AACRAO continues to expand its reach in developing partnerships with external organizations that hold a shared focus on advancing the Comprehensive Learner Record (CLR) and Learning and Employment Records (LER). To this end, AACRAO has recently joined the advisory board of the Velocity Network Foundation, a non-profit membership organization comprised of the leading workforce-tech and ed-tech vendors and solution providers. Velocity’s mission is focused on reinventing how career records are shared across global markets, empowering individuals, businesses, and educational institutions through transformational blockchain technology to build the internet of careers.
AACRAO’s voice among the Velocity network brings value and time-honored perspective as Velocity members strive for transformation in the world of education and work through the practical use of verifiable credentials. Similarly, AACRAO’s diverse membership supports the mission to provide professional development, guidelines, and voluntary standards to be used by higher education officials regarding the best practices in records management, admissions, enrollment management, administrative information technology, and student services. Further, AACRAO voices represent institutions in every part of the higher education community, from large public institutions to small, private liberal arts colleges.
Velocity’s mission is in direct alignment with AACRAO’s efforts for the CLR/LER strategic initiative as AACRAO is working to promote awareness and advance knowledge around the Learning and Employment Record (LER), a system that contains verifiable information about a person’s achievements spanning an inclusive range of contexts to include the Comprehensive Learner Record (CLR), the higher education component of the LER, that provides verified credentials representing the skills and competencies achieved by the student during their academic career. AACRAO is a long-standing champion in the advancement of the CLR and continues to be a leader in the development and adoption of the CLR in higher education, through past Lumina Foundation grants and current grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and a newly awarded grant from Walmart. AACRAO's efforts aim to bring CLR to scale nationally to address important challenges in credit mobility for learners.
AACRAO is excited to join the Velocity Network in the continued pursuit of advancing the CLR/LER and ensuring that our members remain central stakeholders as external organizations continue to press these conversations forward.
To stay up to date on AACRAO activities related to this signature initiative, members are encouraged to join the CLR/LER Community of Practice.