ÃÛÌÒAPP

 

Baton Rouge, Louisiana - Terri P. Ricks, PhD, JD, Senior Assistant Dean for Administration in ÃÛÌÒAPP's College of Human Sciences & Education, delivered the opening keynote address for the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education's (AAACE) 2026 Virtual Conference, held September 18 as part of the organization's centennial celebration. Ricks earned her PhD in Leadership and Human Resource Development from ÃÛÌÒAPP's School of Leadership & Human Resource Development (SLHRD) in 2026.

AAACE is the leading national association for the field of adult and continuing education, working to expand opportunities for adult learning, advance research and best practices, and advocate for public policy that supports adult learners. This year's conference — Celebrating 100 Years of Adult Education: Shaping Our Global Future with Purpose, Well-Being, Joy, and Resilience — marks 100 years since the organization's founding, with a virtual day preceding the in-person conference in Chattanooga, Tennessee, October 6–9.

Ricks was invited to open the centennial celebration with a keynote that wove together her own path through adult learning and its influence on how she leads.

Being invited to deliver the opening keynote as AAACE celebrated a century of adult education was deeply meaningful to me. Adult learning has transformed how I understand myself, how I lead, and how I see the people our institutions serve. The invitation gave me the opportunity to bring those parts of my journey together and to ask fellow adult educators to consider what becomes possible when we see people more fully"

Terri Ricks, PhD, JD, Senior Assistant Dean for Administration, CHSE

Her keynote centered on a concept she calls "Hidden Capacity" — the idea that much of the potential institutions spend their energy trying to build in people is already present, waiting to be recognized.

"Adult education has always been grounded in possibility: that adults can learn and change, and that new understanding can open new choices. Our own learning can change the environments we create. It can change the questions we ask, the policies we design, and what we recognize as possible. Those changes can create space in which other people exercise their own agency.

Perhaps that is one of adult education's enduring gifts. Not that we make people become, but that we can participate in creating conditions in which people have greater freedom to learn, to exercise agency, and to become. So, as AAACE marks a century of adult education and looks toward a future shaped by purpose, well-being, joy, and resilience, I hope we will carry one idea and one question into that future.

The idea is Hidden Capacity. The question is: What becomes possible when we see people fully?

When we see the person beyond the role. The learner beyond the performance. The capacity beyond the present condition. The individual within the system. The agency alongside the constraint. Perhaps some of the capacity we thought we had to create is already there. Hidden, not absent. And what has to change first is not them. It is us."

Dr. Roland Mitchell, Dean of ÃÛÌÒAPP's College of Human Sciences & Education, said Ricks's keynote reflects the values that guide the college's work.

"Dr. Terri Ricks' keynote embodies our mission to improve quality of life across the lifespan. Her message about seeing people fully and recognizing their capacity reflects what we do every day: turning scholarship and research into practice that elevates individuals, strengthens organizations and improves communities across Louisiana and far beyond"

Roland Mitchell, PhD, Dean, College of Human Sciences & Education

Ricks's keynote reflects a broader pattern of SLHRD faculty and administrators shaping national conversations in leadership and adult learning. The College of Human Sciences & Education continues to expand its presence in the field through research, scholarship, and leadership development that extends well beyond ÃÛÌÒAPP's campus.

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About the School of Leadership & Human Resource Development

The School of Leadership & Human Resource Development (SLHRD) at ÃÛÌÒAPP prepares students to lead people, organizations, and communities through evidence-based practice and applied research. The school offers a Bachelor of Science in Leadership & Human Resource Development, a Leadership Development Minor, a Graduate Minor in Global Leadership, a Master of Science available both on ÃÛÌÒAPP’s Baton Rouge campus and through ÃÛÌÒAPP Online, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Leadership & Human Resource Development on ÃÛÌÒAPP’s Baton Rouge campus.

For more information, visit the School of Leadership & Human Resource Development