IPD Recognizes 30 Years of Service

In 1976, Pepperdine University’s Center for Innovative Education made a critical mistake: relocating its office from Orange County to Los Angeles, Calif., dramatically increasing Veterans’ Affairs Coordinator Dr. Sue Dietrich’s commute – and leading her to hunt for a new job. One of her colleagues had just landed a position at the nearby Institute of Professional Development (IPD) so she followed suit, signing on as executive assistant to the vice president.

At the time, IPD had just started its contract with University of Redlands where she helped with everything from advertising and enrollment to faculty recruitment. In her spare time, she completed her bachelor’s degree in business from the university. When the three-year contract at the University of Redlands came to an end, she moved to the University of Phoenix as an enrollment representative. "At the time, it wasn’t a friendly environment for a for-profit school," Dr. Dietrich said. "I could have starved – no one had heard of it, and the ones who had heard of it didn’t like it."

After a four-month stint as an enrollment representative, Dr. Dietrich was promoted to registrar, which came with its own set of challenges. "We hated it when a student would ask for a transcript,” she said. “We did everything on typewriters, and only charged $2." In most respects, however, she reveled in the new role, particularly in planning the second-ever graduation ceremony and creating a database management system. And again, in her off hours, she furthered her own education by completing her master’s degree in adult and higher education at Arizona State University.

By 1986, University of Phoenix had expanded to multiple learning centers in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Mexico. "That was great, but once I’d finished my master’s, I wanted to see where else I could go," Dr. Dietrich said. The answer was to become the dean of students at a community college in Illinois. Her first foray into traditional education lasted three years before she remarried and relocated to Florida.

Fortunately, she had stayed in touch with IPD’s executive vice president at the time, Dr. Paul Hoffner, who needed assistance in forming articulation agreements in the notoriously challenging Illinois market. With connections across the state, she rejoined IPD as a consultant and started the second phase of her Apollo Group career as a full-time employee in 1990.

Fast forward 20 years, and it’s clear the impact that IPD’s Vice President of Academic and Institutional Services (AIS) Dr. Dietrich has made on the organization. IPD has grown from five partner institutions to 18, representing 24,000 enrollments annually. The AIS department now hosts two annual conferences and offers a complete array of contractual services, from curriculum and faculty development to online learning, student services, administration, retention services and a call center. One of the most valued AIS services is the comprehensive systems review. "As a consulting team, we look at all of the policies, procedures and processes used by our colleges to manage adult programs," she said. "The report we produce represents about a $40,000 to $50,000 value for our partners. We have a wealth of experience on the review team, which is led by another long-timer, Deanna Boe." Future plans include implementing learning technologies such as virtual reality.

Looking back on two decades, it’s apparent the adult education industry has benefited from Dr. Dietrich’s passion of education. Shortly after she rejoined IPD, she was tasked with creating a self-governing and -supporting consortium that would enable IPD partner institutions to collaborate and share best practices. Today, she serves as the executive director of that organization she helped create, the Consortium for the Advancement of Adult Higher Education (CAAHE). CAAHE promotes and facilitates the sharing of ideas, information, techniques, practices and resources among member institutions by identifying areas of common interest, including curriculum, assessment of prior learning, outcomes assessment, financial issues, student services and administrative systems. This year’s conference, scheduled for June in Indianapolis, Ind., carries a theme that’s emblematic of Dr. Dietrich’s 30-year career: "Changing lives in changing times."

"Higher education has always been resistant to change," Dr. Dietrich said, who, true to her lifelong learning philosophy, completed her educational leadership doctorate in 2005 at Nova Southeastern University. "As change agents, IPD is very good at what we do, thanks to the foundation John Sperling laid 37 years ago. We’ve helped change the lives of thousands of adults just like myself. We’ve helped small traditional colleges not only survive, but thrive. I am so grateful to be a part of such an amazing organization."

Return to Company News