diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-test-deploy.yml b/.github/workflows/build-test-deploy.yml
index a0072348..87fac0e2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-test-deploy.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-test-deploy.yml
@@ -22,8 +22,7 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       matrix:
         python-version: ['3.8', '3.9', '3.10', '3.11']
-        os-version: ['ubuntu-20.04', 'windows-latest', 'macos-latest']
-# Pinned Ubuntu version to 20.04 since no Python 3.6 builds available on ubuntu-latest (22.04) as of 2022-12-7.
+        os-version: ['ubuntu-latest', 'windows-latest', 'macos-latest']
 #        os-version: [ubuntu-latest, windows-latest, macos-latest]
 
     steps:
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index f955f4e9..75252845 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,13 @@
+v1.11.4 (2025-05-02)
+--------------------
+**Improvements**
+- Improved `upload_local_model` to allow for SAS Model Manager to properly intake local ASTORE models.
+
+v1.11.3 (2025-04-29)
+--------------------
+**Improvements**
+- Added `upload_local_model` to `tasks.py`, which can be used to upload local directories to SAS Model Manager without any file generation.
+
 v1.11.2 (2025-04-08)
 --------------------
 **Bugfixes**
diff --git a/examples/pzmm_generate_complete_model_card.ipynb b/examples/pzmm_generate_complete_model_card.ipynb
index 3a68271b..f49efd56 100644
--- a/examples/pzmm_generate_complete_model_card.ipynb
+++ b/examples/pzmm_generate_complete_model_card.ipynb
@@ -578,7 +578,7 @@
     "        \"MartialStatus_Married_AF_spouse\", 'MartialStatus_Married_civ_spouse', 'MartialStatus_Never_married', 'MartialStatus_Divorced', 'MartialStatus_Separated', \n",
     "        'MartialStatus_Widowed', 'Race_White', 'Race_Black', 'Race_Asian_Pac_Islander', 'Race_Amer_Indian_Eskimo', 'Race_Other', 'Relationship_Husband', \n",
     "        'Relationship_Not_in_family', 'Relationship_Own_child', 'Relationship_Unmarried', 'Relationship_Wife', 'Relationship_Other_relative', 'WorkClass_Private',\n",
-    "        'Education_Bachelors'\n",
+    "        'Education_Bachelors', 'Education_Some_college', 'Education_HS_grad'\n",
     "    ]\n",
     "    # OHE columns must be removed after data combination\n",
     "    predictor_columns = ['Age', 'HoursPerWeek', 'WorkClass_Private', 'WorkClass_Self', 'WorkClass_Gov', \n",
diff --git a/src/sasctl/__init__.py b/src/sasctl/__init__.py
index e4c7a0e1..18da61b8 100644
--- a/src/sasctl/__init__.py
+++ b/src/sasctl/__init__.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 # Copyright © 2019, SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA.  All Rights Reserved.
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
-__version__ = "1.11.2"
+__version__ = "1.11.4"
 __author__ = "SAS"
 __credits__ = [
     "Yi Jian Ching",
diff --git a/src/sasctl/tasks.py b/src/sasctl/tasks.py
index d466c10f..6bf5c67b 100644
--- a/src/sasctl/tasks.py
+++ b/src/sasctl/tasks.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Union
 from warnings import warn
+import zipfile
 
 import pandas as pd
 
@@ -264,10 +265,9 @@ def _register_sas_model(
             out_var = []
             in_var = []
             import copy
-            import zipfile as zp
 
             zip_file_copy = copy.deepcopy(zip_file)
-            tmp_zip = zp.ZipFile(zip_file_copy)
+            tmp_zip = zipfile.ZipFile(zip_file_copy)
             if "outputVar.json" in tmp_zip.namelist():
                 out_var = json.loads(
                     tmp_zip.read("outputVar.json").decode("utf=8")
@@ -327,8 +327,8 @@ def _register_sas_model(
 
         if current_session().version_info() < 4:
             # Upload the model as a ZIP file if using Viya 3.
-            zipfile = utils.create_package(model, input=input)
-            model = mr.import_model_from_zip(name, project, zipfile, version=version)
+            zip_file = utils.create_package(model, input=input)
+            model = mr.import_model_from_zip(name, project, zip_file, version=version)
         else:
             # If using Viya 4, just upload the raw AStore and Model Manager will handle inspection.
             astore = cas.astore.download(rstore=model)
@@ -998,3 +998,81 @@ def score_model_with_cas(
     print(score_execution_poll)
     score_results = se.get_score_execution_results(score_execution, use_cas_gateway)
     return score_results
+
+
+def upload_local_model(
+    path: Union[str, Path],
+    model_name: str,
+    project_name: str,
+    repo_name: Union[str, dict] = None,
+    version: str = "latest",
+):
+    """A function to upload a model and any associated files to the model repository.
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    path : Union[str, Path]
+        The path to the model and any associated files.
+    model_name : str
+        The name of the model.
+    project_name : str
+        The name of the project to which the model will be uploaded.
+    repo_name : Union[str, dict], optional
+        repository in which to create the project
+    version: str, optional
+        The version of the model being uploaded. Defaults to 'latest'. For new model version, use 'new'.
+    """
+    # Use default repository if not specified
+    try:
+        if repo_name is None:
+            repository = mr.default_repository()
+        else:
+            repository = mr.get_repository(repo_name)
+    except HTTPError as e:
+        if e.code == 403:
+            raise AuthorizationError(
+                "Unable to register model.  User account does not have read permissions "
+                "for the /modelRepository/repositories/ URL. Please contact your SAS "
+                "Viya administrator."
+            )
+        raise e
+
+    # Unable to find or create the repo.
+    if not repository and not repo_name:
+        raise ValueError("Unable to find a default repository")
+    if not repository:
+        raise ValueError(f"Unable to find repository '{repo_name}'")
+
+    # Get project from repo if it exists; if it doesn't, create a new one
+    p = mr.get_project(project_name)
+    if p is None:
+        p = mr.create_project(project_name, repository)
+
+    # zip up all files in directory (except any previous zip files)
+    zip_name = str(Path(path) / (model_name + ".zip"))
+    file_names = sorted(Path(path).glob("*[!(zip|sasast)]"))
+    sasast_file = next(Path(path).glob("*.sasast"), None)
+    if sasast_file:
+        # If a sasast file is present, upload it as well
+        with open(sasast_file, "rb") as sasast:
+            sasast_model = sasast.read()
+            data = {
+                "name": model_name,
+                "projectId": p.id,
+                "type": "ASTORE",
+                "versionOption": version,
+            }
+            files = {"files": (sasast_file.name, sasast_model)}
+            model = mr.post("/models", files=files, data=data)
+        for file in file_names:
+            with open(file, "r") as f:
+                mr.add_model_content(model, f, file.name)
+    else:
+        with zipfile.ZipFile(str(zip_name), mode="w") as zFile:
+            for file in file_names:
+                zFile.write(str(file), arcname=file.name)
+        # upload zipped model
+        with open(zip_name, "rb") as zip_file:
+            model = mr.import_model_from_zip(
+                model_name, project_name, zip_file, version=version
+            )
+    return model