|
Microcredentials complement current programs for traditional and non-traditional students.
For undergraduate students, microcredentials offer opportunities to both discover and enhance skills and competencies related to specific areas of study. Microcredentials allow students to explore fields in a limited, flexible way. Should the student choose to continue their studies in the field, these microcredentials can be stacked, meaning applicable courses taken for the microcredential can count toward the student’s major or minor. A microcredential can also serve to demonstrate a higher level of understanding, signifying readiness for post-graduate education or employment in the field. Students may also choose to pursue a microcredential outside of their major as a way to examine and broaden their educational opportunities and develop focused or interdisciplinary skills. In addition to building competence, microcredentials can offer students greater confidence in areas of struggle. A complement to the college’s signature General Education program, microcredentials extend undergraduates’ experience of learning through the “ways of beginning, thinking, and connecting” framework, and increase and diversify applied learning opportunities.
For graduate students, microcredentials deepen concept learning, professional skills, and leadership abilities. They provide graduate candidates opportunities to add or stack competencies from within and outside of their main areas of study to enhance qualifications and increase marketability. They may function as gateways to certificate or degree programs, or as standalone packages of courses and experiences that signal expertise valued in professional settings.
Adult learners benefit from microcredentials because they build upon experiential and professional knowledge and practices. Microcredentials serve as a platform for demonstrating proficiency aligned with employment needs. With credit and noncredit options, they act as a ‘rung on a ladder’ to advancement and offer adults opportunities to learn based on individual interests. Microcredentials for adult learners help to cultivate innovative learning communities within the college and between the college, employers, and other community-based institutions.
Therefore, in accordance with the SUNY policy, SUNY Potsdam microcredentials offer an opportunity for our college to further our mission, in particular by helping our students become lifelong learners whose lives are enriched by critical thought, creativity and discovery. Their microcredentials earned in college become building blocks not only of their degrees earned but also of their portfolio of skills and experiences that will be continually enhanced and carefully curated throughout their careers. By earning specific microcredentials emphasizing inclusivity, sustainability, and leadership in scholarship and service, students will be able to realize our vision of excellent student experiences in a collaborative and creative community environment. This policy extends the work of SUNY Potsdam’s co-curricular Summit Leadership program.
Types of Microcredentials
SUNY Potsdam recognizes three types of microcredentials which are covered by this policy:
Curricular Microcredentials
Curricular microcredentials involve one or more credit-bearing courses and may combine credit-bearing courses and non-credit-bearing activities. These microcredentials must be reviewed and approved through the regular process of curriculum approval for their level (graduate or undergraduate).
Curricular microcredentials may encompass credit-bearing clusters of courses and/or segments within credit-bearing courses that add up to no more than 12 credit hours.
Curricular microcredentials may be within a single disciplinary area or interdisciplinary.
A curricular microcredential may be recorded on an academic transcript and/or represented by a digitally verifiable badge.
Co-curricular Microcredentials
Co-curricular Microcredentials are coordinated through the Summit Leadership Program managed by the Student Affairs Division. More information can be found here: https://getinvolved.potsdam.edu/organization/summit.
Summit largely includes non-credit bearing experiences, although credit-bearing components (approved through the appropriate academic channels) may be included. Summit microcredentials may be recorded on the Student Involvement Record and/or represented by a digitally verifiable badge.
Summit provides broad exposure to 11 critical career-readiness competences identified by the National Association of Colleges & Employers (NACE) and the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) for Student Leadership Programs.
Program offerings range from short, 8-hour experiences, focusing on one specific competency area up to 20-hour experiences providing broad-based exposure to multiple competency areas. One offering allows students to stack badges into a comprehensive 80+ hour culminating experience.
Competency badges
Competency badges document the attainment of one or more discrete, assessable skills. They may be offered as components of one or more credit-bearing courses, through one or more non-credit-bearing experiential learning activities, or a combination thereof. Competency badges may also consist of professional development and/or fulfillment of industry standard credentials.
Competency badges are not recorded on the academic transcript but may be represented by a verifiable digital badge on a co-curricular transcript (e.g., SIR) or other online platforms (e.g., LinkedIn).
The digital badge must be clearly identified as a competency badge and must state the competency(ies) attained.
Other Badge Programs and Microcredentials that are not covered by this policy include:
Participation and Achievement Badges
Participation badges may document student participation in a workshop, training, or co-curricular activity external to a course. Achievement badges may also be used to recognize a special achievement.
External Credentials
Any credentials completed outside of SUNY Potsdam (e.g., Google Educator Certification) are not covered under this policy.
|