The inaugural Curriculum Committee of AACRAO, established in 2025 by the AACRAO Board of Directors, aimed to create a modern competency framework for its members that reflects the changing professional field and activities of higher education professionals. “The current AACRAO strategic plan requires that we build credentialled career pathways for the professions that we serve,” said AACRAO Executive Director Melanie Gottlieb. “Foundational to that was to refresh our approach to competencies to ensure that they addressed the current and evolving needs of the profession and aligned with leading practice to support assessable skills acquisition.”
In response to a call to AACRAO members, a group of committed individuals with various specialties and representing different institutions was selected to serve on the Committee, with Rhonda Kitch and Rebecca Mathern as its co-chairs.
The Committee used the AACRAO 2015 competency framework as a foundation and, over the course of three months, developed a robust, skills-based competency set for the association.
This new framework includes 15 competency areas (listed below) and three performance levels: foundational, intermediate, and advanced. “The AACRAO Competency set was designed to define, standardize, and elevate the skills, knowledge, and behaviors required for success in the professions that we support,” added Gottlieb. “It elevates professional standards by providing a clear, shared language that can be used by the association and institutions alike.”
To support the work, AACRAO partnered with Competency-Based Education Network, or C-BEN, a nonprofit organization specializing in developing and implementing competency-based frameworks, which facilitated workshops and guided the Committee through the development process.
The Competency Set, once developed, was reviewed and endorsed by the Board of Directors in October 2025. These competencies are observable and measurable and include performance levels of mastery for:
Service Excellence
Operational Logistics
Organizational Management
Data Reporting & Analysis
Leadership
People & Team Management
Policy Development & Implementation
Technology Management
Credit Assessment
Academic Innovation
Systems Management
Project Management
Student Success & Enrollment Management
Strategic Professional Development
Compliance
“Skill-based competencies bring clarity, consistency, and intentionality to the AACRAO professions,” noted Dr. Tina DeNeen, AACRAO Associate Executive Director and Curriculum Committee Executive Sponsor. “They move us beyond simply understanding our roles to clearly articulating what success looks like at every stage of a career. By defining observable and measurable skills, we create shared expectations across institutions, support more meaningful professional development, and empower individuals to see a pathway for growth. Ultimately, this approach strengthens our ability to serve students and institutions by ensuring our professionals are equipped with the right skills at the right time.”
The AACRAO Competency Set serves as an all-purpose tool that will be helpful not only for individual members but also for the entire organization. The tool can be used for writing job descriptions, planning professional development activities, and evaluating performance, among other things.
“At the association level, it will allow us to align member development with identified professional needs, to support individual member career development, and a framework upon which to design educational offerings targeted directly to the skills required for professional success,” offered Gottlieb. “At the institutional level, the competencies can be applied to support job descriptions and performance measures that are aligned to an industry standard. The shared language will add clarity to hiring processes, and may support institutions to consider skills-based hiring in some roles.”
Most importantly, however, it provides a common language to recognize contributions made by AACRAO members to higher education. “Our individual members will be able to use the Competency framework as a roadmap for personal growth and career progression,” added Gottlieb.
You can join Curriculum Committee Members at the 111th AACRAO Annual Meeting in New Orleans to review the Competency Set, explore the three performance levels (foundational, intermediate, and advanced), and engage in discussion on ways to utilize this framework in daily work, leadership, and mission.
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