As you build your communications and marketing strategy for incremental credentialing, don’t look at it as being “set in stone.” Rather, consider it a guide to your communications and marketing efforts that will be subject to change as you implement it. An effective plan will combine elements of strategic communications and marketing to effectively inform audiences.
Multiple entities must combine to carry out an effective strategy at the state- and institution-wide levels. Considering your various audiences and the channels of delivery selected to reach them, identify which entity will roll out and manage each of the activities in the work plan. In some cases, a state’s public information office may manage the plan, or communications offices within state agencies will be responsible for various features of the plan. At the institution-wide level, a communications office often can help manage the work plan, monitoring the efficacy of various components of the plan and reporting back to institution leadership. These types of feedback loops are important to ensure that the work plan is revised as needed. Where institutions have an Office of Innovation, it may be helpful for that office to work closely with the communications office.
Credential As You Go has acquired three phases of funding to date. Lumina Foundation funded Phase I, resulting in the Incremental Credential Framework for testing. The Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education funds Phase II (Grant R305T210063), which focuses on rapid prototyping of and research on incremental credentials with a national campaign. An anonymous private donor fund at the Program on Skills, Credentials & Workforce Policy at George Washington University funds the development of the prototype Learn and Work Ecosystem Library. Walmart funds Phase III, which focuses on systems change for expansion and sustainability of incremental credentials. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of Lumina Foundation, Institute of Education Sciences, the U.S. Department of Education, Walmart, or George Washington University.