By: John C. Foster, President/CEO NOCTI/Nocti Business Solutions and Amie L. Bloomfield, Executive Vice President NOCTI
People say that in order to make new friends one has to be willing to be open and ready to take a chance on something new. The first few moments of a new relationship are about finding common ground and learning about the other’s likes and dislikes. In early 2016, NOCTI learned of the work that was underway with the Credentialing Transparency Initiative, now known as Credential Engine, and was impressed by the mission to create credential transparency in the marketplace. This is no easy feat and requires creating and supporting a community of credential providers, capturing and maintaining large amounts of credential information, providing tools to easily access and understand the credential information, and creating an environment that supports a common credentialing language.
NOCTI can identify with each of these components. We provide credentials to the career and technical education (CTE) community, as well as credentials on behalf of a variety of industry associations. Our national connections and conversations validate the perception that there are multiple definitions for a credential. Including what it is, how it is earned, and who values it. In the CTE community, the phrase “credentials of value” is a common term and is not interpreted consistently across states. Our organization decided to connect with the Credential Engine to help support their vision, recognizing that the connection would be valuable in helping provide clarity and consistency for NOCTI’s customers and partners. All NOCTI’s credentials have been entered into the Credential Registry and NOCTI is planning outreach to encourage all of its partners to do the same.
NOCTI joined the Credential Engine initiative as an early partner and participates in both the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and the Certification and Licensure Advisory Group (CLAG). Committee participation allows NOCTI to serve not only as a voice for credentialing assessment developers, but also as one for CTE. Our most recent engagement with Credential Engine has been on the Pathways initiative.
That pathway work has lead us to consider app design and how both the career and technical community and other workforce training communities could better utilize the data registry. Could we design an app that would allow NOCTI to customize a competency list for credentials in occupations that are a compilation of a variety of skill sets, or perhaps for occupations that don’t even exist yet? We think the applications are endless!
As the Credential Engine gains traction in the credentialing marketplace, NOCTI remains committed to helping promote the important vision. Credentialing transparency is key to the products NOCTI offers, as well as to the community with whom we engage. Transparency is critical as it creates the opportunity for users to make informed decisions about credentials and their value.
NOCTI and Nocti Business Solutions believes in the work being done by the Credential Engine and believe it will be beneficial to advancing a variety of sectors including education, industry, military as well as the overall economy. We became “friends” because of our common interest and because we recognize quality. We encourage all our other friends to take a close look at the work being done by the Credential Engine and to consider ways in which your organization can get involved!
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