Transferable Skills Digital Badging: Behind the Scenes of Creating a Career-Readiness Culture

Career Level: Intermediate career services professionals
Competency: Use of technology for delivery of content
Fee: $69 (member); $89 (nonmember);

Summary
This presentation will give a "behind the scenes" look at how FGCU created a career-readiness culture by designing a systematic process for transferable skills badging, including “on-ramps” and assessment, to help students recognize, develop, demonstrate, articulate, and showcase career-readiness competencies.

Following this program, you will be able to:
- Identify strategies to design a transferable skills digital badging process to develop, strengthen, and assess students' career-readiness;
- Understand how to develop intentional "on-ramps" for students to engage in the transferable skills digital badging process; and
- Describe how to create a career-readiness culture on campus.
Presenters

Aysegul Timur PhD, President, Florida Gulf Coast University
Dr. Aysegul Timur is vice president and vice provost of strategy and program innovation at Florida Gulf Coast University. She received her doctoral degree in business administration, majoring in economics, from the University of South Florida, and her master’s and bachelor’s degrees in business administration from the University of Istanbul. Widely recognized as a leader in workforce gaps and building bridges between education and workforce development, she was recently honored by the Florida College Access Network as one of its first Workforce Education Innovators. In 2020, Dr. Timur worked with industry partners and the university to implement an institution-wide micro-credentialing and digital badging program to address the “skills gap." This innovative program, which includes industry-specific transferable skills and continuing education badging opportunities, has been showcased in an article by the Journal of Industry and Higher Education “How I stopped fearing micro-credentials and began to love digital badging – a pilot project” and in a book chapter entitled “A Step-by-Step Guide for Developing a Microcredentialing Program” (New Models of Higher Education: Unbundled, Rebundled, Customized, and DIY: https://www.igi-global.com/gateway/book/286666). Dr. Timur also holds many board of director positions to serve the nonprofit community in Southwest Florida including, but not limited to, the Collaboratory as Chair of the Board of Trustees, Healthcare Network of Southwest Florida, International Women’s Forum, Leadership Collier Foundation, Greater Naples Chamber, the Partnership for Collier’s Future Economy-Opportunity Naples, and the South Lee Economic Development Advisory Council.

Glenn Whitehouse, Associate Dean, Florida Gulf Coast University - Dept of Communication & Philosophy
Glenn Whitehouse, Ph.D., is associate dean of the College of Arts & Sciences and associate professor of philosophy and religion at Florida Gulf Coast University. He was educated at New College (B.A.) and the University of Iowa (Ph.D.). Dr. Whitehouse has been part of numerous institutional initiatives since coming to FGCU as a founding faculty member in 1997. He co-founded and directs PAGES , a career program for liberal arts students at FGCU (https://www.fgcu.edu/cas/centers/pages/), and is a leading member of the FGCU Digital Badging Executive Committee, Steering Committee, and Transferable Skills Sub-Committee. He is a co-author of the book chapter entitled “A Step-by-Step Guide for Developing a Microcredentialing Program” (New Models of Higher Education: Unbundled, Rebundled, Customized, and DIY: https://www.igi-global.com/gateway/book/286666).

Jessica Rhea, Senior Director, Service Learning, Florida Gulf Coast University
Jessica Rhea is the senior director of experiential learning and career development at Florida Gulf Coast University. In this role, she works collaboratively with the directors of service-learning, internships, and career development to increase student success and career readiness by institutionalizing service-learning and internship experiences at FGCU. Integrating these real-world, hands-on learning opportunities into students’ educational experiences allows them to explore career paths and gain the knowledge and skills needed for their future professional endeavors. She is actively involved in FGCU’s transferable skills digital badging program and presented on this topic at the 2022 NACE Conference & Expo. Beyond her role at the university, she serves as the leader of the Persistence and Completion Team with the FutureMakers Coalition of SWFL, a collective impact initiative whose aim is to transform Southwest Florida’s workforce by increasing the proportion of working-age adults with college degrees, workforce certificates, industry certifications, and other high-quality credentials to 55% by 2025.

Ashleigh Droz, Director, Internships & Cooperative Programs, Florida Gulf Coast University
Ashleigh Droz is the director of internships and cooperative programs at Florida Gulf Coast University. She holds a Master of Arts in education in counseling and guidance for higher education/student affairs, as well as a B.S. in psychology and B.A. in theatre arts, all from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. She has spent 12 years working in higher education, most recently as the internship coordinator for the Department of Communication & Philosophy at FGCU. She was also a founding team member of the PAGES Program, with which she has played the role of career specialist for a program focused on career exploration and preparation of FGCU’s humanities and social sciences majors. As an adjunct, she has taught more than 30 courses on career development, communication, and student success at FGCU. Previously, she served as an academic adviser for UGS Advising (now Exploratory Advising) at FGCU, as well as the career counselor for the College of Liberal Arts and interim career counselor for the College of Science and Math and the School of Education at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. She has presented regionally and nationally on career development theory and practice, liberal arts education, and advising theory and practice. In addition, she has served as a member of FGCU's Assault and Rape Information, Support and Education (ARISE) Committee and as the RSO adviser for the FGCU Habitat for Humanity Campus Chapter for the last five years.

Andrea Fortin, Visiting Asst Professor and Faculty Coordinator, Florida Gulf Coast University
Andrea Fortin, Ph.D., is a faculty member at Florida Gulf Coast University in the Department of Integrated Studies. She works with the Roots of Compassion and Kindness (ROCK) Center to develop courses and community partnerships. Her current research interests are related to gaming, digital culture, community, kindness, compassion, and empathy. In addition to teaching, she works closely with university digital badging initiatives, designs micro-credentials, and supports faculty development of micro-credentials. Dr. Fortin works with the FutureMakers Coalition of Southwest Florida to work on projects to create opportunities for the local workforce.