2016 Annual Conference

Our goal is to reach adult learners and over the years we have tried different methods - from correspondence courses to night classes to online delivery. Are you looking for something different? In this idea-generating session, we will talk about successes, failures, and opportunities for the future.

This round table discussion is geared toward academic administrators and faculty who develop, implement, and manage degree programs for adult learners at colleges and universities. Participants will have experience or interest in marketing and developing academic programs to adult learners.

In an attempt to reach the non-traditional learning population (using Brookfield's work as a guide), our programs for adult learners are beginning to look the same. It can be challenging to develop messages to potential students about how the academic programs at our institutions are different from those offered elsewhere. We are, in essence, doing the same thing and if we are not, we are starting to. In our attempt to reach the students we are expected to offer classes at night, like other schools, in accelerated formats, like other schools, on-line, like other schools or a combination of several models. As effective educators, we know the content needs to drive the delivery and, yet sometimes, other factors influence our programmatic decisions. This roundtable offers participants an opportunity to hear what professional colleagues are doing at other institutions and to develop some new ideas to take back to their own. Discussion will encourage us to look at our benchmarks differently and begin to develop an instructional delivery model that suits our students, our content, and our institutions.