Key points:
- There is increased momentum for credential innovation, but a lack of consistent and scalable processes
- Skills-based hiring gets a push at the federal level
- Speaking the same language: Defining skills for digital credentials
- For more news on credentials, visit eCN’s Teaching & Learning hub
A new higher-ed playbook aims to accelerate the development and delivery of non-credit, short-term credentials that are effectively directed at the workplace.
Building Capacity, Expanding Pathways: Accelerating the Growth of Credential Innovation in Higher Education, from online and professional education association UPCEA and supported by a grant from Walmart, features lessons learned and promising practices discovered by 10 institutions during a year-long project focused on credential innovation and grounded by collaboration with the business community.
The 10 institutions, which were selected from approximately 40 applicants, vary in size and represent different institutional types (public/private and Carnegie category) and geographic regions across the U.S.
Research released by UPCEA earlier this year as part of the grant-funded project revealed increased momentum for credential innovation, but a lack of consistent and scalable processes for developing and pricing alternative credential programs. The research suggested that one of the ways institutions can advance these programs is by engaging with employers.
“This project allowed UPCEA to help 10 varied institutions engage more deeply with industry partners to create the building blocks for developing in-demand microcredentials,” said Amy Heitzman, UPCEA Deputy CEO, chief learning officer, and co-principal investigator for the grant. “By leveraging custom research, the power of peer mentoring, and each institution’s unique relationship in the community, we collectively have moved the needle forward to help build capacity critical to learner success.”
The playbook outlines several action items based on feedback from surveys and benchmarking groups:
1. Microcredentials should be part of the strategic program portfolio for all institutions of higher education. Additionally, institutions should resource their microcredential activities appropriately for sustainability and growth.
2. Program ideation and development should routinely include employers and corporate partners. Employer and corporate partnerships create buy-in and can cultivate demand for the credentials as well as help market the offerings.
3. Institutions should determine the right business model for their microcredential portfolios, and include the revenue from microcredentials as part of their portfolio to ensure sustainability. Further, they should have one tracking system for the entire portfolio of microcredential offerings, along with one system that keeps track of gross and net revenue.
The support provided to each participating institution included custom market opportunity research, interviews with local businesses, and one-on-one consultations that provided individual assistance and encouragement. This effort produced local business connections that generated an outline for at least one custom or semi-custom noncredit training program.
“It’s essential that our nation’s workforce receive continual training in order for it to remain competitive in our fast-moving economy–microcredentials and other noncredit training fill this need,” explained Aaron Brower, strategic advisor to UPCEA and co-principal investigator for the grant. “This project allowed UPCEA to find even more ways to help colleges and universities expand their ability to offer the high-quality microcredentials that are most needed by their local businesses and communities.”
The playbook also highlights 10 steps to continue to move the field forward and support institutions across the country as they engage businesses to develop workforce-related microcredentials:
a1. Institutions are at varying stages of progress with regard to their work in microcredentials. Moving from design and planning to implementation can be challenging for many. Looking ahead, UPCEA will work with the 10 consortium institutions, and any interested UPCEA member institution, to scope a specific project to help them implement a key part of their plan.
2. Institutions struggle with university-to-business outreach to effectively engage employers and corporate partners in microcredential work. UPCEA has built strength in this area to support institutions in their outreach to businesses.
3. All institutions in this project very much appreciated custom market research, either to highlight/fine-tune new program areas to pursue, or to confirm their own market research. UPCEA will continue to promote its ability to provide this service to members.
4. All institutions appreciated the opportunity to use UPCEA’s new Credential Maturity Index as a pre- and post-project self-assessment tool to help them identify areas of institutional strengths to lean into, and areas of need for which they can advocate for resources to address.
5. All institutions appreciated that UPCEA interviewed their local businesses. They
were interested to know who was interviewed, and some appreciated direct introductions to these business leaders. This speaks to UPCEA’s ability to identify
specific potential business partners and broker relationships between them.
6. If there was a component of program development where institutions needed help, it was how to efficiently conduct competition/saturation analyses. Likewise, about half of the institutions needed business model support to fully expense their programs and generate projections. Providing these specific supports are areas that UPCEA will continue to promote in the microcredential space.
7. UPCEA believes that the office that oversees online and professional continuing education should be centrally organized and academically decentralized for its noncredit and microcredential work as well as for its for-credit programs.
8. Almost all consortium members described that their institutions were going
through reorganizations that directly impacted them. This may reflect that higher education is living through an especially volatile time; the “new normal” is adapting to continual change.
9. Not surprisingly, “traditional” institutions, those who primarily serve residential
undergraduate and graduate students, were most likely to approach their noncredit and microcredential work similar to how they approach for-credit programming: driven
by academic departments and using business relationships to validate curriculum
rather than in the ideation process. Likewise, these institutions were hamstrung
by legacy campus operations tailored to their traditional audiences rather than
flexible to educational products, new audiences, and new community partnerships. Each of the 10 consortium institutions generated successful projects. But
some of the consortium members had harder hills to climb.
10. There was no one-size-fits-all route to success in the microcredential space. Each consortium institution became successful in its own way. Institutions across the nation have their own opportunities and barriers. UPCEA will continue to fulfill its mission by supporting all institutions individually and directly, and through its rich network of convenings and relationships.
UPCEA is making the playbook available to all institutions seeking to accelerate their own efforts to produce noncredit microcredentials directed toward their local, regional or statewide business communities.
This press release originally appeared online.
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