Senate Bill
1819-10
UNIVERSITY SENATE
UNVERSITY AT ALBANY
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
Introduced by:
Graduate Academic Council
Undergraduate Academic Council
University Policy and Planning Council
Date:
March 25, 2019
Proposal to Establish Micro-Credentialing Policy and Procedure
IT IS HEREBY PROPOSED THAT THE FOLLOWING BE ADOPTED:
1. That the University Senate approves the attached program proposal as submitted by the
Center for Experiential Education and approved by GAC, UAC, and UPPC.
2. That this takes effect for the Fall 2019 semester.
3. That this proposal be forwarded to President Havidán Rodríguez for approval.
Micro-Credentials at the University at Albany
Developed by Dr. Debra Gelinas, Assistant Vice Provost for Applied Learning
Proposal Version 4.0, March 2019
The Lumina Foundation (2015) defines a credential as “a documented award by a responsible and authorized body
that has determined that an individual has achieved specific learning outcomes relative to a given standard”.
According to SUNY, micro‐credentials verify, validate and attest that students have acquired specific skills and/or
competencies. They are endorsed by the issuing institution, having been developed through established faculty
governance processes and are designed to be portable, meaningful and high quality. Micro-credentials motivate
students to persist toward degree completion, help learners prepare for careers and stand out to employers, stack
toward larger credentials, and support lifelong learning through “upskilling” opportunities for professionals. They
may be offered at the undergraduate and/or graduate level, to matriculated or non-matriculated students.
At UAlbany, micro-credentials are not certificate programs. Certificate programs must be registered with SUNY and
the State Education Department. Micro-credentials at UAlbany will be developed and approved locally. Micro-
credentials will be issued as an icon called a digital badge, not on the academic transcript, but on an online
credentialing platform called Credly Acclaim (with whom SUNY has an existing relationship). Micro-credentials
should be industry-aligned and may be comprised of academic assignments in identified courses, workshop
attendance, internships or other experiential learning, and/or a variety of co-curricular experiences. Badges have
become the industry standard for documenting digital credentials. They enable learners to track, display and
articulate verified evidence of skill development. While digital credentials will not be academic credit-bearing at
UAlbany, they will contain metadata, including information regarding the issuing institution, the date earned, the
criteria required to earn the badge, and the associated evidence related to the awarded badge. Credly Acclaim
badges are transferable and portable – they can be posted to a variety of online platforms, including LinkedIn, digital
portfolios, websites, and resumes.
Three different types of micro-credentials will be offered at UAlbany:
1) Professional Pathways. Mapped to skills and competencies desired in a particular professional field, these
pathways generally include academic courses and experiential learning. Often they will be interdisciplinary.
Examples may include areas like artificial intelligence, arts administration, or climate action. Specific
academic assignments will be identified in each course that map to the skills and competencies identified for
the particular professional field.
2) Skill Badges. Offered to current students and complementing the curriculum, these are smaller badges that
help earners obtain and demonstrate skills. These can include, for example, industry-recognized “hard” skills
like a programming language or graphic design, or “soft” skills such as metaliteracy (already at UAlbany
University Libraries) or critical thinking. These badges can be stand-alone or built into a course, but they are
not academic credit-bearing opportunities.
3) Continuing Education Badges. Used for lifelong learning, professional training in collaboration with
employers, or a smaller version of a larger graduate or certificate program (often as a way recruit individuals
to enroll in those programs). For example, a licensed social worker may take a continuing education course
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and participate in three related workshops to earn a badge. Schools or colleges may also partner with a
company to offer a training program that leads to a micro-credential.
Demand from Employers:
Micro-credentials can help bridge the gap from college to career. While employers continue to acknowledge the
importance of a college degree, they report that resumes and transcripts do not always show fully the skills new
graduates bring to the workforce. They want potential employees to be better at articulating and demonstrating
skills and competencies developed through courses, internships, and co-curricular experiences. In addition,
individuals are also seeking opportunities for post-college lifelong learning in order to stay professionally relevant or
change careers. According to a 2018 Northeastern University study, over 60% of employers surveyed have either
“made a formal effort” or are “exploring and considering” moving toward a skills or competency-based hiring
strategy. In addition, employers are increasingly using software with keyword filters that search for resumes with
certain skills necessary for that job or field. Those who do not have those keywords listed on their resumes are
filtered out by the software and never reviewed by a hiring manager. Credly Acclaim addresses this issue by
collecting job postings from across the internet that list skills related to specific badges. Badge earners can then see
job postings that include the skills and competencies listed in the badge’s metadata. Digital credentials offer a visual
representation of skills that are validated by the university. Students who better understand and can articulate that
they have these skills are better positioned for post-graduation professional success.
Pricing and Financial Aid:
Students will be charged standard tuition rates for any academic credit-bearing courses included in micro-credentials.
Courses taken as part of a micro-credentialing program at UAlbany must fit into the student’s program of study in
order to be covered by financial aid.
As with continuing education courses, UAlbany schools and colleges currently have the discretion to charge a fee for
badges that do not include credit-bearing courses since there is no standard tuition charged for participation. This is
not required and in many cases charging students may not be a good strategy. There is no standard pricing for
micro-credentialing and pricing often depends on what the market for a particular field dictates. Traditional financial
aid programs do not cover the cost of micro-credentials or continuing education courses.
Evidence of Learning:
Students are awarded a micro-credential based on their ability to demonstrate that they have obtained certain
competencies and skills. This is made tangible through evidence that will be uploaded to the digital badge on Credly
Acclaim. Students only earn the micro-credential if they submit that evidence. In the case of micro-credentials built
into courses, one of the designated competency-based assignments may be used as evidence. Those who plan to
offer skills or continuing education badges not built into courses should outline how participants will create physical
evidence of skill/competency obtainment and a plan for assessment.
Please note: Materials or assignments related to a micro-credential may be embedded into an existing course and
students may be required to complete that work as part of a course. However, since Credly Acclaim is an outward
facing platform and the evidence required to earn a micro-credential must be posted online, students should be
3
given the opportunity to opt out of submitting the evidence necessary to earn the micro-credential. Students who do
not submit the evidence will not earn the micro-credential or the associated digital badge, but will earn credit in the
course for completing the assignment.
Examples of evidence from other institutions, include:
Western Michigan University / Hawthorn College of Business Badge
For each badge, students may compose a written reflection paper, set up an online photo album of their experiences
or post a YouTube video where they discuss what they learned. This evidence should relate to the badge experience.
Illinois State University / Honors Program “Discovering Dimensions” Badge
Students are expected to create infographics that capture connections between course content and interviews
facilitated with professionals. This evidence is evaluated by Honors Mindset Seminar instructors. Students who
submit evidence earning an "excellent" or "exceptional" rating are issued badges.
Approval Process:
Faculty and/or departments will develop micro-credentials through a proposal process centralized in the Center for
Experiential Education (CEE), which will convene a committee of faculty and staff to review and approve them. The
CEE will report approved micro-credentials to the Graduate Academic Council (GAC) for those at the graduate level,
and to the Undergraduate Academic Council (UAC) for those at the undergraduate level. The review and approval
process will allow the university to catalogue micro-credentialing opportunities and provide an efficient and
consistent mechanism for tracking and managing badges on Credly Acclaim. Any new courses created in the process
of developing a micro-credential must go through the normal course approval process.
Implementation Process:
The unit offering the micro-credential will be required to track student progress toward earning the credential, assess
student learning, and collect evidence of skill obtainment. With the support of the Center for Experiential Education,
departments will be able to issue approved micro-credentials on Credly Acclaim. Departments are responsible for
marketing their micro-credentials to potential participants and advising students about the programs, as they would
with other programs offered by their department.
Micro-credentials are flexible with regard to how issuers create them, define their use, and develop their criteria.
While there is no minimum or maximum number of hours or experiences required for a student to earn a micro-
credential, they must be of high-quality, meaningful, and competency-based. For example, if the experience can
serve as a single bullet point description on a resume, it is likely not complex enough to be a micro-credential.
The Center for Experiential Education provides the following resources to departments wishing to issue micro-
credentials:
•
Support designing and creating the digital badge that will be posted on Credly. Design criteria will be
developed as part of the Credly implementation process.
•
Assistance developing micro-credentials, including connecting faculty to employers.
4
•
Maintaining institutional catalogue of university micro-credentials and university-wide website about
UAlbany’s micro-credentialing program.
Other SUNY Programs:
Micro-credentialing is increasingly common and has become a priority for SUNY. The three other SUNY university
centers are already awarding micro-credentials. All use Credly Acclaim to issue digital credentials.
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook offers micro-credentials in several departments across campus, but the most significant program is
within School of Professional Development and this program offers oversight and direction to the smaller programs.
University at Buffalo
The University at Buffalo has created an Office of Micro-Credentialing, housed within the Office of the Provost,
specifically to address the micro-credentialing needs of the university. Ten micro-credentials are currently being
offered, with plans to add more in the future.
Binghamton University
The Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science has built badges into their continuing education
offerings. They also offer digital badges to faculty and staff through the University Center for Training and
Development.
Recommended Policy/Procedure for Micro-Credentialing at UAlbany:
Micro-credentials at UAlbany are a collection of courses and/or experiences that help students develop and
document professional skills and competencies. The University at Albany will offer three types of micro-credentials:
Professional Pathways, Skill Badges, and Continuing Education Badges. Micro-credentials will be issued as an icon
called a digital badge. They will not appear on the academic transcript, but on an online credentialing platform called
Credly Acclaim. Students will earn a micro-credential based on tangible evidence of competencies and skills that they
will upload to the digital badge on Credly Acclaim.
Faculty and/or departments will develop micro-credentials through a proposal process centralized in the Center for
Experiential Education (CEE), which will convene a committee of faculty and staff to review and approve them. This
committee will include a current member of the Undergraduate Academic Council (UAC) and a current member of
the Graduate Academic Council (GAC). The CEE will report approved micro-credentials to GAC for those at the
graduate level, to UAC for those at the undergraduate level, and all approved micro-credentials to the Senate
Executive Committee.
,R UNIVERSITYATATBANY
State University of New York
Micro-Credentialinq Policv and Procedure
Academic Affairs
Depa rtment Office of the ProvosVCEE
Program Director
or Sponsor
Action Category
Debra Gelinas
E Program Proposal
! Other (describe)
Email dqelinas@a lbany. ed u
Does this proposal include any space
resource implications? Approx. sq. ft.
needed:
Does the Office of Finanical Aid identify
this as a Gainful Employment
Program (GEP)?
tr Yes
trNo
tr Yes
ENo
E New
E Revision
D Oeactivation
tr Other (describe)
When submitting a program proposal please submit this form to indicate the
resource implications of the proposal.
Brief Description of Proposal: (attach additionalpages if necessary)
The attached proposal describes micro-credentialing at UAlbany. The proposal includes a
recommended micro-credentialing policy, which has been amended based on a discussion
(and vote) during the February 11,2019 Senate Executive Committee meeting.
Version 2.0 03/23118
Proposal Title:
College or
School
Action Type
,R UNIVERSITYATATBANY
Sate Universitv of New York
ls there an impact on other service units? Please attach documentation that you have consulted with each unit
listed below:
Yes
No
_trtrs
University Libraries
tr
L
Other services (i.e., advisement, parking, facilities, security),
please list:
ls there an impact on other academic programs? Please list all academic departments consulted regarding
impact and attach documentation.
The purpose of this proposal is to establish a policy and procedure that will allow
departments to offer micro-credentials if they wish. The only concrete cost associated with
the initial launch of a micro-credentialing program campus-wide is a contract with the
digital credential platform, Credly Acclaim. That is funded, in part, by a planning grant from
SUNY, with the remainder funded by the Center for Experiential Education budget. ITS
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Faculty and Slatt (aftach additional pages if necessary)
(a) Describe new faculty hiring needed during the next 3 years
(b) Explain how program will be administered for the purposes of admissions, advising, course offerings, etc
Oiscuss the available support staff.
Departments offering micro-credentials will be responsible for marketing and advising
students about these opportunities. The Center for Experiential Education will host an
online catalogue all of UAlbany micro-credentials.
Version 2.0 03/23118
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Scientific Core Facilities
,R UNIVERSITYATALBANY
State University of Nerv York
Program Expenses
Explanatory Notes laaa aaaitlonal pages as needed):
Central administration of a campus-wide micro-credentialing program will be housed in the Center
for Experiential Education (CEE), which is part of the Office of the Provost. $5,000 is for the Credly
Acclaim platform.
Program Expense Categories
Expenses (in dollars)
Prior to
implementation
Academic
Year 1:
Academic
Year 2i
, Academle
Year 3:
Academic
Year 4:
Academic
Year 5:
(a) Perso n nel (i n cl ud I ng
facuw and all others)
0
(b) Libtary
(c) Equipment
(d) Laboratoies
(e) Suppries
(0 Capital Expenses
(g) Student stipends or
scholarships
(h) Othet (speciv:
5,000
5,000
5,000
5,000
Sum of Rows Abova
$ s,ooo
$ s,ooo
$ s,ooo
$ s,ooo
$ s,ooo
List all resources that will be engaged specifically as a result ofthe proposed program (e.g., a new
faculty position or additional library resources). lfthey represent a continuing cost, new resources
for a given year should be included in the subsequent year(s), with adjustments for inflation or
negotiated compensation.
5,000
$9
Version 2.0 03/23l'18
,R UNIVERSITYATALBANY
State University of Nerl York
APPROVALS
Department Chair
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Department Chair
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UPPC Chair
UPPC Chair
It is the sponsoring department's responsibility to requesl and attach all required
documentation and to obtain all required signatures (with the exception of the chair of
UPPC'S) before presenting the documentation.
Completed forms should be sent to the Office of Undergraduate Educatloni the Office of
Graduate Education, or both as appropriate.
When the Chair of UPPC has received the proposal from the appropriate office(s), s/he will notify
you that it has been placed on the UPPC agenda and invite you to attend the meeting.
Version 2 0 03/23l'18
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Date
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