Statement of Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to provide guidance to departments/colleges/schools/units that wish to develop credit-bearing or non-credit microcredentials that signify learners’ competencies in a given subject area. Microcredentials, which are educational experiences that result in an earned digital badge, are a type of alternative credential that signifies student achievement in competencies needed for post-graduate success, re-skilling, or up-skilling. Microcredential programs are encouraged to demonstrate the value, applicability, and mastery of learned competencies and skills. Microcredentials are rigorous, have stated learning outcomes, and are assessed to ensure quality.
Entities Affected by this Policy
All departments/colleges/schools/units and students. Please note that departments that do not comply with the Development & Issuance of Microcredentials Policy are not permitted to issue UNLV microcredentials.
Who Should Read this Policy
All UNLV academic faculty, administrative faculty, classified employees, and administrators.
Policy
UNLV supports the development of credit-bearing and non-credit bearing microcredentials. All credit-bearing microcredentials will require approval through Provost, Faculty Senate, and Graduate College Processes.
The policy further differentiates microcredentials by the intended recipient of the microcredential.
Recipient groups are:
- Students
- Faculty/Staff
- Community Members
Departments/colleges/schools/units who wish to develop a microcredential will fill out a Microcredential Proposal Form and follow the procedures established for each recipient group.
Registered Students can pursue two types of microcredentials: for-credit and non-credit. All credit-bearing microcredentials (i.e., badges) must be approved through the established Provost and Faculty Senate (undergraduate) or Graduate College (graduate) processes. The Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee (undergraduate registered students) and the Graduate Programs Committee (graduate registered students) establish procedures to review and approve credit-bearing microcredential proposals. Credit-bearing microcredentials shall be a minimum of six-credits and generally do not exceed twelve-credits because they may then be developed as an academic certificate.
Non-credit bearing microcredential procedures, review and approval are managed by the Co-curricular & Experiential Learning Microcredential Committee (undergraduate & graduate registered students). Non-credit bearing microcredential programs are offered in a variety of formats ranging from standalone courses to a series of courses or modules, focused on a specialized set of competencies. Some may be transferable toward a certificate or degree program via articulation agreements, which grant credit for non-credit work assessed by faculty to be equivalent.
Faculty and Staff microcredentials are non-credit bearing. The procedures, review, and approval process shall be managed by the UNLV Learning & Development Alliance.
Community microcredentials have different creation, approval, set-up, and transcription processes and are offered primarily in conjunction with Lifelong Learning. The Non-Credit Community Course Review Group (NCCRG) is responsible for reviewing and approving proposals.
Microcredentials and their administration are overseen by the office of the Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs. The microcredential procedure guides are living documents that outline microcredential curricular procedures; design, development, and implementation processes; content standards; admissions requirements, recordkeeping, operations, and all other relevant microcredential practices.
Definitions
- Microcredentials
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Educational experiences that result in an earned digital badge, are an alternative credential that signifies student achievement in competencies needed for post-graduate success, re-skilling, or up-skilling. In short, a microcredential:
- Has clearly articulated learning outcomes/competencies
- Is endorsed by UNLV
- Is developed through a governance process depending on the audience
- Is meaningful and of high quality
- Is assessed to ensure attainment of learning outcomes/competencies
- Badges
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Digital or visual representation of microcredentials, or an individual’s accomplishment, expertise, competency, or level of proficiency in a given topic area gained from a learning experience. Badges indicate accomplishments or skills that can be displayed, accessed, and verified online.
A badge is:
- Competency-based: Competencies are discrete sets of knowledge, skills, and abilities. Competency-based badges signal that a learner has demonstrated the specified knowledge, skills, and abilities at an appropriate level of rigor, aligned to appropriate assessments.
- Assessed: All badges must have at least one measurable learning outcome with a valid assessment of the outcome.
- Transparent: All academic credit-bearing badges shall use the Rice workload calculator to provide transparency on the number of hours required to complete the badge. This information is essential for incorporating badges into credit-bearing coursework. This calculator is strongly recommended for co-curricular, non-credit bearing badges.
- Credit-bearing Microcredential
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Programs that consist of a minimum of 6 and typically a maximum of 11 credits of college-level courses that identify specific assessment of workforce skills. Such microcredentials may be taken as part of an academic degree formation. These microcredential programs require minimum standards for enrollment and continued participation as established by UNLV bylaws.
- Non-credit Bearing Microcredential
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Programs that are offered in a variety of formats ranging from standalone courses to a series of courses or modules, focused on a specialized set of competencies. Some microcredentials may be transferable toward a certificate or degree program via articulation agreements, which grant credit for non-credit work assessed by faculty to be equivalent.
Non-credit microcredentials for community members require a payment to the university and are offered as stand-alone programs, certificates, CEU’s or badges.
- Co-curricular Microcredentials
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A subset of non-credit bearing microcredentials. They are offered to registered students, faculty, and staff for free, or in conjunction with another program, as an add-on.