Dr. Barbara Macaulay to Present at UCEA Annual Conference

Posted on January 25, 2008 by Jennifer Brady

On March 29th in New Orleans at the University Continuing Education Association (UCEA) Annual Conference, UMassOnline Associate Vice President and Chief Academic Officer Dr. Barbara Macaulay will be among the distinguished presenters for a discussion on the topic of Retention and Online Learning. Joining Dr. Macaulay at this session, to be led by Clark J. Hickman of the University of Missouri-St. Louis, will be Eric Riedel and Kathryn DeBoer of Walden University.

From the link to UCEA above you can learn that the University Continuing Education Association (formerly the National University Continuing Education Association) is among the oldest college and university associations in the United States. As the principal US organization for continuing higher education, the Association assists institutions of higher learning and affiliated nonprofit organizations to increase access through a wide array of educational programs and services. UCEA also provides national leadership in support of policies that advance workforce and professional development. Since its inception, the Association has been committed to making higher education available to everyone, as well as to ensure that programs and services address societal needs and economic trends. In addition, UCEA works with counterparts abroad to foster professional exchange and better international understanding of continuing higher education.

Dr. Macaulay has more than 25 years of experience in adult and continuing education, including 20 years in public higher education. She has developed and managed credit and degree programs at the graduate and undergraduate level, corporate and workforce development initiatives, literacy and basic skills programs, and public and government services.

Initially joining UMass in 1999 as the Director of the UMass I-495 Center for Professional Education, Dr. Macaulay developed of one of the first system-wide initiatives to bring UMass programs and services to the I-495 region. Now as Chief Academic Officer for UMassOnline, she works with the campuses to grow online opportunities, develop single and multi-campus efforts, support faculty, and develop new opportunities with external organizations.

Dr. Macaulay’s field of study is adult learning and she pursues this discipline via teaching and professional development efforts. She develops and teaches courses in adult learning, adult development, and program development for both graduate students and practitioners in adult and higher education. These courses are taught in both face-to-face and online environments. She also currently serves as a doctoral advisor in the AEGIS Program at Teachers College.