Workcred Executive Director Presents at Association of Test Publishers Conference, Highlighting Initiatives Strengthening the Credentialing Marketplace

3/14/2017


Roy Swift, Ph.D., executive director of Workcred, an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) affiliate, presented at the recent Association of Test Publishers (ATP) Innovations in Testing 2017 conference in Scottsdale, AZ, where he highlighted major emerging initiatives related to the credentialing marketplace, and how stakeholders can get involved. The annual event was an opportunity for assessment-industry professionals from practice areas including certification/licensure, clinical, educational, industrial/organizational, and workforce skills credentialing to collaborate and discuss the latest innovations and issues in testing and assessment.

Dr. Swift's presentation, "A Vision for the Credentialing Marketplace," emphasized the importance of credentials in a competitive workforce and the significance of improving the credentialing marketplace through transparencyso that educators, employers, employees, students, and other relevant stakeholders know the true value of credentials. Dr. Swift has played a major role in strengthening U.S. workforce credentialing throughout his career, including as the former chief of workforce development officer and senior director of personnel credentialing programs at ANSI.

Under Dr. Swift's leadership, the ANSI affiliate Workcred serves to strengthen workforce quality by improving the credentialing system, ensuring its ongoing relevance, and preparing employers, workers, educators, and governments to use it effectively. It also serves to break through the confusion of credentialing through research, consulting, education, and fora, with the mission to improve the quality, transparency, portability, and market value of credentials.

A 501(c)3 organization, Workcred works closely with government, corporations, education institutions, and professional and trade organizations to evaluate the quality and value of current credentials to industry, revise current credentials, and build new credentials to meet a specified standard and validated industry needs. [Read more in Dr. Swift's editorial published in Standards Engineering, the journal of SES - the Society for Standards Professionals].

In his presentation at the ATP conference, Dr. Swift highlighted a leading example of an effort that serves the credentialing marketplace, Credential Engine, a 501(c)3 organization whose mission is to improve transparency in the credentialing marketplace. To better align credentials with the needs of all stakeholders, Credential Engine is bringing to scale a web-based Credential Registry that will enable job seekers, students, workers, and employers to search for and compare credentials, just as travel apps are used to compare flights, rental cars, and hotels. Dr. Swift spoke about the benefits to credentialing and quality assurance organizations for posting information to the registry. Currently, 84 credentialing organizations and 6 quality assurance bodies are participating.

Credential Engine and the registry grew out of a pilot project known as the Credential Transparency Initiative (CTI), which was led by Workcred, George Washington University's Institute of Public Policy (GWIPP), and Southern Illinois University (SIU) Carbondale's Center for Workforce Development. Visit www.credentialengine.org to learn more.