Work-based Learning:

Boosting Mission and Margin

© 2022 Riipen Networks. All rights reserved.

About Riipen

Riipen is North America’s largest online work-integrated learning marketplace, where organizations of all sizes connect with educators to collaborate with university and college students on short-term projects and competitions.

Our mission is to “enable all students from all backgrounds and geographies to access work-integrated experiential learning (WIEL) to support learners of all backgrounds to bridge the skills gap, gain career clarity, network with potential employers, and find jobs they love."

Work-based Learning:

Boosting Mission and Margin

About Riipen

About Riipen

Riipen, the world’s leading online work-based learning platform, bridges education and training to employers with an emphasis on equity, diversity, and inclusion. Since launching in Q1 2017, Riipen has worked with over 400 accredited colleges, bootcamps, continuing education and specialty education providers to enable 7 million student learning hours in 9 countries with our ecosystem of over 17,000 employers.

Riipen enables educational institutions to enhance recruitment, retention, and revenue while enabling learners to enhance their skills, connect to employers, and accelerate their path to a meaningful career.

About Riipen

Interesting reads

Join Riipen and work-based learning experts on Oct. 27

October 27, 2021 • 10:00AM PT / 1:00PM ET • Virtual Panel Discussion via Zoom Webinar

Bridging the gap between learning and work is nothing new for Continuing and Online Education (COE) schools. In fact, agile programming and employer networks have been tenants of these organizations for decades.

As we look ahead to the next 10 years, we’ll still be responding to the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and its lasting effects on equity in post-secondary education. In 2021, how are COE professionals preparing to address this problem, all while creating new programs that are both profitable and accessible? 

In this panel-style discussion, we’re exploring how and why COE practitioners are adopting virtual work-based learning as a strategy to grow enrollment, build learner agency, and contribute to institutional revenue.

Our Panelists

Dr. Robert J. Hansen was named Chief Executive Officer of the University Professional & Continuing Education Association in 2010. Under Hansen’s leadership, UPCEA has strengthened its reputation as the world’s leading association for professional continuing education while bringing a new focus on the association’s unique role in online leadership and management. In the past decade, Hansen has launched the industry leading Summit for Online Leadership and Administration, the Council for Chief Online Learning Officers (C-COLO), and a respected quality framework, the UPCEA Hallmarks of Excellence in Online Leadership.  More recently, UPCEA developed companion frameworks, the Hallmarks of Excellence in Professional and Continuing Education and the Hallmarks of Excellence in Credential Innovation. With the three Hallmarks, UPCEA now provides a comprehensive set of standards that reflect the ambitions, potential, and importance of units that serve adult learners.

Bob Hansen

Director of UPCEA

Dana Stephensen

CEO of Riipen

Dana Stephenson is the Co-Founder and CEO of Riipen, a future of work platform specialized in scaling experiential learning opportunities for learners of all backgrounds. Recently awarded BC Business Top 30 Under 30, Dana’s entrepreneurial journey started when he set out on a mission to end underemployment by ensuring that every learner has access to authentic experiential learning opportunities to better support their transition into the workforce upon graduation. 

Lorraine Carter

Director, McMaster Continuing Education, McMaster University

Lorraine Carter, PhD, MA, BEd is the Director of McMaster Continuing Education at McMaster University in Hamilton, ON, CA. Throughout her career, Lorraine has played an important role in advancing online education in the health education field as well as other professional sectors in northeastern and northwestern Ontario. She has served as President of the Canadian Network for Innovation in Education (CNIE) and the Canadian Association for University Continuing Education (CNIE). Having chaired the CAUCE Research and Information Committee for six years, Lorraine has received various awards for her leadership and scholarly work. Today, as the leader of McMaster Continuing Education, she continues to champion innovative professional and experiential learning opportunities for adult learners such as Riipen facilitates while maintaining an active scholarly identity and commitment to lifelong and community-serving learning.

Learn from top leaders in the COE community on how to build more equitable experiences for all learners–at scale.

Melissa Peraino

Director of Educational Outreach, Center for Adult and Continuing Studies, Grand Valley State University

Melissa Peraino is the Director of Educational Outreach at Grand Valley State University, an institution that serves more than 20,000 students on the “west coast” of Michigan. Melissa has held roles responsible for corporate training, adult learner advising, regional center operations, and community engagement. As a serial intrapreneur, she is excited about the next opportunity in higher education and lifelong learning.
In addition to her professional responsibilities at the university, Melissa currently serves on the Michigan Association of State Universities Extended Education and Professional Development committee, and serves University Professional Continuing Education Association’s Program Planning and Implementation Network as the Vice-Chair for Non-Credit.
Melissa has an undergraduate degree from Alma College, and a graduate degree in Adult Education from Ball State University.

WEBINAR

WEBINAR

Lisa Miller

Director of International and Professional Programs, University of California, Riverside – Extension

As the Director of International and Professional Programs, Lisa Miller heads up the international programming at the University of California, Riverside – Extension. The programs under her  purview include Intensive English, University Pathway programs, including the visiting student program, postgraduate certificates and diplomas, and custom programming. She also has oversight over UCR Extension’s Disney International College Program, which is run jointly with the Walt Disney Company. Lisa is currently a PhD student at the University of Minnesota, studying Comparative and International Development Education. She is a member of NAFSA, UPCEA, and NACADA. Lisa enjoys bringing new ideas and experiences to the classroom with the goal of helping her students gain a competitive edge within today’s ever-evolving work environment.

Keith O'Brien

Senior Director, Whiteboard Advisors

A senior director at Whiteboard Advisors and a seasoned professional services practitioner, Keith draws on his experience working with on-campus leaders and executives in enrollment management, student success, and business operations to help early growth companies navigate the complex dynamics of market entry in the U.S. higher education sector. For the past two decades, he has worked with higher ed, B2B and B2C leadership teams to solve complex strategic and operational issues.
As the former head of the Education Advisory Board’s enrollment management group, he worked at the intersection of mission (access and success) and margin (net tuition revenue) for enrollment management, continuing and online education and academic program innovation. Most recently, he led client engagements for an education technology firm deploying Artificial Intelligence and nudging to engage student mindsets towards enrollment and retention.

Watch the Webinar