A closer look at the badging and micro-credentialing process

As featured in last week’s Early Bird, Metropolitan State University of Denver’s Micro-Credential and Digital Badging Policy outlines how University units may create, design and award micro-credentials, signified by digital badges.  

The policy is administered by the Office of Curriculum, Academic Effectiveness and Policy Development and the University Badging Committee, which includes representatives from Innovative and Life-long Learning, Online Learning, Student Affairs and the Office of the Registrar and six faculty members. 

The committee will serve a critical role in the approval of digital badges. To get to the committee, each digital badge begins with a submission in Curriculog.  

Submission requirements 

• A designated micro-credential program manager, identified either by position or department  
• A designated electronic platform for the digital badge, such as Portfolium or Credly. 
• A description of the purpose and scope of the credential (including required courses, or parts of courses, with academic credit). 
• A list of measurable outcomes (competencies, skills, experiences or knowledge) or achievements associated with the credential. 
• A list of artifacts that must be submitted by the individual pursuing the micro-credential in order to demonstrate mastery of the articulated outcomes and the realization of the credential, and a description of the mechanism for creating and submitting the artifacts. For example, a project completed for a class associated with the micro-credential, a written reflection on an experience or achievement, or observation of an oral presentation. 
• A description of how artifacts will be assessed in alignment with the articulated outcomes, or an evaluation tool such as a rubric. 
• A letter of support from the administrator or office committing resources to ensure the success of the program. For example, proposals from academic departments should include letters of support from their dean or the dean’s designee, while proposals from non-academic departments should include letters of support from the appropriate head of that unit.  
• (This does not apply to micro-credentials without academic credit where all the competencies are assessed in noncredit courses through Innovative and Lifelong Learning.)

Review process 

Once a proposal attached to academic credit is submitted, it is reviewed by the Office of Curriculum, Academic Effectiveness and Policy Development  to ensure it meets the minimum requirements. If it does not, it is returned to the originator for updates. If it does meet the minimums and has the support of either the dean or an equivalent head of a unit, the badge moves forward to the University Badging Committee. 

If the proposal does not contain academic credit where all the competencies are assessed in noncredit courses through Innovative and Life-long Learning, then academic departments and/or University units can propose a micro-credential in association with the Office of Innovative and Lifelong Learning. Any changes to noncredit courses will follow the MSU Denver Noncredit Continuing Education Course Guidelines. Approved proposals will be presented to the University Badging Committee  as an information item. 

The committee will review proposals for inclusion of all necessary components, appropriate categorization (for example, micro-credential without academic credit), quality, consistency, potential duplication with existing micro-credentials and possible conflicts or impacts on other academic or University units. The committee will automatically reject proposals that are incomplete or duplicate existing micro-credentials.