
Overview of Professional, Continuing, and Online Education - May 2023
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Register
- Non-member - $599
- Member - $459
Faculty Member
Dr. Amy Heitzman
Cost
Members: $459.00
Non-Members: $599.00
Description
What are the various ways universities organize and empower their units for professional, continuing, and online education? What are some unique features and approaches within these entities, particularly in how they address the educational needs of adult learners? This course provides a broad understanding of the variety of roles and models for professional, continuing, and online education across the academic landscape -- and the issues and opportunities they face. This course also looks at internal organizational structures, skill sets, and staffing, and discusses professionalism and the role that UPCEA plays in networking and educating those in this domain.
Topics Covered
- Benefits and challenges of various professional, continuing, and online education models
- The history of continuing education
- Analyzing online education at your institution
- Federal regulations and accreditation
Learning Objectives
- Differentiate between different structures and reporting homes for units of professional and continuing education.
- Identify and discuss the benefits and challenges of various PCO models.
- Reflect on the history of continuing education.
- Identify key considerations for developing new programs.
- Identify internal and external regulators in higher education.
- Recognize the direct causal connections between federal regulations, accreditation, and institutional
culture.
Who should take this course?
This course is designed for new and mid-career PCO professionals, who seek a deeper understanding of the history of professional, continuing, and online education and it's place within the higher education landscape.
Format and Schedule
This is a four week course consisting of about five hours of weekly course work made up of readings, asynchronous activities, and a weekly one hour live class meeting via Zoom. The schedule for the weekly meetings will be shared soon.

Amy Heitzman
DEPUTY CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER & CHIEF LEARNING OFFICER
University Professional and Continuing Education Association
With degrees in art history from the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago, Amy began her career in museum education, developing programs and training museum educators at various university art museums, as well as the Art Institute of Chicago and the Dallas Museum of Art. In 2002, after having served as Education Director for the Meadows Museum on the campus of Southern Methodist University, her interest in adult learners led her to the directorship of SMU’s Continuing Education unit.
Over the course of the next decade, she expanded the unit’s reach into the community and on campus, transforming the role of Continuing Education at SMU into one of broad, inter-disciplinary collaboration. As Executive Director of Continuing and Professional Education, Amy directed a new strategic vision for the unit, effectively doubling the number of programs offered and students served, increasing the university’s capacity to more deeply engage with its community. While at SMU, Amy served in various leadership roles including board membership in the SMU Staff Association and the Hegi Family Career Center and as an appointed member of the Presidential Council for Community Engagement and the Faculty and Staff Committee of the Second Century Capital Campaign.
It was during her time at SMU that she earned graduate certificates in marketing and nonprofit leadership, as well as the M.Ed. Amy earned her doctorate in Higher Education Administration at The University of Texas at Austin in 2014, and her dissertation focused on female student veterans in higher education. Her current research agenda is broad and involves examinations of nontraditional learners, the experiences of student veterans—particularly those of female student veterans, as well as comparative studies of international higher education systems.
Prior to joining the UPCEA staff, Amy was deeply engaged as a volunteer leader for the organization, having served as Chair of the South Region, Vice-Chair of the Leadership and Management Commission, a member of the Board of Directors, and as Chair of the national Membership Committee and Regional Cabinet.
Amy lives in Rockville, Maryland, with her husband, Brandt, and their two children.
See what past participants have said about this course:
"This class should be required for any person entering the PCO division for the first time. I wish I had taken this class five years ago when I first started working in this sector."
"The value of the connections, information sharing and perspectives of peers has been invaluable."
"This course was incredibly helpful in leading me through the history of PCO and how that looks at my institution and gave me some incredible insight into some of the ways I could be working toward positioning myself for a leadership role."
"Great experience and perspectives on topics we are all dealing with. I really enjoyed his interviews with other Dean's that we watched early on in the course."
"I very much enjoyed the conversations among so many great colleagues sharing their experiences. This is very helpful to me knowing what others are doing, brainstorming with them, and sharing experiences, both good and bad, and how we can improve those that didn't work for us. Thank you so much for letting me be part of this wonderful educational experience!"
"The course provided a solid overview of the PCO field. The best part of the course content was the set of interviews with current and former leaders of PCO units. The interviewees were engaging, thoughtful, refreshingly candid, and, in the case of Dr. Wingard, inspiring. I was pleased to see that there was some diversity in both the interviewees and the organizational structures and universities they represented."
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