University Continuing Education Units Research Articles

The expanded developmental periphery: framing the institutional role of university continuing education units

This article argues that Burton Clark’s notion of the expanded developmental periphery provides a useful conceptual framework for examining the differing relationships between continuing and professional education units and the institutional core of traditional research universities. The intent is to examine how Clark’s notion offers a means to detect and analyse factors that assist in empowering some units and, conversely, those that are disempowering and lead to a perception of marginalisation in others. The article begins by examining differing perspectives in the literature on the relationship between continuing and professional education units and the university core. It then revisits Clark’s work on entrepreneurial universities before focussing on just one of the five transforming elements that Clark argues underscore the success of entrepreneurial universities—the expanded developmental periphery. The article explains how this notion was developed into a conceptual framework and was used in my own research examining the contribution that three continuing and professional education units made to their universities in Washington DC, Hong Kong and Sydney. I have used Clark’s notion as a diagnostic tool, which may have a wider application for examining relationships between the institutional core and its periphery.

Reframing University Continuing Education’s Role in Community Engagement

In Canada, a growing interest within higher education in community engagement practices is evidenced through the establishment of national networks, funding opportunities for community-university research partnerships, and the development of specially designated centres on university campuses. However, based on the literature in continuing education, the role of university continuing education (UCE) units in supporting community engagement is not clear. Many UCE units have been involved and continue to be involved in developing and implementing various types of community engagement activities, yet the work of these units is not widely recognized within the university and the community as contributing substantially to the social purpose mission of the institution. The pressures and tensions relating to balancing the social and economic goals of the UCE unit may be influencing the role of UCE in community engagement. Strategies identified in this article that could assist UCE in embedding community engagement within the practice and in reframing the focus of UCE include the development of a community engagement framework and measurement tools that assess outcomes leading to positive social change.

Lived Experience of University Continuing Education Leaders

This article is based on a study that explored the professional lives of eight leaders of continuing education in Canadian universities, with a focus on their administrative role, to provide a deeper understanding of how they live within their practice (lived experience). A practical listing of 56 horizons of experience was identified, useful as an evolving checklist for university continuing education units and as a self reflection tool for current and future continuing education administrators and leaders. The study provides insight for those considering leadership positions and for those interested in understanding the complexities of the role of leader. On a philosophical level, six essences of lived experience were revealed: responsibility, balance, connectedness, impact, voice, and passion. The experience of leadership through individuals who experience the phenomena provides critical understanding of the realities of practice.

Exploring the Relationship Between Organizational Virtuousness and Culture in Continuing Higher Education

In recent years, positive organizational behavior and scholarship has emerged as a new lens for organizational analysis. The construct of organizational virtuousness, a part of positive organizational scholarship, has been examined in for-profit entities and was found to be positively linked with organizational outcomes. This case study sought to determine if organizational virtuousness was a useful construct for continuing higher education units and also to examine any relationships between organizational culture and organizational virtuousness. A quantitative case study of two university continuing education units indicates that organizational virtuousness is a useful construct for continuing education organizational analysis and is also related to organizational culture. Implications for continuing education leaders are included as well as suggestions for fostering organizational virtuousness in their organizations.

Working with the President: Extension and Continuing Education at UBC, 1935-1983

Leaders of university continuing education units frequently dedicate significant energy to managing relationships between their units and senior university administrators. Many CJUCE readers know of cases where a particularly sympathetic (or unsympathetic) university president or provost has substantially changed the trajectory of a continuing education unit. Using historical documents from the University of British Columbia, the author of this article constructs a case study of the influence of presidential support on the philosophy and practice of university extension and continuing education. In short, UBC‚ Extension department emerged and flourished under the leadership of two long-serving presidents who expressed significant support for its function as a primary role of the university. In the 1960s, following the appointment of a president who considered research and degree credit teaching to be the university‚ distinctive mission, the department experienced a crisis. However, the period following 1975 brought renewed executive support when a new president with an expansive vision of the contribution that the university should make to society was appointed. This article not only presents an interesting historical case study but also provokes reflection on how contemporary leaders in continuing education can nurture support from senior administrators.

The Role and Impact of Continuing Education on Rural Revitalization: A Case Study

This article presents the findings of a study that explored the role and impact of continuing education on rural revitalization. A community development approach, academic expertise, and a university’s resources were used to assist the citizens of Montmartre, Saskatchewan, to establish Centre 48, an arts and continuing education centre. Courses provided by Centre 48 gave townspeople and people from the surrounding area opportunities to explore new interests and to develop new social networks; in turn, the social capital gained by establishing and operating Centre 48 gave rise to new economic ventures. The results of this study illustrate how university continuing education units can contribute to capacity building in rural communities and how such social capital-building projects can serve as a catalyst for economic development.

A Comparison of the Organizational Frameworks of Canadian and American University Continuing Education Units

In 2006, a study involving institutional members of the Canadian Association of University Continuing Education (CAUCE) was conducted by the CAUCE Information and Research Committee working in collaboration with the Research Committee of the Association of Continuing Higher Education (ACHE). The survey had been previously completed by institutional members belonging to ACHE in the United States. This paper describes the survey findings and offers possible explanations of important differences related to respondent profile, type of institution by funding, and the extent of credit programming offered by the responding institutions. Differences related to learning modalities are also discussed. Further joint surveys involving CAUCE and ACHE members as well as international research initiatives sponsored by the two organizations are recommended.

About Us: Reflection and Dialogue on the Purpose of University Continuing Education in Canada

This article is a response to Scott McLean’s (2007) CJUCE Forum article “About Us,” which set out the claims that university continuing education (UCE) units make about themselves on their websites. Using the activities of the Legal Studies Program of the Faculty of Extension at the University of Alberta as a reference point, this article suggests that the activities of UCE units may not be as bland as their purpose statements suggest. The ability of those statements to represent the visions of UCE units is questioned, as is the adequacy of the processes by which such statements are generated. In doing so, the author exposes the need to catalogue what UCE units are actually doing and reflect on why we seem to need to downplay some of those activities. The article concludes with the suggestion that in presenting a synthesis of the units’ purpose statements, McLean takes UCE units full circle to the debate he set to the side: What should UCE units do?

About Us: Expressing the Purpose of University Continuing Education in Canada

This article explores claims made on websites of CAUCE members about the purpose of university continuing education. CAUCE members often claim a role in addressing the needs or goals of learners seeking professional development, personal enrichment, or the furthering of knowledge and skills. They claim to deliver programs and services that promote lifelong learning for adults, whether as individuals or as members of communities and organizations. These programs and services are characterized as enabling access to quality education in flexible and innovative ways. The work of continuing education is often presented as a means to link universities with communities and with external agencies. This article describes these public claims made by Canadian university continuing education units and endeavours to promote informed reflection and dialogue about the purpose of those units.

The Rising Tide of Outreach and Engagement in State and Land-Grant Universities in the United States: What are the Implications for University Continuing Education Units in Canada?

In this paper, we describe the outreach and engagement movement in the United States and explore the implications of this movement for university continuing education units in Canada. Across the United States, major universities have adopted the vocabulary of “outreach and engagement” to foster a shift in the relationships of those universities with communities and organizations beyond the traditional boundaries of the institution. This vocabulary has its roots in the work of Ernest Boyer (1990, 1996) and the Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and Land-Grant Universities (1999, 2000). In the past decade, many American universities have adopted new leadership and organizational structures to make an operational commitment to outreach and engagement. In Canada, university continuing education units have traditionally been involved in activities that fit within the concept of outreach and engagement, and leaders of such units should consider the implications of the outreach and engagement movement.

University Continuing Education Units: Agents for Social Change?

Many commentators have argued that Canadian university continuing education has gradually abandoned its historical commitment to social justice in educational programming in favour of a market-oriented approach. Although such literature clearly expresses a deeply-felt sentiment among continuing educators, it has tended to have two problems. First, many proponents of this view have not explained what they mean by social justice, which makes informed discussion of this issue difficult. Second, in praising historical adult education as a social justice movement, many commentators have neglected to provide coherent and pragmatic alternatives for the present. This article addresses these two problems by providing a dialogic theory of social justice, derived from political philosophy, as a conceptual framework to examine ways in which a new understanding of social justice could be practically applied in both strategic and program planning for university continuing education. This conceptual framework is then used to guide and inform a discussion of how information and communications technologies (ICT) can be used by university-based continuing education units to develop and implement learning opportunities designed to empower persons and organizations working for social justice.

The Organizational Meaning of Research

Practitioners and theorists have given attention recently to the role and status of research activities in Canadian university continuing education units. For individuals in units that are increasing the proportion of their organizational activities devoted to research, there will be an ongoing process of cognitive change and development as a new organizational culture emerges. Sensemaking is used in this article as a heuristic for exploring the process of incorporating and developing research activities in university continuing education units. Sensemaking is the cognitive process of justifying or legitimating a decision or outcome after the decision or outcome is already known. It is associated with organizational models that reject an exclusively rational decision-making paradigm of organizational action. Sensemaking recognizes the centrality of the following elements in the interpretation of research activities and their relationship to organizational life: time, identity construction, and the ongoing creation of context. The authors provide an extended reflection on the process of meaning-making that may be experienced by individuals as conventional research becomes a more important part of organizational life. Such a reflection may support and inform the change process as it occurs in university continuing education units.

Strengthening Research Capacity:An Action Plan for the University of Saskatchewan Extension Division

This article presents a case study of how the University of Saskatchewan Extension Division developed an action plan to strengthen its research capacity. Its Action Plan outlines 20 actions, organized into five strategic categories: cultivating a productive research climate; promoting faculty development and faculty renewal; engaging in graduate-level teaching and learning; developing research infrastructure and supportive administrative processes; and encouraging and celebrating research excellence. The body of the article contains an abridged version of the Action Plan, with details such as timelines and lines of responsibility removed. Although written for the University of Saskatchewan Extension Division, this plan is pertinent to many university continuing education units across Canada.

Back to the Future: Adjusting University Continuing Education Research to an Emerging Trend

A major change is presently occurring in University Extension or University Continuing Education (UCE) units, from ongoing continuing education (CE) programs (certificates, etc.) to unique major projects supporting overall institutional goals and specific community needs. Given this change, the type of research traditionally associated with CE (market research, ongoing program evaluation, etc.) now needs to be at least supplemented, if not replaced, by a type of research more appropriate to the new type of activity occurring in extension/UCE units.For a number of theoretical and practical reasons, this research should consist largely of case studies of UCE programs and projects. An on-line database of these case studies could serve not only as a resource for improving practice, but also as the knowledge base underlying a graduate program offered by a consortium of UCE units. By creating a practice-based graduate program focused specifically on CE, in contrast to the broader, more theoretical programs generally offered by adult education departments, CE units can increase the amount, quality, and relevance of CE research.

University Continuing Education Units' Commitment to Research: Program Development as Scholarly Work

The assumption that there is a positive relationship between research activity and program performance was tested. Thirty program directors were systematically rated on program performance and research activity to determine the degree of correlation, if any, between the two sets of ratings. Analysis of the data indicated there was no relationship between program performance and research activity. Nonetheless, Blaney believes that program personnel should be involved in scholarly work. He proposes a broader definition of scholarship and discusses three reasons for encouraging programmers to pursue scholarly work.

Research in University Continuing Education is Dead: Long Live Reflective Practice

Jack Blaney's and Gordon Thompson's arguments in support of research in university continuing education units are countered as being implausible, wishful thinking, and not in keeping with actual behaviours in CE units. Rather than pursue the elusive goal of full acceptance into academe through research, informed professional practice is proposed.