Five Minutes with ACHE

I mentioned last month that there is a team of members updating the ACHE Strategic Plan 2010 - 2012.  As part of the review process, ACHE committees have updated the markers of accomplishments from the 2008 - 2010 plan.  To view the noted accomplishments please follow this link.  If you have ideas for new directions for ACHE, please contact Dr. Tish Szymurski. The more input we have from our talented membership, the better the overall plan for the organization.

The 2010 Planning Committee met in Albuquerque in mid-February to work on the conference.  Much was accomplished, including the confirmation of one of the keynotes, Dr. Rita Martinez-Purson, Dean of Continuing Education at the University of New Mexico.  The planning committee loved the venue, the Hotel Albuquerque and quickly discovered the vast number of activities just a couple of blocks from the hotel.  And of course, a group favorite was the excellent local cuisine.    

The planning committee has received outstanding proposals, but we would like to learn what you would like to see on the conference program.  You will be receiving directions from the Home Office soon for a very quick online survey asking what workshop and session topics you would like to have on the 2010 program.  Please take two minutes (that’s how long it took me) and complete the survey.  We want Albuquerque to be your most useful professional development conference for 2010!  

Make sure you go to the 2010 conference webpage each month to view the New Mexico Monthly update.  The next installment will be up the week of March 8th.  The topic: Outlaws!

Roxanne Gonzales
ACHE President, 2010

• and you're an ACHE Professional Member, please contact the home office at admin@acheinc.org for assistance.
• and you're the institutional representative for an ACHE Institutional Member school, please click on the applicable form to renew: Regular Membership (up to 24 members) or Jumbo Membership (24-40 members).
• and you're the organizational representative for an ACHE Organizational Member (formerly Affiliate Member) entity, please click here to complete a 2010 Organizational Member Renewal Form.

Please let us know if you have any questions!

President Roxanne Gonzales is very interested to hear about success stories in continuing education, things that your units are doing to change the lives of adult students. In addition, we are always looking for articles on the following topics:

• Experiences in marketing a continuing education program
• A profile of a unique continuing education program at your institution
• Experiences as a professor in adult continuing education
• Article or book reviews

After serving as news director for the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service in Osaka, Japan, from 1946-48, Froke earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from South Dakota State College and worked as news director for KWAT-AM in Watertown, S.D. He earned a master's in journalism from Northwestern University and worked as news director at WGN and WGN-TV in Chicago, then taught journalism and supervised television news courses at the University of Illinois, where he met his future wife. He joined the Penn State faculty in 1959 as an associate professor of journalism, developing the school's first broadcast journalism curriculum.

In 1964, he was named Penn State's director of broadcasting and established WPSX, which within a few years featured such popular programs as TV Quarterbacks and What's In The News, a current events show for children. In 1971, he was named director and general manager of what became the University's Division of Media and Learning Resources, including WPSX and other groups.Working with Pennsylvania's cable television operators, he established in 1976 a 24-hour statewide education and public affairs network of cable systems then called PENNARAMA, now the Pennsylvania Cable Network. He later served as chairman of the strategic planning committee whose report led to the establishment of Penn State's School of Communications, which became the College of Communications.

He retired from Penn State in 1992 with emeritus status and served in a variety of volunteer positions after that. Continuing his deep interest in the significance of cable television as an educational medium, Froke worked with cable industry pioneers both before and after his Penn State retirement to establish the first cable television museum, initially housed at Penn State in a joint effort of the Cable TV Pioneers and the university. The museum later relocated to Denver in a new and greatly expanded facility now called The Cable Center. Froke served as the center and museum's first president in Denver for three years.

As a young boy he loved playing the piano in a small South Dakota Lutheran church. Decades later he returned to that love and filled the house with the sounds of Mahler and Bach and Beethoven. When arthritis prevented him from playing any more, he donated the piano to Penn State Public Broadcasting, which uses it for various musical productions including the annual "Music Theatre Spotlight." He reveled in the wild and beautiful trees and flowers that grace the quiet lane where he lived, and - lest they somehow run out - added seedling after seedling to the century-old trees already towering above the lane, and flower after flower to the wild array of pinks, purples, reds and yellows. He weeded with equal enthusiasm, dedicated to the belief that there must always be room to grow. Services will be private.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Penn State Public Broadcasting -- WPSU-TV and WPSU-FM, 238 Outreach Building, 100 Innovation Blvd., University Park, PA 16802; or to South Dakota State University, Department of Journalism and Communication, 823 Medary Ave., Box 525, Brookings, SD, 57007. Or he would ask that you simply do something nice for someone else today. Arrangements are under the care of Koch Funeral Home, State College.

Member rate - Early registration (includes all attendees from a member institution): First two registrants: $445 Additional registrants beyond the first two: $395	Non-Member rate - Early registration First two registrants: $525 Additional registrants beyond the first two: $475
Member rate - Regular registration (includes all attendees from a member institution): First two registrants: $475 Additional registrants beyond the first two: $395	Non-Member rate - Regular registration First two registrants: $555 Additional registrants beyond the first two: $475
Other registration options Day rate: $250 Guest rate, all meals: $125

Leadership Special Recognition Meritorious Service Emeritus Marlowe Froke

Distinguished Program: Credit and Non-Credit Creative Use of Technology Older Adult Model Program Outstanding Services to Underserved Population Program

The strategic approach, overall quality, and results achieved are important criteria in determining the winner. A first-place award will be presented to the single entry that exemplifies the most creative and outstanding uses of marketing, either of a multi-faceted campaign or a single initiative. A number of honorable mentions may also be cited.

The Journal of Continuing Higher Education considers two types of articles:

• Major articles—current research, theoretical models, conceptual treatments—of up to 7,000 words on:
  • organization and administration of continuing higher education
  • development and application of new continuing education program thrusts
  • adult and nontraditional students
  • continuing education student programs and services
  • research within continuing higher education and related fields
    

Manuscripts should have both theoretical and practical implications.

• “Best Practices” articles of up to 4,000 words. These “Best Practice” articles contain descriptions of new, innovative, and successful programs or practices. The programs or practices should be replicable and of significance to continuing education.

JCHE strives to support continuing higher education by serving as a forum for the reporting and exchange of information based on research, observations, and the experience relevant to the field. Issues are published in the winter, spring, and fall. JCHE is published by Routledge.

Manuscript submission guidelines are available online at or through ACHE’s website.

Potential authors should feel free to consult with JCHE editor James Broomall, University of Delaware. He can be reached at jbroom@udel.edu or (302) 831-2795.

Please share this announcement with colleagues and graduate students who may be interested in submitting manuscripts to JCHE. The Journal has published outstanding graduate student work in the past.

The Research Committee urges ACHE members to assist the Committee in contacting current doctoral students and their submission of a grant application. (Please note: members of the Research Committee, national officers and Board members are not eligible to apply for a grant.)

For further information and questions, please contact Dr. Amber Dailey-Hebert, Acting Research Committee Chair at adailey@park.edu or by phone 816-584-6339.

ACHE MidAtlantic March 28-30th, 2010 Natural Bridge, VA Come see a National Historic Landmark and one of the Modern Wonders of the World while meeting with your MidAtlantic colleagues. Conference registration now open!	ACHE West April 29-30th, 2010 BYU Salt Lake City Center Hotel Accommodations: Hyatt Place Hotel Conference registration now open!
ACHE South April 11-14, 2010 Cocoa Beach, Florida Join your ACHE South colleagues and friends at the 2010 South meeting and conference in beautiful Cocoa Beach, FL. Conference registration now open!	ACHE Northeast Metropolitan May 6, 2010 Graduate Center of the City University of New York More information coming soon!

This year's ACHE Great Plains Region Conference was sponsored by Boston Reed College and hosted by the University of Central Missouri in Lee’s Summit, Missouri on  February 25 and 26th

The Keynote presentation given by Giovanni Gallucci provided conference participants an overview of how to use social networking to help educators better market the services we provide. 

In addition to several great workshops, three awards were presented:

• Best Conference: University of Missouri-St. Louis (African American Nursing History Conference) Gina V. Ganahl, PhD
  Associate Dean, Division of Continuing Education  and  Vanessa Loyd, PhD(c), RN

• Best Conference: Kansas State University (Sustainability conference) Ben Champion, Director of Sustainability
  Kansas State University and Melinda Sinn, Public Information Coordinator K-State Division of Continuing Education

• Best Credit Program: Park University (Science E-Fellows High Intensity Induction Program) Dr. Josephine Agnew-Tally Dean, School for Education and Ms. Wakisha Briggs. M.Ed. Director, Continuing Education

Plans are already in place for next year's conference to be held in Muskogee, Okla. the last week in February of 2011.

The ACHE West Board invites your nominations for regional officers for the 2010-2011 year. Professional Service develops networks and open doors to new opportunities! Please consider serving your region.

Nominations are open for the following officers:

Chair-elect Treasurer Secretary Board Member at large (3 positions)

ACHE West bylaws require nominees to be institutional, professional, or distinguished (retired) members in good standing of the national association. You may visit the online directory at the ACHE website (www.acheinc.org) for a current listing of members of the west region: log into the ACHE Community with your Username and Password; select Simple Search from the menu on the left; under the drop-down for Use a Saved Search, choose ACHE West - All Members.

Nominations close Wednesday, March 10, 12:00 midnight Mountain time. The election period will commence immediately following and will close on Monday, March 24, 12:00 midnight Mountain time.

It is now time for the ACHE MidAtlantic Region to elect new officers and Board of Directors members. Please take a moment to cast your ballot. If you wish to serve, but your name is not on the ballot, please feel to write it in.

Below, you will find a link to access the 2010 ACHE MidAtlantic Region Official Ballot. Please do not share this link or forward this email to others.  The election begins on March 1, 2010 at 8 AM and ends on March 15, 2010 at 6 PM (U.S. Eastern time).

When you are ready to vote, load the following link in your web browser. Depending on your local set-up, you may be able to simply click the link and it will open in your browser.  You can also copy and paste the complete link into your browser address field if necessary. 

https://survey.ecu.edu/perseus/se.ashx?s=0B87A6567E57BB43

If you experience difficulty voting, please contact Nominations Chair Jeffery Alejandro at alejandroj@edcu.edu or call (252) 328-9197.

Thank you!
ACHE MidAtlantic Region Nominations Committee

Dear ACHE Northeast Metropolitan Region Member: It is time to elect our Northeast Metropolitan Region leadership for the 2010-2011 year.  Click here to view the ballot for our elections, which lists the nominations we received for the Executive Committee.  Please return your ballot to Jannette Knowles by March 15, 2010, via email or fax:   Email:  jknowles@nyit.edu Fax: 516-686-1144 After all ballots have been received, election results will be announced.  Thank you for your participation in the election!  We look forward to receiving your votes. Sincerely, ACHE Northeast Metropolitan Region 2009 Executive Committee Elizabeth Oliver, Chairperson                                    Maureen Behr, Vice-Chairperson Jacqueline Corcoran, Treasurer                               Sangha Mitra Choudhury, Secretary Nina Leonhardt, NY State Representative

ACHE would like to welcome Charlee Lanis from East Central University in Ada, Okla, as the new chair of ACHE Great Plains. Charlee took up her duties as chair during the Great Plains business meeting on February 25.

Tim McElroy, Director of Academic Programs at Northeastern State University in Muskogee, Okla., was elected to the position of Chair-elect.

And finally, Pam Hockett-Lewis from the University of Oklahoma was elected to fill the position of Secretary.

Please take the time to welcome these folks in their new positions!

During and after World War II, American postsecondary schools were fully committed to doing government research that addressed national needs, and the GI Bill opened the doors of higher education to millions who previously didn’t have the time or money for college. Their college educations offered upward social mobility as well as disciplinary expertise. It was their path to a better future.

Over time, however, that unprecedented educational access and institutional commitment began to diminish. Many postsecondary schools tried to advance through more selective admissions. As a result, more sons and daughters of area citizens were turned away because more highly qualified students could be found elsewhere. As this occurred and schools pursued institutional priorities, the alliance between government, citizens, and postsecondary schools began to dissipate. Since the 1970s states have repeatedly reduced postsecondary funding. The down economy of recent years has accelerated the pace of public disinvestment in higher education. Rising tuition has ensued, further diminishing student access and dissipating community loyalty.

In his 1990 monograph Scholarship Reconsidered, Ernest Boyer, then president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, called for new directions in higher education. He recounted America’s earlier reliance on its universities for answers to its problems and discoveries that would advance the nation. Boyer called upon higher education to alter its priorities, conduct research that addresses societal needs, and use communities as its learning laboratories.

Since that time, economies have become increasingly global and competition has increased, America’s federal and state governments and community leaders have called upon schools to become full partners in advancing society. Many postsecondary institutions have responded with engaged research, teaching, and service. These have been rewarded as their constituents increasingly view them as critical strategic assets. In the process, institutions focusing research and teaching on constituents’ priority needs are regaining public support.

Many federal funding entities, including the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and private foundations, encourage and reward university-community engagement initiatives by including “dissemination” or “partnership” requirements or priorities. The results have been gratifying for engaged institutions. At the University of Kentucky, for example, $360,000 in institutional engaged-research incentives and seed funding across 36 high-level partnerships addressing Kentucky’s priority needs have been matched with over $44 million in external funding. It can’t be said that the external funding wouldn’t have come if UK hadn’t invested in these projects, but the level of external funding received makes it clear that focus on social needs and priorities helps Kentucky and America and is a solid institutional strategy. This high level of external funding also attests to society’s hunger for college-community collaborations addressing social needs.

Institutional engagement is not limited to research. A recent New York Times article highlighted Tulane University’s refocusing of instruction on service-learning in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The shift was designed to help New Orleans rebuild and to ensure Tulane’s own survival. Beyond those two goals, Tulane and other institutions using service-learning have found that students are more interested, learn more, and build societal involvement and commitment through “real world” service-learning and other community-based learning experiences.

And finally, in a time of dwindling resources, educational institutions and their communities see that pooling their unique resources allows each to achieve more than either could alone.

For those reasons, more and more postsecondary institutions are opting for engaged strategies. Whether public or private, religious or secular, research or teaching institutions, focus on societal priorities makes postsecondary schools more critical to the success of their constituents and more appreciated by the communities. Research addressing societal needs generates external funding while advancing the nation. Engaged teaching improves learning, enhances school-community connections, and builds more socially involved, committed citizens. Engaged service brings community leaders and university experts together in partnerships advancing both.

So perhaps the question should be: why would schools not choose engaged research, teaching, and service?

In my doctoral research in Educational Leadership and Change at Fielding Graduate University, I look at how to build stronger learning cultures within familial networks. A network in this sense could include one’s grandfather, a cousin, two best friends since childhood, and a long-time neighbor, all who live within five miles of one another. A network could also be made up of family and peers scattered across the globe but connected online. I am exploring ways that friends, families, and neighbors can work together to consider themselves learning organizations. As part of my dissertation research, I have developed a strength-based educational model for this type of informal learning where friends and family help each other to identify and then teach to one another their skills and strengths through informal “skillshares.”

What is a skillshare? A traditional model is when voluntary organizations promote skillshares as a form of community self-reliance by encouraging adults to offer hands-on learning opportunities to one another for free or for a suggested donation. Adults meet in places such as community centers, church basements, or even online in skillshares such as Facebook’s Supercool School, to teach each other any skill or topic that is of interest to the group. Topics can range from basic web design to horticulture, from parenting skills to beer making. For an idea of the latest activity in skillshares see Brooklyn Skillshare and the Brooklyn Brainery, an organization who advertise itself as “book clubs on steroids” where adults can host collaborative classes on “anything and everything.”

I am interested in broadening the definition of skillshare. To expand upon this form of learning, which often happens between strangers, I have used developmental intervention research methodologies to conceptualize an educational method for teaching family and friends to use appreciative inquiry (AI) exercises. The purpose of these AI activities is to help adults identify a wider (and perhaps more significant) range of character strengths or tacit and implicit skills that they can teach to each other. In the skillshares I have put together, siblings, friends, and neighbors come together—many of whom have observed one another for years in the manner much like social researchers—and identify the strengths from others they want to learn. Patience, optimism, conversational ability, cooking on a budget, photography, etc.…these skills, often left unsaid, are revealed and acknowledged.

In the latter half of this educational method, members use creative exercises to envision innovative ways to connect their strengths and skills in order to design new learning opportunities, products, programs, businesses, and so forth for their family, friends, and the larger community. In this way, when adults come back to school to complete their degrees or to engage in workplace trainings, they have new and more complex levels of support and involvement from family and friends.

This transformation of the concept of informal learning is critical during a time of economic recession, where adults can network together to explore new levels of community self-reliance. Continuing educators could become cross-institutional brokers who facilitate partnerships between “kitchen table learning organizations” and workplace, technical or university institutions. I would like to hear from other ACHE members their thoughts on how to promote the learning organization to the public and what they think are successful ways to stimulate informal learning between friends, families and neighbors.

The Sloan Consortium Blended Learning Conference and Workshop provides the opportunity for administrative leaders, faculty members, instructional designers and researchers to discuss blended learning in higher education.  Attendees will engage with one another throughout this conference by networking, considering effective practices and discussing assessment strategies.  As an attendee, you and your institution will benefit from this highly interactive conference as well as gain the ability to continue discussion and interaction via Sloan-C's asynchronous online Moodle site and online workshops.

Online registration and additional information is available here.

This symposium is designed to bring together individuals interested in the technological aspects of online learning.  The symposium tracks focus on the technologies that drive online learning, highlighting research, applications and best practices of important emerging technological tools. Experts, intermediate users and novices are welcome to participate in symposium activities that will include face-to-face and virtual components.   

Online registration, proposal submission, and additional information is available here.

Join NC State in Raleigh for the 11th annual meeting as we explore how universities "Sustain Authentic Engagement."

Visit the 2010 NOSC Website for more information.

The 2010 National Outreach Scholarship Conference will explore authenticity and sustainability as critical components of engaged scholarship. The important questions of what, where, who, how, and why will be the foci of the Conference reflected in five sections: Program, Place, People, Process, and Philosophy. These focus areas invite a diversity of perspectives and experiences reflecting the academy's authentic and sustained commitment to engaged discovery, learning, application, and integration.

Sponsored by the National Outreach Scholarship Conference partner universities. View a complete list of partner institutuions.

To be added to the mailing list for this conference, please email ContinuingEducation@ncsu.edu