PESC | MICROCREDENTIALS TASK FORCE

In June 2015 at its Annual Planning Retreat, the PESC Board of Directors, due to the impact of student mobility on the international credentialing landscape, authorized the formation of the Academic Credentialing and Experiential Learning Task Force. This Task Force formed & convened for its inaugural meeting at PESC’s Fall 2015 Data Summit in Washington, D.C.

With Tom Black, Associate Vice Provost for Student Affairs & University Registrar at Stanford University (now with Johns Hopkins University), as Task Force Chair, and Co-Chairs Joellen Shendy, Associate Vice Provost & Registrar at the University of Maryland University College and Alex Jackl, CEO and Founder of Bardic Systems, the Task Force committed to:

monitoring

and tracking current initiatives

serving

as a clearinghouse for information sharing

providing

speakers & presenters at industry-leading

conferences & events

ensuring

PESC is prepared for standards development work

as the community is reaching the point

in which standards are needed.

Through analysis and discussion, Chair Tom Black identified an associated need in the North American market whereby no standards existed for the exchange of digital certificates, degrees & diplomas. Work began immediately to shape a standard and evolved into the PESC Approved XML Common Credential for Certificates, Degrees and Diplomas, now in production at Stanford University as part of its AACRAO and Lumina Foundation grant provision for the Comprehensive Learner Records Project.

The Task Force continues to convene and focus on new and specific use cases (business or process cases) to determine their value and need in the community while leveraging technology and standards to meet the needs of emerging mobile academic credentials.

In June 2016 at its next annual planning retreat, the PESC Board of Directors discussed the numerous industry groups and initiatives focusing on credentials. In-depth discussions lead to the realization that a significant part of community needs are not be addressed in that no organization is showcasing how to work with all the different groups and initiatives, and more importantly how the different groups and initiatives all relate to one another.

Subsequently, the PESC Board of Directors authorized the dedication of PESC’s Spring 2017 Data Summit to this one theme and purpose – Empowering the Mobility of Digital Academic Credentials. As PESC is a sponsor of Connecting Credentials, leaders at the Connecting Credentials Initiative correspondingly co-sponsored the Spring 2017 Data Summit.

In the spirit of interoperability, PESC and leaders of Credential Engine proposed a comprehensive data mapping initiative across Credential Engine, PESC, HR-Open Standards, and IMS in order to advance interoperability; and with immediate agreement by all, organizational meetings began in April 2017 and the first meeting of Credential Mapping was held at the PESC Spring 2017 Data Summit.

In continuing its efforts to educate and include all areas of the higher education ecosystem, PESC held the Fall 2018 Data Summit in San Francisco Inspiring Digitalization and Mobility Across Education & Employment.

Join the Task Force!

>> RESOURCES <<

Alternative Credentials: Considerations, Guidance, and Best Practices

American Association of Collegiate Registrars & Admissions Officers PDF

MICRO-CREDENTIALS: Trends in Credit Transfer and Credentialing

British Columbia Council on Admissions & Transfer PDF

Micro-credentials: Towards a Universal Definition

Groningen Declaration Network PDF