2025 Executive Director Report
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 25, 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 [email protected].
Benchmarking
The previous year's benchmarking study yielded a response rate of 90%
Annual Benchmarking Study
The annual Benchmarking Study and Report is underway, and the final deadline for submitting your data is September 7th. If you haven't yet, please begin putting your data submission together as the deadline is looming. Don't delay, because you receive this valuable report only if your school participates.
Members share that they use this study to:
- Identify opportunities
- Determine gaps they may want to close
- Share with their teams as input to strategic planning
- Communicate with deans and school leadership their performance relative to peer schools
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
FY25 Primary Research
The FY25 primary research project, entitled "Choosing the Right Learning Partner for the Right Job: How talent leaders choose learning partners and what drives their decisions," was the first research project in the newly established "NexED" research initiative with IEDP. All research papers can be found here: UNICON Research.
Affinity Groups: Technology Disruptors & CRM
Tech Disruptors: INSEAD VR & AI Webinar
- Tuesday, September 9th at 5pm CET (Americas, Europe & Africa)
- Wednesday, September 10th at 9am CET (Asia-Pacific, Europe & Africa)
Join The Tech Disruptors Group webinar for an exciting & experiential webinar where INSEAD will showcase how they are revolutionizing education with their Virtual Reality Immersive Learning Solutions, adding significant value to the learning experience. As pioneers in developing VR experiences for MBAs and Executives, they are now also harnessing Al to create personalized and high agency learning experiences for in-class and asynchronous settings.
The vision is to continuously push the boundaries, transforming our learners to protagonists, making them active participants in the learning journey. Discover how INSEAD achieved this and explore how you can leverage these solutions in your institution.
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
After holding a successful meeting with industry speakers Deepa Bedi and Anne Early, the group's next meeting is scheduled to October 15th, 10.30am EST.
To join the CRM Group, email [email protected]. Open to all staff working at UNICON member schools interested in CRM!
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.
Communications for Member Value
LinkedIn Community Growth
Our LinkedIn Community grew 63% from 2,015 to 3,300 followers, creating an even richer community for conversation.
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
1
New Board Members
We welcomed four new board members:
- Terance Wolfe (USC)
- Katarina Häag (Stockholm School of Economics)
- Nathalie Nawrocki (INSEAD)
- Alan Chen (CKGSB)
2
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)
3
Board Selection Process
Board members are selected via two methods:
- The annual election
- Appointment by membership committee recommendation and board sanction
You can always see who is on the board here: https://uniconexed.org/board-and-committees
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.
Strategic Priorities FY25/26
1
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.
2
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.
3
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