Recently the Office of Community College Research and Leadership signed on to be a co-sponsor of The Lumina Foundation’s dialogue on ways to transform the credentialing system into a student-centered and learning-based national model. We applaud Lumina’s efforts to steer this countrywide conversation, as reform of the nation’s credentialing system would bolster educational access and academic quality, and promote postsecondary educational mobility and attainment. Along with their partners at the Corporation for a Skilled Workforce (CSW) and the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), the Lumina Foundation will host a series of discussions throughout the remainder of this year. The dialogue promises to engage educators, policymakers, and various stakeholder groups in outlining the challenges with current credentialing and identifying opportunities for improvement that will foster attainment of requisite skills needed to compete and succeed in today’s global workforce.

How will you spark conversations about credentialing in the U.S.? What should national reform and promotion of a reimagined credentials framework entail? As an R&D organization with deep experience evaluating pathways and programs of study that utilize competency-based education and stackable credentials, OCCRL welcomes the opportunity to contribute our expertise to this important national dialogue on credentials. Lumina is listening and invites all of us to delve into the dialogue on how best to connect credentials and competencies.

Eboni Zamani-Gallaheris a professor in the Department of Education Policy, Organization & Leadership in the College of Education at Illinois and the Director of OCCRL. Her research centers on access and collegiate experiences of marginalized students at two- and four-year institutions of higher education.