This chapter describes how professional and continuing higher education units can develop and sustain successful partnerships with academic departments in order to deliver educational programs effectively to students.

The extent to which continuing educators respond to the challenges and opportunities presented in this volume will determine to a large extent their future relevance to their institutions.

Today's programs and delivery methods in continuing education for the adult student are evolving due to changing needs, competition, and new markets and technologies. The marketing infrastructure, including staffing, budgeting, and processes such as customer relationship marketing and market research, must be in alignment with changing needs.

Continuing higher education has undergone a significant transformation in recent years, illustrated by such innovations as MOOCs, globalization, strategic collaborations with government and industry, and increased entrepreneurship. As a result, continuing education (CE) units have experienced a fundamental shift in the way they conduct business in…

In American universities, early distance education needed both continuing education and academic departments for establishing institutional cooperation, developing quality standards, adapting to change, and finding a funding model. Today, the Internet and the need for additional revenue are driving new distance education models.

The aging and longevity of the U.S. population presents challenging opportunities for adult and continuing educators in higher education.

Noncredit programs help to define continuing education programs. Current trends indicate that change in noncredit programming will continue, and likely accelerate, as a result of new audiences, technologies, and institutional expectations.

Broad (1997) defined learning transfer as the "effective and continuing application by learners--to their performance of jobs or other individual, organizational, or community responsibilities--of knowledge and skills gained in the learning activities" (p. 2). This chapter offers an introduction to learning transfer and the major concepts related…

Disability is not something one experiences in isolation of other characteristics. Sociocultural characteristics, such as race, class, gender, sexual orientation, age and disability, interact with each other in various combinations forming unique adults. When interacting with other characteristics, disability can dominate the other…

According to Colin and Lund, there is no debate regarding the fact that many white adult educators make decisions that privilege members of their racial group, peoples of European descent, over the "other." As to whether it is a conscious or unconsciousness decision on the part of white practitioners not to accept responsibility is open for future…

In both the United States and Canada, higher education faculty have access to voluntary faculty development activities through continuing professional education departments, but rarely are preparatory programs available for those preparing to become faculty. Faculty development initiatives are only infrequently grounded in adult education…

To someone who has been intrigued by the role of ethics in adult education for many years, it has been heartening to see how the field has responded to calls to address the ethical dimensions of practice. Although adult education may have been a little later than some in coming to terms with ethics, these developments occurred during a time when…

"Context". The word pervades the literature on adult and continuing education. For adult education practitioners and researchers alike, understanding the beliefs and actions of their educational place continues to be of significant concern, and rightfully so. That adults wish to have their histories, experiences, and abilities appreciated and…

Meeting the learning needs of older adults in rural areas is a critical and growing concern for adult and continuing education. This chapter addresses learning in a rural context for older adults by examining several constructs. These include the definitions of "rural," the issues of the learners' ages, and the various structures and purposes…

Information, communication, and educational technologies hold promise to connect geographically isolated rural communities, offering adults greater access to educational, financial, and numerous other resources. The Internet and computer-based network technologies are often seen as remedies for communities in economic decline, but they also have…