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Furman’s CIL earns two national awards from UPCEA
Team members from the Center for Innovative Leadership hold two UPCEA awards recognizing the organization’s impact in advancing professional and continuing education. From left: Garrett Stern, Sarah Waylett, Caroline Owen and John Petersen.
Furman University’s Center for Innovative Leadership has been named a recipient of two prestigious awards by UPCEA, the University Professional and Continuing Education Association, as part of its 2026 Association Awards program. Award recipients were honored at the 2026 UPCEA Annual Conference, April 15–17 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Furman received the UPCEA International Program of Excellence Award for its Certificate in Corporate Entrepreneurship. This award recognizes programs that promote the exchange of knowledge and ideas of global significance. The certificate grew out of a co-created partnership with Michelin North America, designed to build intrapreneurial skills within the global company, and has since evolved into a certificate program available to other companies in South Carolina beyond Michelin.
The Center for Innovative Leadership was also named the UPCEA South Region Program Award recipient for Leadership Abbeville, which was recognized for its regional impact.
“This recognition is an example of what is possible when higher education and industry come together with a shared purpose,” said Garrett Stern, executive director for the Center for Innovative Leadership. “Our work with Michelin and the communities we serve through Leadership Abbeville exemplifies Furman’s commitment to education that meets people and businesses where they are and prepares them for where they’re going.”
In addition to receiving awards, Stern and Sarah Waylett, director of product experience at the Center for Innovative Leadership, were featured in prominent roles at the conference as session leaders and panelists. Stern moderated a Credential Innovation session, which connected practitioners advancing flexible, skills-focused credentialing pathways, and served as a panelist for Workforce Pell: What We Know, What We’re Testing, and What We’re Learning Together, which explored the practical implications of Workforce Pell Funding for institutions nationwide.
Stern and Waylett also co-led the session From Custom to Credential: Driving Innovation Ecosystems at Michelin and Beyond, sharing how Furman’s partnership with Michelin came together, its outcomes and why the co-created curriculum model is worth replicating for other institutions seeking to build high-impact industry partnerships.
UPCEA has recognized member contributions to the field of online and professional education since 1953, honoring achievements in innovative programming, community development, research and more.