Publications and Events: In The News

How Technical Job Seekers Can Maximize Online Learning Credentials
Credentials are an increasingly valuable indicator of competency and potential in today’s technical job market. In fact, many technical employers, such as manufacturers, prioritize certifications that demonstrate practical skills over traditional degrees. But not all credentials are created equal. “There are indications that people come to [employers] and do not have the skills and competencies as advertised from their particular credential. And that's a major problem,” according to Dr. Swift.

The Edge: A university system bets big by embracing microcredentials
Goldie Blumenstyk, a senior writer at The Chronicle covering innovation in and around higher ed, shares insights on the University of Texas System’s big push into microcredentials, and partnerships with Workcred and Coursera, that suggests the university’s understanding of a different, broader role it needs to play in the future of higher education.

Manufacturers provide extensive on-the-job training but are slow to adopt credentials, study reveals
Kathryn Moody, senior editor at HRDIVE, highlights Workcred’s recent report, Examining the Return on Investment of Manufacturing Credentials, which uncovers why many employers don’t understand credentials or their current value in the market.

Microcredentials Bring Big Opportunities to Health Information Professionals, Employers
In fields such as health information, employees increasingly need to continually reinvent themselves. “People need to upskill and re-skill these days. And, in fact, that will be the trend of the future. With microcredentials, there will be more emphasis on upskilling and re-skilling than entry into the professions, although that certainly will never go away,” says Roy Swift, PhD, executive director of Workcred, a Washington, DC-based organization devoted to strengthening workforce quality by improving the credentialing system. “Because of everything changing so much, these skill bundles called microcredentials are going to be more and more important in order to signal to the employer that you have updated knowledges and skills.”

The Edge: Ready or not, AI is here
Goldie Blumenstyk, senior writer at The Chronicle covering innovation in and around higher ed, reports on a new center that will study and conduct experiments on how artificial intelligence could reshape higher ed and the workplace in this issue of “The Edge.”

Integrating Microcredentials into Undergraduate Experiences
Workcred and the University of Texas System released a report last month titled Integrating Microcredentials into Undergraduate Experiences. If your institution(s) is considering developing and implementing microcredentials, I strongly recommend reading this report first. It could save you a lot of time as well as avoid the development of microcredentials that may not be viewed as valuable by either students or employers.

Growth of credentials presents implications, opportunities
According to new report published by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) – in partnership with Workcred as part of their Stakeholder Roundtable that spent two years studying the changing landscape of credentials – the wide availability of credentials should be good news for credential-seekers. But the credential marketplace is confusing, and individuals can easily get lost trying to navigate it. Improving and expanding quality standards, and making those standards consistent across all providers, would benefit not only credential-seekers, but also credential providers and employers. The report also looks at how HLC can lead in executing a plan for accrediting credentials. Accreditors can work with institutions to develop quality assurance mechanisms for non-degree credentials. That work can “signal the value of those credentials and encourage the development of credential pathways,” the report says.

The Appeal of Course Sharing
In “The Job,” weekly newsletter from Open Campus, Paul Fain highlights Workcred, Corporation for a Skilled Workforce, and the George Washington Institute of Public Policy efforts to illuminate certifications and their vast potential at enabling economic mobility, especially for those lacking bachelor’s degrees. Yet despite their appeal, certifications may be the least understood form credential. They often are confused with certificates. And many employers, workers, students, policymakers, and education practitioners know little about the use and value of certifications. The group is hoping to change that.

It’s Time to Reboot Our Thinking About Adult Learners in a Digitally Transformed World
As our economy enters a new era, so too must the world of postsecondary education, reasons columnist Sean Gallagher. New credential frameworks involving cross sector collaboration are emerging – one example from Workcred and its partners focuses on embedding certifications into bachelor’s degree programs, enhancing the job market relevance of adult degree programs.

Credentials Must Be Stackable, Not Sleestak-Able
Just as degrees are not all created equal, short-term credentials are not all created equal, Ryan Craig, senior contributor at Forbes explains. What everyone seems to agree on is stackable credentials. As long as short-term credentials stack to longer (more respectable) credentials, everyone loves stacking… Stackable credentials are also a plausible strategy for tens of thousands of bachelor’s degree programs currently leading to excessive student loan debt and underemployment. College and university degrees could be dramatically improved by incorporating short-term skill-based credentials, which Craig supposes, is exactly how Workcred can help.

An Informative Dialogue with Workcred’s Executive Director Roy Swift on Key WFD and Credentialing Issues
George Lorenzo of the Workforce Monitor highlights veteran professional, Dr. Roy Swift, Workcred’s executive director, on workforce development and other credentialing issues. Among the issues discussed include the complexity related to credentialing, a lack of collaboration in the credentialing system, the need for standardized credentialing data, and a more robust and strengthened research studies and methods.

From Badging to Blockchain: Documenting Skills Learned
Increasingly, higher education is placed in the position of updating and upgrading the curriculum to assure that students are prepared for the careers of today – not those of yesterday or those careers that will never materialize due to the impact of artificial intelligence, shifting societal needs, or the changing economy. The key initial step in the process is to engage employers with educators to determine the skills and abilities that are needed today and in the next few years. Best practices are being developed by organizations such as Workcred for how to best create credentials that recognize and document the achievement of competency in a given area.

Liberal Arts Colleges are Adding Career and Technical Training
While many people are still out of work and looking for opportunities to get back into the labor market, a growing number of liberal arts colleges are responding to student and parent demands for a return on their tuition investment by adding practical training that has proven value to employers. This story was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education, and highlights various ways in which several higher education institutions are embedding career and technical education into academic degree programs.

Whoever the Winners Are, These Adult-Student Priorities Should Be High on the Agenda
In “The Edge,” weekly newsletter from The Chronicle of Higher Education, Workcred and the National Governors Association are commended for highlighting how states can better assess the quality of nondegree credentials through joint report, “Understanding Quality: The Role of States in Supporting Quality Non-Degree Credentials.” See other ways in which Workcred elevates the visibility, relevance, and value of quality credentials through its publications.

Make $100,000/Year By Filling The Cyber Skills Gap
Although researchers, businesses, and policymakers have long pointed towards the shortage of skilled workers in the economy, cybersecurity is one of the areas that exhibits it the most. Education has a critical role to play in addressing the skills gap, but the current infrastructure needs to be reformed – we need a new model of higher education, as Forbes contributor Christos Makridis reasons. Fortunately, organizations like Workcred, he points out, have already done the heavy lifting of pulling together the materials to better understand the costs and benefits of different non-degree educational options.

More Students Are ‘Stacking’ Credentials en Route to a Degree
Wired, a monthly news magazine that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics, quotes Workcred’s Karen Elzey, associate director, as it profiles a student who is in the process of "stacking up" high-demand industry certifications. Elzey explains in the article how graduating with a combination of certificates or certifications and a bachelor’s degree can show employers that candidates have a breadth of knowledge.

Some colleges and universities are bringing the classroom to the workplace
At a time when American employers — and Americans in general — think colleges and universities aren’t bringing workplace skills to the classroom, some are actually bringing the classroom to the workplace, helping to bridge the gap between what students learn and what employers say they need them to know. Karen Elzey, associate executive director of Workcred, believes the greatest benefit is in learning while doing. “The ability to learn and then practice and then come back and learn more —that seems like a combination that has a lot of potential for students as they demonstrate and prove to employers what graduates are able to do,” said Elzey.