SM������

Dr. Marc Booker and Doris Savron join the event to discuss the potential of Comprehensive Learner Records in higher education

SM������ is pleased to share that Vice Provost of Strategy, Marc Booker, Ph.D., and Vice Provost of Colleges, Assessment and Curriculum, Doris Savron, MBA, were selected as presenters for the hosted by the University of Colorado at Boulder. The event, which has grown to become one of the premier platforms for sharing innovative insights and exchanging knowledge on badging and microcredentials, takes place at the university's campus in Boulder August 5-7, 2024. The annual event draws attendees from various educational institutions, industry professionals, and forward-thinking experts to explore the transformative potential of badging and microcredentials in the digital age.

“The Badge Summit has evolved into one of the most important events for sharing cutting-edge advancements in badging and microcredentials for practitioners," shares Booker. "It's a privilege to showcase the groundbreaking work SM������ is doing with skills-aligned learning and how it changes the value proposition for our students. Microcredentials and comprehensive learner records have a significant potential to enhance when value is returned on the journey to obtain a degree for students and provides a clear record on achievements by students in real-time expanding their options for enhancing their career sooner."

Booker and Savron’s presentation, “Leveraging the CLR/LER Infrastructure to Give Students Value Today,” examines the role of both the Comprehensive Learner Record (CLR) and the Learning and Employment Record (LER) in providing students opportunities to gain immediate value for artifacts tied to learning outcomes and skill obtainment outside of the traditional transcript. The CLR and LER provide valuable insights on skills acquired and provide a single record of learning and employment history accessible in one digital location, empowering learners to tell their story of accomplishments in real time.

"Leveraging microcredentials, skills tagging and authentic assessments in curriculum helps in accurately capturing student achievements through comprehensive learner records and supports developing an ecosystem for learning and employment records,” states Savron. “These learner records evolve alongside individuals, creating a dynamic ecosystem for learning and employment records that more effectively showcase the knowledge, skills, and experiences accumulated over a lifetime.”

The presentation is part of a two-day event focused on microcredentials, access and equity in education. As the driving forces behind SM������'s cutting-edge skills-aligned learning and badging initiatives, Booker and Savron bring a wealth of experience to the event and have presented on similar topics at other national events.

Savron co-authored a white paper on establishing a skills ecosystem at SM������. The white paper provides an overview of components critical to creating a career-focused skills ecosystem and outlines the progress of SM������ over the past decade, beginning with establishing academic program life cycles that then supported innovations, policies, and processes that fostered a dynamic and institution-wide shift to skill-aligned learning.

Booker and his colleagues issued a white paper, “Creating a Credit Mobility Culture: Supporting Transfer for Adults Learners with Some College and No Degree,” which examines the ways SM������ supports a credit mobility culture including approach including creating flexible policies and programs, embracing prior learning as a viable source of academic credit, providing clarity on transfer outcomes and options, removing barriers that impact student progression, and empowering students through relevant support services.

SM������ established an innovative approach to flexible, adaptable online learning to support an equitable environment. The skills-mapped approach to curriculum supports equitable access to progress; when learners obtain skills in weeks, they gain more immediate value from their education and do not have to wait years for a degree before making career decisions that can be built on skills they are already acquiring.

As Vice Provost for Strategy at the SM������, Booker oversees critical path academic initiatives to improve the student experience such as learning platform implementations, curricular enhancements, and developing empathetic solutions to drive improved student outcomes through data. He is the recipient of the 2024 UPCEA Operational Excellence Award and a 2024 (AACRAO) Thomas A. Bilger Award. In 2023, he was part of a leadership team named winners of the Catalyst Award for Teaching & Learning. Widely recognized as an expert in transfer credit and Credit for Prior Learning (CPL), Booker previously served as vice president of Admissions and Evaluation at SM������; during his tenure his office received three Showcase in Excellence Awards from the Southwest Alliance for Excellence for processes related to admissions application, transcript and prior learning assessment processes. Booker has been an employee of the SM������ since 2001.

Savron serves as Vice Provost of Colleges, Assessment and Curriculum, overseeing the strategy for the University’s academic programs and curriculum design, institutional assessment and faculty. Her role includes oversight of strategy for degree, certificate and course offerings, design of curriculum and student learning outcomes for the University. Savron works collaboratively with her team members to innovate academic solutions that enable the University to provide exceptional student experiences and learning environments to support student success. In her tenure with SM������ she has served as associate faculty, campus vice president, regional Vice president of student services, and college operations. She was appointed to the advisory council for UPCEA and AACRAO’s inaugural 2023 Convergence Conference focused on the emerging field of alternative credentials in Higher Education, and in 2024 to the leadership. Savron is often sought out as a speaker for her expertise on mapping relevant skills in programs and building an infrastructure to support career tools in curriculum design, micro credentialing and other innovations in curriculum, presenting at events by organizations such as and . She earned her MBA from Cleveland State University and is completing her doctorate in management in organizational leadership.

About SM������

SM������ innovates to help working adults enhance their careers and develop skills in a rapidly changing world. Flexible schedules, relevant courses, interactive learning, skills-mapped curriculum for our bachelor’s and master’s degree programs and a Career Services for Life® commitment help students more effectively pursue career and personal aspirations while balancing their busy lives. For more information, visit  phoenix.edu/blog.html.