Even before 2011's 9.1-magnitude earthquake and the devastating 15-meter tsunami that followed, Japan had been struggling with tremendous economic and demographic challenges that had forced significant changes to its tertiary education sector. In particular, these challenges had played a crucial role in the development of Japanese continuing…

The ground has shifted in fundamental ways in higher education, and it is becoming increasingly evident that strategic structural reorganization will play an important role in the financial survival of many institutions. Understanding the close links among strategy, structure, and the environment, it makes sense that organizational structure…

In spring 2010, institution-wide budget cuts resulted in several layoffs at Framingham State University (FSU), including the position of Associate Dean of the Division of Graduate and Continuing Education (DGCE). In his position as the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of DGCE, Scott Greenberg asked their Vice President for…

Universities that focus on urban research should exploit the advantage of their location by matching their curricular strengths to the needs of their respective communities. This article describes how Public Sector Programs (PSP) at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) developed extensive graduate degree and certificate programs in…

Analytics has a significant place in the future of higher education by guiding reform and system change. As this case study has shown, analytics can do more than evaluate what students have done and predict what they will do. Learning analytics can be transformative, altering existing pedagogical processes, research, data management, and…

Thomas Edison State College (TESC) and Colorado State University (CSU) offer significant contrasts in institutional culture, student demographics, faculty and institutional priorities and approaches to distance education course development and delivery. This article offers case studies showing that widely disparate program design and delivery…

This article discusses the implementation this year of the Department of Education's Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (HEOA), which requires accreditors to ensure that an institution that offers distance or correspondence education has a process in place to establish that a student who registers in a course or program is also the same…

People live and work in an era of transformation and uncertainty; they know that things are changing, but they are not sure where they are headed. One of the key forces of change is the enormous flow of information that individuals and institutions consume and produce. Awareness of knowledge flow is essential, but so is the sense that neither…

Online programs and courses are established presences in higher education, and so are processes such as online registration. Prospective students routinely turn to the web for information to help them decide on the most appropriate programs for their situation. Digital public relations (digital PR) is rapidly becoming one of the cornerstones of an…

Education in the 21st century is diverse not only in content and discipline but also in format and delivery. Today's students have access to a broad range of information, knowledge, ideas, and opinions well beyond their classroom. Never before have learners been able to interact so closely with instructors, mentors, subject-matter experts, and…

In recent years, terms such as "social media" and "social networking" have become staples in the university continuing education marketer's vocabulary. This article provides both a working knowledge of the social media landscape and practical applications of the concepts using a case study approach from a Midwestern university. Throughout are a…

Globalization presents a new social context for educational institutions from elementary schools to universities. In response to this new context, schools and universities are slowly changing their ways. These changes range from altering the curriculum so that students understand the process of globalization itself, or developing competencies…

In common with the United States, Europe is currently experiencing a serious economic recession. The crisis, which started in the financial sector, is now rippling out and affecting heavily other economic sectors: construction, property, retailing, manufacturing, etc. The arguable cause of the crisis was a failure of management in financial…

A significant component of continuing education involves teaching management, especially through the array of academic degree programs offered to part-time older students. In fact, the ability to offer management education is critical for the viability of continuing education. Co-existing amicably with its institution's business schools is the…

Since the signing of the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) in August 2008, providers of distance education courses and programs have been looking into procedures and technologies that will satisfy the accrediting agencies responsible for enforcing the law. Continuing education administrators are at the forefront because of the pervasiveness…