The beauty and bane of higher education in the U.S. is the sovereignty of the state systems. Unlike our colleagues in other countries, there is no Ministry of Education. This means there is no easily obtained or ordained shared, national vision, policy, or…language.
We plan to fix this.
AACRAO aims to establish a recurring, national U.S. Higher Education Nomenclature Committee to engage in the foundational exercise of defining and agreeing on terms. The first part of the initiative is to update the 1956 AACRAO Glossary of Terms. The first two committees will be comprised of 5-6 individuals from AACRAO members, individuals in institutional leadership positions, and peer organizations with experience in postsecondary processes. Each group will work together for five months on different sections of the glossary starting in April. The task will involve updating existing terms, removing outdated ones, and adding new terms as needed.
Why Now?
A 2023 AACRAO report, “Credential Confusion: A Call for Uniformity in Practice and Terminology” is based on a survey of AACRAO members and focus group information from over 100 AACRAO leaders. The survey collected responses from 48 states, Guam, Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and five Canadian provinces and the information we received helped us focus our understanding of the current state of credentials - the artifacts of learning. We learned several important lessons from the results. The first and most important insight from the data is that words matter. Credential confusion is a reality and it begins with the words used to discuss the topic.
Since 1910, AACRAO has been at the forefront of managing and documenting learning - with registrars documenting learning and issuing its artifacts and admissions operations evaluating said artifacts. The Association is focused on facilitating the seamless evaluation and documentation of learning in an evolving environment with ever-changing learner needs.
The current challenges in higher education are complicated. In order to move forward, we must work in collaboration across departments, and across institutions, from K12 to workforce. The first step, however, is speaking the same language.
If you are interested in volunteering for this project, complete the interest form by March 13, 2024. A stipend of $1100 will be provided to each participant. We will complete the selection process of the first two review committees by March 27, 2024.