The Opportunity Architecture

  Reduced-Credit Degrees: Leading with Learners While Preparing for Disruption Originally published by UPCEA on January 12, 2026. This entry was expanded on September 9, 2026, with two companion resources designed to support institutional exploration and discussion. The 120-credit bachelor’s degree is often treated as an immutable standard. In reality, it is also a design choice—one that deserves renewed examination as learners confront mounting concerns about cost, time, flexibility, and return on investment. My original UPCEA piece grew from a conversation with institutional leaders about emerging interest in bachelor’s degrees requiring fewer than 120 credits. The discussion surfaced both the potential of these models and the difficult questions institutions must address before pursuing them. Thoughtfully designed, reduced-credit degrees could provide faster and more affordable routes to opportunity. Poorly conceived, they risk becoming little more than exercises in cuttin...

Unlocking Opportunity: How Tax Policies Like Section 127 Can Drive Employer Partnerships Updated and republished by UPCEA on September 2, 2026; originally published in July 2025. Co-authored with Chelsea Miller of UpSkill America, an initiative of the Aspen Institute. Tax policy may not be the most obvious entry point into a conversation about educational opportunity. Yet provisions such as Section 127 quietly influence how employers invest in their employees—and how colleges and universities price, structure, and administer programs for working learners. This updated piece explains how Section 127 allows employees to receive up to $5,250 annually in tax-free educational assistance through a qualified employer plan. Recent federal changes made the provision’s coverage of qualified student-loan payments permanent and established cost-of-living adjustments to the benefit beginning after 2026. The article also considers Sections 117 and 132(d), which provide additional pathways for certai...

  Building Tomorrow’s University Today How continuing education leaders are turning institutional pressure into possibility Higher education is under no shortage of pressure. Enrollment volatility, strained financial models, rapidly changing technologies, and evolving learner expectations are forcing institutions to reconsider whom they serve, how learning is delivered, and what sustainability will require. But pressure does not determine what comes next. Leadership does. That was the premise of a conversation I had the privilege of moderating at CAUCE 2026 with three thoughtful—and refreshingly candid—continuing education leaders: Christie Schultz, Dean of the Centre for Continuing Education at the University of Regina; Julia Denholm, Dean of Lifelong Learning at Simon Fraser University; and Jo-Anne Clarke, Dean of the Division of Continuing Studies at the University of Victoria. Our session, “Building Tomorrow’s University Today,” began with a question about agency: What ...

  Publication Note: Moving Employer Engagement from Outreach to Institutional Capacity Guidebook released by UPCEA on June 2, 2026 Employer engagement is often treated as a discrete activity: convene an advisory board, ask employers to validate a proposed program, or respond to an immediate training request. But the strongest university-to-business partnerships are not built through occasional outreach. They depend upon an institution’s capacity to listen, coordinate, co-create, and sustain relationships over time. That premise sits at the heart of Expanding Institutional Capacity for Employer Engagement in Credential Innovation , a new UPCEA guidebook developed with support from Walmart. I had the privilege of helping lead this multi-year initiative as we explored how colleges and universities can move from well-intentioned but episodic employer engagement toward more strategic, sustainable collaboration. The guidebook introduces the U2B Design Framework, which brings together UPC...

Publication Note: Data Readiness Is Now Essential to Credential Innovation Report released by UPCEA on May 14, 2026 Workforce Pell and emerging federal accountability requirements have moved non-degree credential data from an operational concern to an institutional imperative. Synchronizing Pathways: Advancing the National Dialogue on Data Quality and Learning Mobility grew from a Strada Education Foundation-supported initiative to examine how four-year institutions can improve the transparency, portability, and workforce relevance of non-degree credentials. The report identifies a fundamental disconnect: institutions are increasingly expected to demonstrate completion, employment, earnings, and credential value, yet many still operate with fragmented credit and noncredit systems, inconsistent credential definitions, and limited access to verified workforce outcomes. These are not merely technical deficiencies. They directly affect whether learners can carry their achievements across ...

  From Programs to Ecosystems: Reflections from Misericordia’s Workforce Symposium Originally published by UPCEA on April 6, 2026 Workforce development in higher education has evolved from the responsibility of a single unit, to an institutional strategy, to an institutional imperative. That evolution reflects a structural shift in how learners navigate education and work—and in what communities increasingly need from their colleges and universities. This piece emerged from my keynote and conversations at Misericordia University’s 2026 Workforce Symposium. Leaders from higher education, industry, workforce development, and the community explored what it means to align with the workforce not simply through individual programs, but through shared purpose and coordinated action. Institutions are creating stackable credentials, embedding microcredentials, expanding credit for prior learning, and preparing for Workforce Pell. Yet innovation frequently encounters friction because it is l...

  Higher Education at a Crossroads: Leadership, Strategy, and Stewardship Originally published by UPCEA on March 31, 2026 Leadership is rarely formed along a straight line. It develops through unexpected opportunities, difficult conversations, career pivots, and moments that ask us to step forward before we feel entirely ready. This reflection grew from a fireside conversation with American University President Jon Alger, my placement mentor during the ACE Fellows Program. Our discussion explored leadership trajectories, governance, institutional strategy, civic life, and the challenge of stewarding higher education through an unusually consequential period. Several ideas stayed with me. Governance depends as much on trust, communication, and relationships as it does on formal authority. Strategy matters only when it becomes visible in the experiences and outcomes of students. And at a time when higher education’s value can no longer be assumed, institutions must be prepared to des...

  The 41 Million SCNC: Why Higher Ed’s Greatest Failure Is the Refusal to Recognize Real Life Originally published by UPCEA on March 25, 2026 Co-authored with Julie Uranis, Melissa Peraino, and Stacy Chiaramonte, with contributions from UPCEA Council for Credential Innovation co-chairs Doris Savron, Sheila LeBlanc, and Melissa Jimenez. More than 41 million Americans have attended college without earning a credential. Too often, these learners are described by what they lack rather than recognized for what they already know: the college learning they completed, the skills they developed at work, and the expertise gained through military service, caregiving, and community life. This jointly authored piece argues that the continued growth of the some-college, no-credential population is not simply an enrollment problem. It reflects systems and policies that remain poorly designed for the realities of adult learners. Learning mobility offers a different architecture. It treats learning...

  Leading Change in a Time of Financial Pressure: Insights from UPCEA Senior Leaders Originally published by UPCEA on March 16, 2026 Financial pressure is forcing colleges and universities to make difficult choices—but it is also clarifying which capabilities will be essential to their future. This piece captures insights from UPCEA’s 2026 Senior Leader Virtual Annual Briefing, featuring Rovy Branon of the University of Washington, Nancy Coleman of Harvard University, Lisa Templeton of Oregon State University, and Robert G. Bruce of Rice University. Their conversation examined how online and professional continuing education leaders are responding to enrollment uncertainty, demographic change, declining public funding, evolving learner expectations, and heightened demands for demonstrable value. Across their varied institutional contexts, a common picture emerged. Online and professional education units are moving from the periphery of the university to the center of institutional ...

  Workforce Pell Is Here—and Data Readiness Is the Real Test for Credential Innovation Originally published by UPCEA on January 16, 2026 Co-authored with Julie Uranis, Melissa Peraino, and Stacy Chiaramonte. Extending Pell Grant eligibility to short-term, workforce-aligned programs has the potential to open new pathways for learners who have historically lacked access to federal financial aid. But realizing that promise will require far more than identifying eligible programs. This jointly authored piece grew from a UPCEA strategic conversation about the institutional infrastructure behind Workforce Pell. The discussion revealed that readiness is not primarily a policy challenge. It is a data challenge. Institutions must be able to demonstrate program completion, job placement, earnings outcomes, labor-market alignment, and credential value. Yet many noncredit programs operate within systems that were never designed to capture these measures. Credit and noncredit data remain discon...

  Reduced-Credit Degrees: Leading with Learners While Preparing for Disruption Originally published by UPCEA on January 12, 2026 The 120-credit bachelor’s degree is often treated as an immutable standard. In reality, it is also a design choice—one that deserves renewed examination as learners face mounting concerns about cost, time, flexibility, and return on investment. This piece considers the emerging interest in reduced-credit degrees and the questions institutions must ask before pursuing them. Thoughtfully designed, these degrees could create faster and more affordable routes to opportunity. Poorly conceived, they risk becoming little more than exercises in cutting credits or responding to short-term financial pressure. The central challenge is therefore not subtraction, but architecture: How might institutions redesign a degree around clearly defined outcomes while preserving rigor, broad learning, and public trust? What roles should credit for prior learning, work-based lea...

  Reflecting on the 2025 UPCEA CCI Convening: Designing Intentional, Learner-Centric Pathways Originally published by UPCEA on November 24, 2025 A collection of credentials does not automatically constitute a pathway. For learners to move successfully through education and work, institutions must intentionally connect programs, policies, systems, and supports—and make those connections visible and navigable. This reflection captures insights from the inaugural in-person convening of the UPCEA Council for Credential Innovation. Leaders from across the country explored two closely related priorities: decreasing pathway friction and increasing learner mobility. Their conversations surfaced the complexity behind those deceptively simple goals. Truly learner-centered pathways require adaptable infrastructure, faculty engagement, registrar alignment, trusted credentials, durable connections to workforce needs, and systems capable of recognizing learning acquired across different settings...

  Learning Mobility in Action: Removing Barriers and Recognizing the Whole Learner Originally published by UPCEA on November 17, 2025 Learning mobility asks higher education to recognize the full range of knowledge and skills learners acquire—across institutions, workplaces, credentials, and life experiences. This piece grew from a conversation with leaders from Morgan State University, the University of Phoenix, and Arizona State University about what it takes to turn that aspiration into institutional practice. Their examples illustrate that learning mobility is not primarily a technology project. It is an institutional commitment requiring cross-campus collaboration, trusted records, coherent policies, and a willingness to design around the whole learner. At its heart is a deceptively simple principle: learning should be recognized wherever and however it occurs—and should move with the learner toward further education, meaningful work, and opportunity. Read the full articl...

  Convergence in Action: Building Strategic Credential Frameworks Through Collaboration Originally published by UPCEA on November 10, 2025 As institutions expand microcredentials, noncredit learning, comprehensive learner records, and other emerging models, many discover that innovation is the easy part. The harder task is creating the shared governance, language, systems, and trust needed to make those innovations coherent and sustainable. This piece reflects on a conversation I moderated at Convergence 2025 with leaders from the University of Cincinnati and Central Connecticut State University. Their work illustrates two different but complementary approaches to building strategic credential frameworks across campus. At Cincinnati, leaders are bringing greater order and integrity to alternative credentialing and experiential records that previously developed in disconnected pockets. At Central Connecticut, the Central Success Journey is creating a comprehensive learner record tha...

  Owning Your Awesomeness: Professional Growth Strategies from UPCEA 2025 Originally published by UPCEA on November 3, 2025 Co-authored with Kim Siegenthaler, Susan Elkins, and Tatum Thomas. Opportunity is shaped not only by the systems surrounding us, but also by whether we recognize our own capacity to lead, contribute, and grow within them. This jointly authored piece draws from our “Owning Your Awesomeness” session at the 2025 UPCEA Annual Conference. The conversation explored professional growth as something deeper than acquiring new competencies. It begins with identifying the strengths, experiences, and values we already possess—and learning to articulate them with confidence and authenticity. That work includes reframing the internal narratives that fuel self-doubt, developing a professional identity anchored in purpose, and becoming more intentional about visibility. Sharing an idea, accepting a speaking opportunity, publishing a reflection, or naming one’s aspirations is ...

  Expanding Institutional Capacity for Employer Engagement in Credential Innovation Originally published by UPCEA on October 6, 2025 Employer engagement is often treated as an external-relations activity: an advisory-board meeting, a conversation about hiring needs, or a request to review an existing program. But sustainable university-to-business partnerships require something deeper—an institutional capacity to listen, collaborate, and design with employers over time. This recap captures UPCEA’s first Virtual Forum on Employer Engagement and Credential Innovation, which I curated in September 2025. The gathering brought together institutional leaders and ecosystem partners to explore how colleges and universities can strengthen employer relationships and build credentials that communicate meaningful value in the talent marketplace. A central focus was UPCEA’s emerging University-to-Business Engagement Framework, co-created by Peer Learning Leaders through a Walmart-supported init...

  Accelerating Institutional Capacity for Employer Engagement in Credential Innovation Originally published by UPCEA on July 22, 2025 Employer engagement is not simply something institutions do after creating a credential. When approached strategically, it becomes part of how colleges and universities identify needs, design learning, communicate value, and contribute to the economic vitality of their communities. This piece reflects on UPCEA’s multi-year, Walmart-supported work to strengthen institutional capacity for employer engagement. The first phase produced benchmarking research, a practical playbook, and a maturity index. The second introduced a Peer Learning Leader model and human-centered design methods to help institutions build deeper, more productive university-to-business relationships. A conversation I moderated at the 2025 Canadian Association for University Continuing Education conference brought these ideas to life. Leaders from five Canadian institutions described...

  Unlocking Opportunity: How Tax Policies Like Section 127 Can Drive Employer Partnerships Originally published by UPCEA on July 14, 2025 Co-authored with Chelsea Miller of UpSkill America. Tax policy may not be the most obvious entry point into a conversation about educational opportunity. Yet provisions such as Section 127 quietly shape how employers invest in learning—and how colleges and universities design programs for working adults. This jointly authored piece explains the role of Section 127, which allows employers to provide tax-free educational assistance to eligible employees. It also considers related provisions affecting tuition benefits and job-connected learning, translating technical policy into practical implications for employer–university partnerships. For institutions, understanding these policies is essential. Employer education benefits influence program pricing, enrollment intensity, invoicing, data collection, and definitions of learner success. The Section ...

  Microcredentials, Modularity, and Mission: Innovation in Healthcare Education Originally published by UPCEA on May 7, 2025, in partnership with the HELIX Summit on Continuing Medical Education. Healthcare education sits at a particularly dynamic intersection of workforce need, technological change, and public mission. As roles and care models evolve, institutions must create learning that is more responsive and modular—without compromising quality or coherence. This piece recaps a UPCEA Coffee Chat I moderated with leaders from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, the Colorado Community College System, the University of North Texas Health Science Center, and St. Cloud State University. Together, they explored how institutions are using microcredentials, digital learning, employer partnerships, and modular program design to serve learners and communities. Their examples demonstrate the potential of credentials that stand alone, connect to employment, or stack into larg...