Graduate School's Micro-Credentialing Program Moves to Credly's Acclaim Platform

Wayne State University Graduate School's Micro-Credentialing Program got an upgrade over the summer by moving to Credly's Acclaim platform.

Those who have attended Graduate and Postdoctoral and Professional Development seminars and workshops hosted by the Graduate School in the past may be familiar with the digital badges attendees can earn by demonstrating the knowledge and skills taught during those events. Those who aren't should know graduate students and postdoctoral scholars have opportunities to earn digital certificates that are shareable on social media profiles, digital resumes, curriculum vitaes and personal websites. Why? To set scholars apart from their peers and enable them to showcase skills that aren't taught in the classroom but are highly desired by employers, such as grant writing, conflict management and how to create a competitive teaching portfolio. Digital certificates tie learning to real skills relevant to scholars' lives and tell stories about the earners that can't be gleaned from the summative grades and test scores on transcripts.

labor market insights
Example of labor market insights via Credly.

Prior to the Micro-Credentialing Program's move to Acclaim, it was primarily up to scholars to articulate the skills they mastered to earn the credentials. Now, each badge's metadata has been revamped to make it clearer to employers the criteria achieved to earn the credential, and there are even skill tags assigned to each badge. Earners can click the tags to access real-time labor market insights to find out how many current job postings require the skills associated with the badge, the cities where the designations are most in-demand, and which employers are hiring. And if a scholar wants to apply to a job right then and there, they can.

Earned a badge and don't know what events to attend next? There's a new recommendations engine that encourages participation in related events or the next badge in a related competency. For instance, if an earner received a badge in conflict management, they might be encouraged to attend an interactive seminar on microaggressions or cultural sensitivity to get the most out of that learning tract.

Associate Dean for Student Success Sharon Lean hopes every graduate student will take advantage of this opportunity. "No matter what program a student is in, they will find something in this series to help advance their professional development," Lean says. "I encourage students to consult with their faculty advisors, think strategically about the micro-credentials they would like to earn, and plan to attend at least one GPPD workshop every semester."

The move to Acclaim doesn't only benefit earners. Graduate School administrators now have access to more detailed program analytics to gauge the impact of the GPPD and Micro-Credentialing programs.

Check out the Graduate School's 2019-2020 GPPD events schedule to see upcoming events and what micro-credentials will be offered.

Want to learn more about what Credly and digital badges can do for you? Watch the video below.

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