Diverse Credentialing may be the best way to tie all of them together!
As part of the debate for the future of higher education, change is a buzz-word within the role of institutions for learning and earning credentials. Over the past few years, the discussion about the future of higher education institutions have included so many hot topics from changes in the performance measures, including retention and graduation rates, gainful employment statistics, tuition rates, college debts, etc. to various credentials, that help students access to the jobs they want to enter and achieve their occupational goals over time…Of course, the discussion also included the comments by the LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner when he said that “…we would do much better if we stopped ensuring that everyone had to have a four-year degree to get certain types of jobs and started being open to the fact that there’s a much broader array of talents and skills”. Although all these are important points from different angles of constituents in higher …show more content…
Pittinsky, at insidehighered.com, May 23, 2016). Vertical stacking is about progress with one level building on another, enabling the learner to earn a specific degree, whereas horizontal is about earning credentials in related fields that, collectively, prepare each person for a specific type of a job, with no prerequisites or hierarchy. Finally, value-added stacking is to combine the concepts of vertical and horizontal stacking. While studying a four-year degree in business administration, a learner can add a professional sales certificate or supplement a bachelor’s degree with a certification in financial planning and a few professional effectiveness badges (diversity, budgeting, effective communication, conflict resolution, team work, etc.