AACRAO continues efforts to promote the registrar as a central and critical stakeholder in the development and advancement of the CLR by ensuring representation at various stakeholder gatherings focused on the Comprehensive Learner Record and its components, as well as its next-generation Learner Employment Records (LER’s).
Such gatherings include the recent mid-year meeting of the T3 Innovation Network, where skills-based hiring was a central conversation. As outlined in the
Skills Based Hiring and Advancement Brief, “Skills-Based Hiring and Advancement (SBHA) is the process by which employers and their HR service providers identify, recruit, hire, and advance candidates based on the match between a work opportunity’s
skill requirements and a candidate’s skills. SBHA processes produce well-crafted and debiased job requirements and trustworthy candidate information backed by evidence. We communicate this candidate information through new types of resumes
and learning and employment records (LERs) that embed proof of their accuracy to accelerate verification.” Higher education remains the primary source of workforce education and AACRAO member involvement is critical in this important conversation.
Similarly, AACRAO also presented at the recent Badge Summit hosted at CU Boulder to facilitate a conversation around the CLR and LER to deep dive into a conversation around the difference
between the two, as well as the role of the registrar in shaping the direction of an institution's alternate credentialing path. The momentum surrounding the benefits to students from badging specifically and digital credentials, in general, saw engagement throughout the conference. The opportunity to discuss the knitted relationship between digital badging and the CLR/LER expressions of student achievement was invaluable. Since these digital assertions are still relatively new and without
universal definitions, it is important to emphasize that all of these digital credentials, and traditional academic ones, need to work in concert to reflect the achievements and support the aspirations of our learners.
Get Involved
As these external conversations continue, AACRAO is also committed to distilling this knowledge directly to our members, through forums such as the recent CLR Community of Practice Ask Me Anything event. This virtual event provided a space for
attendees representing nearly 40 institutions to seek insights on how peer schools are approaching CLR/LER at their institutions. Such forums provide invaluable guidance on the opportunities and challenges that AACRAO members should keep
in sight as they consider this evolution in student achievement credentialing.
The role of the registrar in recording, validating, and ensuring the integrity of all asserted credentials is paramount. Thus, it is important for AACRAO to collaborate with all communities engaged with awarding or reading of digital credentials
as we pursue this signature initiative that advances the development and adoption of the CLR. We encourage members to remember that employers and students alike are increasingly looking for more comprehensive, standardized, and detailed expressions
of learning through all modes, in and out of the classroom, within higher education. Embracing the CLR/LER is thus in service to the primary stakeholders we serve in the collegiate setting.
If your institution is considering
and/or implementing CLR, we invite you to
join AACRAO’s CLR-focused Community of Practice to stay connected with these efforts and take advantage of related opportunities and resources.