Higher education operates within a complex ecosystem encompassing diverse institutions, stakeholders, and processes. At its core, conferring degrees represents a culmination of collaborative efforts between students, faculty, and administrative bodies. This process not only signifies academic achievement but also reflects the dynamic interplay of curriculum development, accreditation standards, and industry demands. As hubs of knowledge creation and dissemination, fostering innovation and critical thinking, a university’s degree is a testament to the intricate network of support systems, resources, and partnerships that sustain and advance the educational mission. 

Traditional degrees face challenges with the emergence of lifetime learning and workforce trends toward skills competencies. Smaller, discrete evidence of learning and mastery – skill, competency, course, or program-focused – unbundles a formal degree into its piecemeal components and flavors, built for consumption by an ecosystem of iterative, continual learning and professional development opportunities. Towards this gap, digital credentials have emerged as a digital artifact of recognition, tied with security and trustworthiness measures. Digital credentials implementation in academia remains in a state of high innovation and change, but Eric Sembrat, director of Digital Learning Technologies at Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities (C21U), believes this area is ripe for explosive growth. “Digital credentials are not just a trend; they are a transformative force in the lifetime journey of education, offering a flexible and secure way to recognize and verify skills and competencies. As we grow the newly established College of Lifetime Learning at the Institute, these credentials will play a crucial role in bridging the gap between traditional education and the evolving demands of the workforce.” C21U has conducted prior research and development at the forefront of digital credentials, both in collaboration with worldwide partners in the Digital Credentials Consortium and in research pilots on-campus to understand learner, instructor, and external user research in using digital credentials.  

In tandem with software development efforts for the latest specifications of digital credentials, C21U recently steered a digital credentials technology working group with campus educational stakeholders for future Institute-wide access to digital credentials. Comprised of educational technology experts, end-users, and stakeholders in the College of Lifetime Learning’s three units (C21U, CEISMC, and GTPE), the Offices of Information Technology and International Education, and the Enterprise Innovation Institute, this working group produced a 14-page dossier to campus leaders on emerging and existent trends in digital credentials, a campus technology audit process and results, and a recommendation for campus-scaled technology for digital credentials.  

With a technological recommendation, the Institute can position strategic, planning, and executive efforts for a sustainable, scalable, and equitable implementation of digital credentials. Learners approach lifetime education from a variety of learning experiences – from symposia and events to GTPE’s newly announced FlexStack program, to employee training and professional development, and throughout our academic program offerings across the Institute’s colleges and schools. That foundation, Sembrat offers, will pave the way for learners to carry tangible Georgia Tech evidence of accomplishment and expertise throughout their careers and beyond.