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Welcome to the May 2022 edition of Transparency, Credential Engine’s monthly newsletter! Over the past (almost!) five years, Credential Engine has grown the number of partners and state partnerships, expanded policy engagement and impact, and entered into ever-new aspects of credential transparency. With that comes a responsibility to provide the best resources possible, so we will be undertaking a redesign of our main website to better support and advance our work and the work of our partners. So, we ask you, what are you looking for in our new website? Contact us if you have any thoughts.
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The Credential Engine team mourns the passing of Steve Crawford, one of the founders of the historic body of work that led to the creation of the Credential Transparency Initiative, the Credential Transparency Description Language (CTDL), and to Credential Engine itself. Steve’s long, illustrious, and impactful career included time in academia, policy development and implementation, state government leadership, program management, and serving his country in the Army. While capturing all of his many contributions would require more time and space than we can do justice to here, it is safe to say that for many of us, our work has threads back to initiatives that Steve either launched, advanced or encouraged others to undertake. Our entire field owes more to him than we can know. Our thanks to Steve – it was an honor to work with him and to benefit from his wisdom, kindness, and vision.
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MCTA Announces Mini-grants to Advance Credential Transparency
Credential Engine and the Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC) announced 5 mini-grants within the Midwest Credential Transparency Alliance (MCTA) to support progress toward credential transparency and serve as examples to other states, systems, and providers. The mini-grants are being awarded to:
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Ferris State University (Michigan) will extend the work of MCTA by publishing information about graduate credentials and pathways to the Registry and making this information available throughout the Midwest.
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The Kansas Board of Regents will be using an API to publish program pathways, systemwide transfer information, military transfer credit, and other important details to the Registry which will assist students and parents to make informed choices in Kansas.
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Indiana Commission for Higher Education will be supporting outreach to and publishing from 27 independent colleges and universities in the state.
- Minnesota State Colleges and Universities are planning and implementing technology to publish pathway information. Lessons from this work can be shared across the region to help other states improve pathway transparency and navigation.
- Miami University Regionals (Ohio) will publish information about microcredentials to the Registry and identify transfer opportunities for microcredential students across the region.
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Invitation to attend Credential Engine’s open meeting of its Equity Advisory Council: Credential Engine invites the general public to join the Credential Engine team and our Equity Advisory Council members on Wednesday, May 25th at 2:00 pm ET to participate in the first open meeting for the Council on Credential Transparency & Equitable Pathways, Transfer, and Recognition of Learning. The goals of this Council are to identify the following as it relates to pathways and transfer: data that helps to describe how opportunities are intentionally designed for equity; the outcomes that demonstrate equity is being achieved; and the appropriate and effective use of these data to support individuals’ discovery and successful navigation of pathways and transfer to optimal and equitable outcomes.
This first open meeting will provide a brief introduction of council members, a council overview, and a presentation from Credential Engine’s Chief Technology Services Officer, Jeanne Kitchens, on Credential Engine’s current definitions of pathways, transfer, and recognition of learning and the terms they comprise. We will then have a conversation about data requirements for pathways and transfer when considered through the lens of equity. Interested in participating? Register today!
Credential Engine Update s its Currency Policy and Reports: Credential Engine’s technical team presented a webinar for its publishing partners that provided updates on the changes made to Credential Engine’s Currency Policy for publishing to and maintaining data about credentials in the Credential Registry. This presentation provided an overview of the new reports available to all publishers, which will enable them to easily identify any data quality issues and access instructions to update Registry information. Data in the Credential Registry is meant to have long-term permanence. Following the implementation of these changes, for each credential published there will now be a requirement that the publisher confirms the data is current and up to date at least every two years. Interested in learning more about these changes? Click here to learn more.
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U.S. House’s Reauthorization of WIOA Includes Credential Transparency: Credential Engine, our partners, and supporters applaud language in the House-passed Reauthorization of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act that will make data about providers, credentials, skills, outcomes, and quality indicators more transparent, linked, open, and interoperable using modern data formats that are both accessible to people and also machine-actionable on the open web. When data from WIOA performance reports and the Eligible Training Providers List can be easily included in web-based tools and services, it supports the search, discovery, comparison, analysis, navigation, and guidance capabilities necessary to help job-seekers find their best opportunities. It levels the playing field for who has access to information, and it fuels the creation of resources that empower people - including those not directly served by federal dollars - to find the pathways that are best for them, their families, and their education and employment goals. We encourage the inclusion of such language in the Senate version when it is introduced.
Apples-to-Apples: Reaching higher levels of postsecondary attainment and earning meaningful credentials is or should be, a top priority for state governments, educational institutions, and businesses. As discussed in a new blog “Apples-to-Apples Credentialing to Improve Access & Equity Outcomes”, Dr. John Lane, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Equity Initiatives at SHEEO, discusses the importance of accurate, accessible, and aligned credential information to support a state's economic and workforce development. With nearly one million unique credentials in the country, and no clear pathway forward for students, workers, employers, and policymakers to help understand the value of one credential versus another, a Credential Registry is one of the many tools created to assist stakeholders in creating student-facing platforms that support education and career goals. Furthermore, having a common transparency description language (CTDL) allows for assurance that credentialing information is open, linked, and interoperable within states and across state lines. Having all states participate in the Credential Registry can open the door to future policy that would benefit states’ populations, especially those historically marginalized.
Vermont Legislation: Vermont has passed legislation th at supports Advance Vermont’s critical work around building a web-based repository that collects and displays publicly available, nonconfidential information about postsecondary credentials of value available to Vermonters. The legislation also calls on Advance Vermont to facilitate conversations or provide information about national best practices in aligning, recognizing, measuring, tracking and promoting post-secondary credentials of value to the Vermont Department of Labor and Agency of Education. Credential Engine is working closely with Advance Vermont on these initiatives and is supporting Vermont’s credential transparency efforts
 Colorado Legislation: Colorado recently passed House Bill 22-1349, ‘Postsecondary Student Success Data System” which includes language calling on the Department of Higher Education to use ‘open-source data transparency languages that utilize open, interoperable data formats’ as they build out their data systems. Credential Engine continues to partner with Colorado on its credential transparency work.
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 Three states discuss the importance of Credential Transparency: With more than half of the states forging partnerships with Credential Engine, a commitment to credential transparency is growing across the country as states identify credential transparency as crucial for economic recovery and long-term flexibility. Specifically, in Alabama, Connecticut, and Florida, we know there are 23,000 combined credentials offered by providers based in their states, credentials that represent an opportunity for their residents to get ahead. These opportunities are made clearer and more attainable through credential transparency. In excerpts from Forbes “Can Connections Between Data Systems Propel Economic Recovery? Three States Say Yes.”, Alabama, Connecticut, and Florida representatives discuss how and why credential transparency is important for educational and workforce development in their states. To learn more, read Alabama, Connecticut, and Florida’s blogs.
NGA and JFF Launch Skills-Driven State Community of Practice project: The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center), in partnership with Jobs for the Future (JFF), has launched the Skills-Driven State Community of Practice project. The project is to help Governors’ offices and senior state officials better connect skills-based training to skills-based hiring practices and to consider promising design elements of Learning and Employment Record (LER) systems. The current labor shortage is a cause for concern for governors and state leaders, but with skills-based approaches to hiring and recruiting, pathways to good careers are more broadly accessible to workers and ultimately reduce workforce inequities. Technology plays a crucial role in allowing employers to embrace skills-based practices by enabling the adoption of IT systems that support digital LERs. Credential Engine is one of the national partners convened to advise and assist with the curation of the curriculum for the project. To read more about the project, click here.
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Credential Engine is looking for pilot partners to help test our new Pathway Builder tool: Credential Engine is looking for pilot partners to help test our new pathway builder tool for building and publishing education and career pathways to the Credential Registry. This tool is to replace, or provide another option, to the current spreadsheet upload to publish pathways. The goal is to provide a tool for publishing pathways to the Credential Registry that is intuitive and easy to use. We have already conducted interviews with partners who are in the process of or have developed education and career pathways to get feedback on the draft Pathway Builder designs. If you would like to test this tool with us, please contact us at [email protected].
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Data Quality Campaign announces Data Champions Collaborative: The Data Quality Campaign (DQC) launched its broad effort, the Data Champions Collaborative, to develop a new vision to make P-20W systems “robust, well-funded, responsive to community and policymaker needs, and built to adapt as information needs change.” The goal is to ultimately make federal leaders understand that by providing support and funding, they can send a clear signal to states that it's time to rethink their P-20W data systems. Having data systems that meet the needs of students to policymakers allows for innovation and change to occur. Credential Engine is involved in the effort to make credential data transparent and readily available. States will need support to implement these changes, and by already being involved with 28 states and regions, we can offer insight into how these states' data systems operate. Read more about the Data Champions Collaborative here.
New partnership: Credential Engine and ARM (Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing) Institute: Credential Engine is excited to announce our new partnership with the ARM Institute; it will assist students and workers looking for manufacturing careers working with robotics. The ARM Institute is a unique ecosystem of 330+ consortium members and partners across industry, academia, and government to make robotics, autonomy, and artificial intelligence more accessible to U.S. manufacturers. Additionally, the ARM Institute’s RoboticsCareer.org resource connects education seekers and employers with training options for manufacturing careers working with robotics.
This partnership is the conduit for the ARM Institute to publish its widely used Robotics Competency Framework and its Essential Soft Skills Framework (Robotics) to the Credential Registry. Both of these frameworks are widely used by employers and credential providers to coordinate skill-based pathways. Now that this information is in the Registry, it can be referenced by any linked open data application. To read the full press release, click here.
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JFF Horizons Summit, June 7th-8th
Credential Engine’s Chief Strategy Officer, Deb Everhart, will participate in a pre-summit interoperability demonstration event, ‘Digital Wallet Community Plugfest’ on June 6th. The plugfest encourages the development of a large and active marketplace of Learning and Employment Record (LER) technology, tools, and infrastructure with true multi-vendor, multi-platform interoperability.
SHRM Annual Conference & Expo, June 12th-15th
Deb Everhart will present at the Maximizing Talent Acquisition and Development with Verifiable Digital Credentials session. Along with her fellow presenters, they will discuss how interoperable, verifiable digital credentials can be used in hiring and development processes to empower employees and employers with a more complete and transparent understanding of people’s talents and competencies.
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