2011 UPCEA Career and Economic Development - January 12-14, 2011 Clearwater Beach, FL

CALL FOR PRESENTERS
Ecological systems are defined by the interrelationships among organisms and their environment. Economic development is driven by innovation. Like an ecological system, economic development depends upon the interrelationships among education and training providers, employers, and government policymakers. The job training funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), as well as changes to Pell Grant funding and the unemployment insurance system, were designed to bring postsecondary education within the reach of increased numbers of working Americans.

Yet these changes represent but a first step in addressing the nation’s need to raise the educational attainment level of its workforce. To get ahead, access to ongoing postsecondary education and training is vital over the career span. Yet the
current system is skewed toward short-term training created to get the unemployed into the jobs and gives short shrift to building the skill levels of workers through investments in ongoing education and training.

The American postsecondary education system divides into two silos: one provides programs that serve the needs of traditional-age, full-time students; and another supplies a wide array of convenient, albeit stand-alone, education and training modules which offer neither a recognized credential nor a pathway to a career. In a knowledge-based economy, the successful businesses will be those most dependent on quality human capital to spur innovation. Professional and continuing education units contribute to economic development by providing customized corporate training, offering certificate and master’s degree programs for emerging professional fields, facilitating technology transfer, and supporting innovation incubators for start-ups and small businesses.

UPCEA’s 17th Annual Career and Economic Development Forum (formerly Workforce Development Forum) will bring together leaders from the business, government, non-profit, and academic sectors to discuss workforce trends, public policy directions, partnership models, and education programs. Participants at this Forum will explore the role played by college and university professional and continuing education organizations in responding to the changing nature of workforce development, education, and training. The Program Planning Committee is soliciting concurrent session presentations related to three general themes: Responding to Market Forces, Certification and Credentialing, and Effective Strategies.

Guidelines for Concurrent Session Proposals
• Provide a session title and description (in 500 words or less) of your proposal.
• Provide the name, organizational affiliation, and contact information (email and mailing address) of all presenters in the proposed session, and a primary contact person. In addition, please provide a maximum 100-word bio for each presenter.
• Provide an abstract (maximum of 75 words) of your proposal for use in the Forum program.
• List any other presentation needs.
• E-mail the proposal by September 24, 2010, to UPCEA Career and Economic Development Forum, Barbara Kessler, bkessler@virginia.edu.