Microcredentials
Microcredentials are the future of higher education. I'm pretty convinced of this.
A microcredential is more than just a badge. It's a verifiable, digital asset that helps learners tell the story of their work and learning journey. Done right, it bridges the gap between what someone can do and what an employer actually needs.
The problem is that doing it right is genuinely hard. Most institutions are figuring this out in real time — and making avoidable mistakes along the way. Here are the challenges I keep seeing, and what I've built to address them.
Challenges & what I've built
Without a real review process, microcredentials become meaningless fast. Institutions need a governance model that's rigorous enough to maintain quality but lightweight enough that faculty and staff will actually use it. Most don't have one.
What I built
I designed and launched UMBC's Microcredential Advisory Committee and Microcredential Review Board, including a custom rubric built around a five-level competency taxonomy — engagement, knowledge, proficiency, mastery, and meta — with calibrated scoring thresholds for each level. The review cycle runs on a structured packet system I built in Python and Node.js, with DocuSign routing for approvals.
Choosing a badge platform, integrating it with your LMS, managing vendor transitions, building claim workflows — none of this is glamorous, but all of it has to work. Getting it wrong creates backlogs, broken experiences, and distrust from earners.
What I built
I led UMBC's migration from Canvas Credentials (Badgr) to Accredible, including writing Python scripts to export badge data via the Badgr API and rebuild the issuance pipeline. I also built a custom LTI 1.3 badge claim tool in Flask, registered in Blackboard Ultra with Deep Linking, so learners can claim badges directly inside the LMS without leaving the course.
Credentialing programs collapse when they depend on one person doing everything manually. The workflows, trackers, and automations that keep a program running at scale don't build themselves.
What I built
The DCI technical ecosystem connects RT ticketing, Gmail, a Google Sheets tracker, SharePoint proposal pipelines, Power Automate flows, and the Accredible API into one coherent system — with RT ticket number as the universal primary key across everything. The result is a program that can scale without requiring manual intervention at every step.
A badge that doesn't connect to a credit pathway, a job, or a meaningful next step isn't doing its job. Bridging non-credit to for-credit, and connecting credential programs to employer hiring practices, is where most institutions are still stuck.
What I built
I built a credential-aware hiring tool that uses AI to help employers understand what a microcredential actually signals about a candidate's competencies. I've also been developing pathway models that bridge UMBC's non-credit credential programs to for-credit recognition — and working with employers directly on what credential fluency in hiring actually looks like in practice.
I'm always happy to compare notes with folks working on this stuff — whether you're just starting out or knee-deep in a vendor transition. Send me an email at collin@collivan.com.