See what's new with Credential Engine in "Transparency" our monthly newsletter. 

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Transparency
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January 18th, 2023
Happy New Year! Welcome to the first 2023 edition of Transparency! We are looking forward to another productive and successful year as we work to advance credential transparency. There is already much to be excited about, and we can't wait to share it with you over the coming months. Today, we are excited to share helpful resources and a few updates - including our updated LER guide, staff updates, and our newly redesigned website!
Jump ahead:

> Spotlight (#Spotlight)
> U (#Policy) pdates (#Updates)
> State Connections (#State)
> Technology & Support (#Technology)
> News (#News)
> Events (#Events)


** Spotlight.
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[link removed]
Credential Engine has a newly redesigned website! Over the past months, the Credential Engine team has been working alongside an outside group, Online Optimism, to redesign our main website ([link removed]) . The goal of this redesign was to create a website that helped tell our story, encourage engagement and partnerships, facilitate finding and benefiting from our tools and resources, and advancing our mission. Our mission of mapping the credential landscape and empowering individuals to find the best pathways for them is a lofty goal, but through consistent and accessible information, we know that it can be achieved. With that, the first step is to have a website people can easily navigate. We encourage you all to go to our website and click around.

We welcome all input and would love to hear from you with any comments or suggestions. Please contact Devin Peelman ([email protected]), Credential Engine’s Communications Manager, with any input.


** Updates.
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Staff Update: Credential Engine is excited to welcome Dr. Chantel Rice and Jared Diener to the Credential Engine team! Chantel and Jared are serving as our new State Partnerships Managers. In this role, they are managing and supporting state and regional projects to increase credential transparency and post-secondary pathway awareness. Learn more about the Credential Engine staff here ([link removed]) .

[link removed] and Employment Record Action Guide: Credential Engine, in collaboration with numerous experts, has updated our Learning and Employment Record (LER) Action Guide ([link removed]) . The guide describes the phases and steps that stakeholders can take to develop and sustain trusted LER ecosystems. It is based on Credential Engine’s widely and successfully used State Roadmap and Action Guide for Transparency ([link removed]) . The big picture goal is to ensure that policy and state actions create ecosystems where LERs are widely accessible, understood, and trusted, inclusive of all aspects of an individual’s education, training, military, experiential learning, and work achievements, and securely shareable to connect people with
opportunities. If you’d like to provide feedback, please email [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .

Credential Engine CEO Joins Velocity Network Foundation Board: Scott Cheney, Credential Engine CEO, has been elected to serve on the 2023 Velocity Network Foundation Board ([link removed]) . Along with seven other industry leaders, Cheney was elected in the first democratic elections for the board of the foundation. The Velocity Network is a non-profit membership organization, hosting the leading workforce-tech and ed-tech vendors and solution providers, on a mission to build the next-gen data utility layer underlying the global labor market. Credential Engine is a member of the Velocity Network, working with other members to include the Credential Transparency Description Language (CTDL) as the semantic layer of this network, providing shared meaning across credentials from numerous providers.

Upcoming Advisory Group Announcement: Credential Engine is standing up a new CTDL Advisory Group (CAG). The CAG will be open to participation and all are welcome to join. The CAG will provide important updates to CTDL developments and opportunities, and provide input to planning, expanding, and global positioning of CTDL to help power data for talent ecosystems. This group will be composed of both a principal group of leading experts in areas that are critical to powering talent ecosystems’ data internationally and open participation. If you are interested in improving talent ecosystems’ data by contributing towards CTDL developments and adoption within the frame of linked, open, interoperable data, then keep an eye out for an upcoming announcement from Credential Engine on how you can get involved.

Upcoming Task Group Announcement: Credential Engine is standing up a new Equity Task Group. This task group will focus on data that includes support (e.g., pre-enrollment, post-enrollment, post-exit), demographic types of data and information about how organizations develop and implement equity policies, missions, and more. If you are interested in participating in this task group, keep an eye out for additional information from Credential Engine on how to get involved.


** State Connections.
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Colorado Partnership: Colorado Workforce Development Council announced a $500,000 grant from Walmart in support of Colorado’s Advancing Individual Ownership of Assets and Career Determination initiative. The grant will enable the Colorado Workforce Development Council, Colorado Department of Higher Education, Credential Engine, and partners to help Coloradans make informed career decisions and access quality training and employment. The grant objectives will help strengthen connections between employers in need of talent and workers with job-relevant skills to ease hiring challenges and help Coloradans obtain quality jobs with a path to prosperity. Read more about the grant objectives here ([link removed]) .


** Technology & Support.
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Enhttps://docs.google.com/document/d/1vBmVd_t_514NmrLb3hWGwzEUteAaNuREwro7DaEIaqU/edit#heading=h.uyis002z514griching Open Badges with Credential Transparency - Guidance for Issuers: Credential Engine’s EdTech Advisory Group has produced a new resource concerning how to enrich Open Badges with CTDL data in the Registry. Badges are issued for a variety of achievements, and linking them to CTDL data in the Registry can make their meaning and value more explicit. This guidance document is intended to assist credential providers in publishing badges to the Credential Registry and supplementing them with CTDL context. Addressing the value of these connections provides a foundation for Credential Engine's forthcoming Open Badge Publisher application. We encourage all badge issuers to review and utilize this guidance document to take advantage of the benefits of linking their badges to CTDL data in the Credential Registry. View the guidance document here
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Proposed Changes to the CTDL: Credential Engine is proposing changes to the CTDL to expand the Associate Degree, Bachelor Degree, and Master Degree subclasses to include subtypes that provide more specificity about commonly offered degrees. The Credential Engine team goes through a rigorous and well-documented process to add terms to the CTDL and to make sure all comments are considered. If you would like to be included in this process or would like additional information, please contact us at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .


** News.
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1. Counting U.S. Secondary and Postsecondary Credentials Report (2022) | Credential Engine ([link removed])
2. Education and Training Expenditures in the U.S. Report (2022) | Credential Engine ([link removed])


** Events.
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INQAAHE Talks on the International Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Tertiary Education (ISGs): A Global Perspective and Benefits

January 24th, 7:00 AM EST/1:00 PM GMT - Deb Everhart, Credential Engine CSO, along with other tertiary education global experts, will be on a panel at the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) Talk Session. The webinar is a unique opportunity for attendees to reflect on the changing paradigm of tertiary education and the role of INQAAHE's new International Standards and Guidelines for Tertiary Education Quality Assurance (ISGs). Register Today. ([link removed])

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