Certificates and other micro-credentials are rapidly evolving to meet learner and employer needs. These credentials provide opportunities for learners to gain up-to-date skills to stay current or to move into emerging areas. Also, many non-traditional learners are looking to these credentials as a faster and cheaper alternative to 2 or 4-year degrees. However, due to the confusing array of credentials being offered across a broad spectrum of providers, both employers and learners struggle to be confident of the value and quality of many of these offerings. In response to this situation, ABET is still investigating how to conduct this service and will ultimately provide a quality assurance service in this space.
Draft criteria and processes were presented at last year’s symposium and used to conduct pilot reviews at educational institutions that were familiar with ABET accreditation. This session will focus on lessons learned and changes to the criteria and processes informed by these pilots. In addition, session participants will have the opportunity to further shape these criteria and processes through interactions in the session and provide their thoughts on the potential value added by ABET involvement. This input will impact the expansion of this model as it moves beyond just the offerings at academic institutions to a second round of pilots with a broader range of certificate providers.
