New Brunswick, N.J. The University Continuing Education Association (UCEA) has elected Richard J. Novak, associate vice president for continuous education and distance learning at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, its 92nd president. Novak, the president-elect of the 92-year-old institutional membership association representing 430 colleges and universities, assumes his new position in April at the UCEA annual national conference. The Rocky Hill resident is the first Rutgers administrator to lead the organization.
Founded in 1915, UCEA is among the oldest college and university associations in the United States. As the countrys principal organization for continuing higher education, the association assists institutions of higher learning and affiliated nonprofit organizations to increase access through a wide array of education programs and services. UCEA also provides national leadership to support policies that advance workforce and professional development.
Richard Novak brings to his leadership role a rare combination of intelligence, dedication and enthusiasm, said Kay J. Kohl, executive director and CEO of the UCEA. We support his participation in regional, national and international conferences as the organizations representative.
Novak recently visited Beijing, the Peoples Republic of China, to help plan a joint conference in the fall with the Chinese Continuing Education Association. Globalization is impacting the association, and weve established an international affairs commission to study how American institutions conduct continuing education abroad and how such global issues as workforce development, outsourcing and distance education affect us here, Novak said.
In his current position, Novak reports to the vice president for continuous education and outreach, and is responsible for executive leadership and policy recommendations for a complex system of continuing education units, distance learning and off-campus learning facilities. Rutgers academic units serve approximately 50,000 continuing education and off-campus students annually in both credit and noncredit courses and programs.
Novaks duties extend to providing centralized support for interactive video instruction and directing RutgersOnline, the centralized home for all university online instruction. He assists faculty in the development and delivery of online instruction and online supplements to face-to-face courses and directs the technical team that supports RutgersOnline. More than 2,000 students enroll annually in distance learning, using either interactive video facilities or Internet-based courses. More than 25,000 students enroll each year in Web-enhanced courses, with support provided by Rutgers Division of Continuous Education and Outreach.
Additionally, Novak, who joined Rutgers as an administrator in 1991, oversees operations of the University Inn and Conference Center in New Brunswick and the Center for Continuing Professional Development. He also initiated the effort to coordinate the electronic marketing of all continuing education at Rutgers.
Novak teaches in the Adult and Continuing Education graduate program in Rutgers Graduate School of Education, and also in the graduate program in Human Resource Management at the School of Management and Labor Relations.
Novak earned his doctorate in adult and continuing education, and bachelors degree in history from Rutgers. He and his wife, Ann, have two children attending the university.
Contact: Steve Manas
732-932-7084, Ext. 612
E-mail: smanas@ur.rutgers.edu