A recap of UNICON activities, conferences, research and initiatives in 2024-25, and an overview of what we're looking forward to this upcoming year.
August 28, 2025 | Melanie Weaver Barnett
Message from the Executive Director
Dear UNICON Members,
This month marked my third anniversary as UNICON's executive director, and I feel more energized than ever as I share this annual report with you.
I am deeply grateful for the many ways our members contribute to the consortium—whether as board or committee members, prime representatives, affinity group leaders, coffee group facilitators, or as hosts, speakers, and panelists at our conferences. Your engagement is what makes UNICON thrive.
We are entering what may be one of the most challenging periods for universities and business schools. In times like these, the value of our connections, collaborations, and mutual support has never been higher. UNICON remains committed to listening closely to your needs and responding with the resources, programs, and opportunities that will help you succeed. You'll see evidence of this throughout the pages ahead, and you have my assurance that this commitment will guide us in the year to come and beyond.
This report highlights the accomplishments of the past year and offers a look ahead at what's next. The board and the UNICON team are determined to ensure the consortium continues to be exactly what you need it to be. I invite you to read on, reflect, and share your thoughts—I'd love to hear from you at MelanieWeaverBarnett@uniconexed.org.
Benchmarking
Previous Year's Results
The previous year's benchmarking study yielded a response rate of 90% and many insights that members reported being instrumental in the evaluation and planning for their respective businesses.
One important trend that stood out was the return to in-person learning experiences.
UNICON partners with Percept Research, which collects, validates, and analyses the data, and together we published the results in detail, as well as in an info-graphic format.
Pulse Surveys
A first of a series of Pulse Surveys, focusing on how schools are experiencing and navigating the turbulent environment driven primarily by geopolitics, was launched.
Look for the results of that survey with helpful infographics to come soon.
Keep an eye out for the second pulse survey as well.
Research Initiatives
FY26 Projects
Two soon-to-be released reports:
- How schools are using AI and expecting its use to evolve
- How and why some schools are centralising executive development and other continuing education activities at the university level
Affinity Groups: Technology Disruptors & CRM
Technology Disruptors' Group (TDG)
Meets regularly to explore two key areas:
- Sensing the leading edges of the landscape of new technologies to identify trends early that might impact our industry
- Going deeper into how UNICON members can apply key technologies by sharing use cases in various forums
The group shares information with the membership at least three times per year, aligned with the timing of the three major UNICON conferences.
A highlight of the past year's TDG work was the adoption and launch of an aggregator platform for EdTech news, called Juicer.
CRM Group
Now with about 90 participants, meets virtually every other month to tackle key challenges including:
- CRM adoption and training strategies
- Lead scoring and grading systems
- Lead routing processes
- Reporting KPIs
What began as a Salesforce-focused discussion has expanded to explore various CRM systems and solutions used across member institutions.
Future meetings feature peer case studies showcasing successful CRM implementations, tool demonstrations and walkthroughs of various platforms, and expert insights from industry specialists.
Affinity Groups: Coffee Groups & Regional Networks
1. Coffee Groups
Participation continued to increase with topics ranging from strategic (market trends, AI, program portfolio) to operational (organisation structure, program evaluations, faculty bench challenges).
These groups, started during the pandemic, continue to provide small networking, learning, and best-practice sharing.
01:40
UNICON 2024 European Meet Up Highlights
2. European Meet-Up (EMU)
A group for members with their primary headquarters in Europe. This group meets once per year in person at a one-day event hosted by a Europe-based member school.
3. Latin America Coffee Group
Has recently gotten underway, providing schools based in Latin America with opportunities to discuss issues pertinent to their regional marketplace.
Professional Development: Leadership Academy
Leadership Academy 2025-2026
The Leadership Academy launches soon. Applications are now closed for our 2025-26 cohort - if you're interested in this 8-month learning experience on the business model for university-based executive education, visit the website and feel free to contact Taryn (tarynstreed@uniconexed.org) or me to be added to the waiting list for our 2026-27 cohort.
This year Peter Methot (Rutgers) takes the faculty director reins as Monica Sacristan (ITAM) ends her dedicated and successful tenure leading this popular program.
Previous Leadership Academy
The previous year's Leadership Academy graduated 30 participants in June, with high levels of satisfaction.
Find information about this unique and powerful learning opportunity for your team members here:
Educational Webinars & Learning Opportunities
First Webinar: The People Side
We launched our first of two webinars in a series on navigating executive education in the current challenging environment.
That webinar focused on "the people side" of leadership and featured two member-school faculty members:
- Gretchen Spreitzer, Associate Dean at Michigan Ross
- Gianpiero Petriglieri, Associate Professor at INSEAD
Upcoming Webinar: The Business Side
The second in the series, being scheduled for October 1 and 2, will focus on "the business side" of leading during the current challenging environment. UNICON members on our database, watch out for your invite!
Not on our mailing list yet?
New Learning Opportunities
An education task force is exploring potential new learning opportunities for junior staff members.
This endeavour is in response to what we learned from the Voice of the Customer Survey.
You will hear more about this soon.
Communications for Member Value
News Aggregator Launch
Working on research and recommendations from the Technology Disruptors Affinity Group, we launched a news aggregator.
This aggregator will, among other things, create an "Ed Tech in Exec Ed" digital board on our website so that you can quickly find the latest relevant developments in ed tech.
Board Leadership
New Board Members
We welcomed four new board members:
- Terance Wolfe (USC)
- Katarina Häag (Stockholm School of Economics)
- Nathalie Nawrocki (INSEAD)
- Alan Chen (CKGSB)
Outgoing Board Members
They replaced four board members finishing up their board service:
- Aisha Azhar (LUMS)
- Serge LaFrance (HEC Montreal)
- Jane Crombleholme (Manchester Alliance)
- Jean Choy (University of Washington)
Primary Representatives Gathering & Strategic Priorities
Primary Representatives Gathering
As part of our efforts to increase engagement of, and value for, our members, we held our first "All Prime Reps Meeting" in March, during which we:
- Shared results of the Voice of the Customer survey
- Held breakout sessions to generate implementation ideas
- Reviewed the responsibilities of the prime rep's role
- Received input on the board's strategic priorities
We will continue to hold this meeting at least once each year.
Find out more here:
Strategic Priorities FY25/26
One UNICON
Even amidst a fragmented and sometimes divisive geopolitical environment, we recognise that UNICON's strengths come from the power of the global community as a whole. We work collaboratively across borders and boundaries to provide knowledge, inspiration, perspectives and capabilities.
Member Value and Engagement
Providing information, ideas, development, and support through our many activities and the network of colleagues, and listening to our members for opportunities to do more.
Financial Sustainability for Member Value
Providing membership and access to our channels of value at an affordable level, and ensuring we have the funds for regular investment in infrastructure and systems to sustain and enhance that value.
Annual dues: $4300 with a standard $90 processing fee
Closing Message
This past year, via conferences, Zoom meetings, emails, and other means, I had the chance to interact with several hundred of our member schools' team members. I want to continue to stay connected, to listen, and to work with the board to deliver the content and process that is most meaningful to you. In doing this together, we enhance the impact we have on our schools, clients, society, and, no less importantly, on ourselves!
With kind regards,
Melanie Weaver Barnett
Executive Director, UNICON
2025 Executive Director Report