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Comprehensive Learner Record/Learning and Employment Record

Building A Learning and Employment Record

AACRAO is a long-standing leader in the advancement of innovation in learner records.  Since 2015 AACRAO has supported the development of over 50 CLR/LER projects across the U.S.  AACRAO is working to promote awareness and advance knowledge around the Learner Employment Record (LER), a system that contains verifiable information about a person’s achievements spanning an inclusive range of contexts to include the CLR, the higher education component of the LER, in order to provide credentials that represent the skills and competencies achieved by the student during their academic career.  These learner records seek to capture, record, and communicate learning when and where it happens in a student’s higher education experience in ways that traditional transcripts are not usually able to accomplish. This includes learning outcomes from courses, programs, degrees, and experiences students have outside the classroom that helps develop their career-ready skills and abilities.

AACRAO Consulting will work with you and your team to provide recommendations for academic record practices that protect the integrity and validity of these expressions of learner achievement, supporting the principles of interoperability and student-centered records.  

While institutions should have various stakeholders engaged in CLR/LER exploration, implementation, and management, AACRAO strongly believes the Registrar must play a vital and necessary role to assure the expansion of the learner record and that its expressions beyond the institution are valid, have integrity, and represent the learner.  Additionally, as stewards of learning data, the Registrar defines and operationalizes the processes and practices to ensure compliance with Federal, State, institutional and academic policies while also providing the means and scale through which the curriculum is taught, recorded, and expressed on behalf of the learner for those outside the institution.

AACRAO CLR consulting services are learner-focused.  We believe the main reason to develop and deliver a comprehensive learner record is to demonstrate the learning outcomes of your students.  

The AACRAO process

Your CLR/LER planning and implementation process begins with a careful assessment of multiple areas, first focusing on the needs of the learners you serve - from delivery of student services, to use of staff resources, to workflow processes, to how you leverage technology.

Together, we’ll consider new CLR/LER strategies and processes, allowing you to:

  • Build frameworks and communication plans related to the CLR/LER

  • Measure, capture, and assess learning data

  • Analyze and understand data needs, inputs, sources and connections

  • Facilitate collaboration and stakeholder involvement

  • Identify goals and measure your success in reaching them

  • Enhance the use of technology to drive efficiencies and improve service

  • Work with curricular and co-curricular stakeholders to identify and record learning where and when it happens

  • Assist in evaluating current curricular and co-curricular landscape 

  • Determine areas, practices, and policies for the development of additional alternate credentials 

  • Evaluate the many components of a successful CLR/LER project

Contact AACRAO Consulting today to schedule your CLR Planning and Implementation and learn how we can help you.

Related Resources

Wichita State University (WSU)

Location: Wichita, KS

Objective:

With a long tradition of innovation and entrepreneurship, Wichita State University has undergone a significant transformation in recent years. After implementing a new vision and mission to be an internationally recognized model for applied learning and research, the campus added dozens of new state-of-the-art buildings, housing, and campus life initiatives to attract and support more students. WSU leadership knew that the university also needed a more strategic approach to its enrollment aligned with its new mission and vision.

Challenge:

With a clear imperative to grow enrollment, WSU realized that achieving this goal would not happen overnight. Reaching ambitious enrollment targets would require a multi-year strategy and a comprehensive Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) plan. Leadership also wanted to increase awareness and understanding of SEM and its benefits among faculty and staff across the university.

WSU decided to engage leading SEM experts AACRAO Consulting to provide assistance with its SEM plan development in an effort to position the university for long-term enrollment success. AACRAO Consulting was tasked with collaborating with WSU’s SEM project staff to create the framework for the university’s plan while promoting buy-in across the university.

Solution:

AACRAO Consulting’s engagement included on-site interviews with WSU leadership and staff, exhaustive information-gathering and data analysis, and monthly on-campus consultation. AACRAO Consultants worked closely with WSU’s SEM project team to create a committee of faculty, students and staff responsible for identifying key enrollment goals and a clear pathway for achieving them.

Throughout this process, AACRAO Consultants guided the committee — raising questions, sharing insights and best practices, and offering recommendations to help formulate and implement the university’s final SEM plan. They also met with faculty and staff across multiple departments to communicate the objectives and benefits of taking a more strategic approach to long-term enrollment.

Under AACRAO Consulting’s guidance, WSU prioritized seven enrollment goals, including fostering a campus-wide culture of enrollment growth; increasing enrollment and retention among underserved populations; expanding the geographic reach of recruitment efforts beyond the immediate service area; identifying new academic programs aimed at supporting enrollment growth; and increasing enrollment in online programs. AACRAO Consulting additionally assisted WSU with developing and implementing a communications plan to support more effective recruitment marketing efforts and increase yield.

Results:

As a direct result of implementing its SEM plan, WSU is on track to achieving all of its identified enrollment goals by the target year 2020. To date, the university has seen a measurable improvement across multiple enrollment areas. Total first-time-in-college (FTIC) applications increased from 6,324 to 8,684 between 2015 and 2018. Total admissions of enroll-eligible students rose from 3,069 to 4,215 during the same time period. The university saw an increase in total enrolled students from 14,495 to 15,784. The university plans to welcome 18,150 enrolled students by 2020.

In addition to significantly expanding its geographic reach for new student recruitment, WSU has seen an increase in underrepresented minority FTIC enrollments from under 15% of all FTIC enrolled students in 2015 to 21.4% in 2018. WSU has also experienced gains in retention rates for full-time FTIC students, reaching 72.8% retention into the second year for the 2017 cohort. The university has set a goal of 80% retention from first to second year by 2020, and is now working toward achieving that.

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One of the big plusses of working with AACRAO Consulting is that their people have extensive experience in the field. They are seasoned professionals who have been in my shoes, and know how to work with culture and change in the real-world operation of an institution. They also understand the need for recommendations to be actionable. I appreciated their ability to dissect the situation, get right to the meat of the issue, and prioritize implementation. Their insight and guidance proved invaluable in helping us manage change. I couldn’t have asked for more empathic and professional consultants.

—Luisa Havens Gerardo, PhD, Vice Provost, Enrollment Management, Virginia Tech University

Contact an AACRAO Consultant today with questions.

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