantage of early-bird registration rates  Rates will increase September 12, 2009.  For more information email the conference staff at conference@wcet.info

The WCET Book Club is pleased to announce a book selection everyone involved in education will find provocative- The Dumbest Generation by Mark Bauerlein.  Barnes and Noble.com says "This shocking, surprisingly entertaining romp into the intellectual nether regions of today's underthirty set reveals the disturbing and, ultimately, incontrovertible truth: cyberculture is turning us into a society of know-nothings."

We encourage you to read the book and join us for a lively online discussion!  Certainly everyone will have sentiments to share about the literacy of the tech savvy, "virtual" generation and whether or not they truly are "The Dumbest Generation."

What is the WCET Book Club?
The book club encourages reflection and discussion among its members of key concepts from selected books in the areas of higher education, e-learning, leadership or other interesting areas, with the goal of enrichment and professional development.   The discussions occur online in the WCET wiki.  The committee members post discussion questions intermittently and book clubbers interact in the discussion pages of the workspace.  The discussion forum is asynchronous so you can participate as your schedule allows.

Find out more and join the FREE WCET Book club!

If there are faculty or staff you have been wanting to get more involved with WCET to take advantage of your organizational membership, feel free to invite others from your institution/organization to participate.  The book club promises to be an enjoyable and interesting way to expand one’s network with elearning experts.

On behalf of the Book Club Committee, we look forward to discussing this interesting read with you! The questions for chapters 1 and 2 will be posted August 17.

The mLearn conference "is designed to bring together the world's leading mobile learning researchers, developers and activists in an environment that will stimulate dramatically increased deployment of mobile learning and accelerate dramatically enhanced innovation."

"mLearn was the first conference on Mobile Learning and is widely recognized as one of the most prestigious international conferences in the field. mLearn 2009, hosted by the University of Central Florida Institute for Simulation & Training, will take place in one of the most inviting destinations in the United States - Orlando, Florida."

Visit the mLearn 2009 conference page for more information.