Badges are short credit courses that appear on a transcript indicating that academic work was successfully completed in a short course. Badges are designed for working, non-degree seeking professionals. Badges may also be granted for successful completion of workforce related noncredit academic programs.
Yes. Badges can be awarded for approved undergraduate or graduate level academic work completed in workshops and short courses, in which there may be a need or it may be useful to award credit for less than a full credit hour. Badges for academic credit must meet the University’s definition and assignment of credit hours and have measurable learning outcomes.
Badge credit hours may apply to a university degree, if the student has been or is admitted as a degree-seeking student into a degree program (pursuant to all policies governing such admission, including qualified admissions requirements) and the academic unit accepts the credit hours as part of the degree program. Badges may be “stacked” to allow professionals to gain a certificate to document their learning. This would allow both the University and the employer to document the quality of the student learning in a manner that is much more rigorous than traditional noncredit continuing education offered by most universities. Because these courses would all meet HLC standards, faculty and departments may choose to allow these courses to count toward a university degree should the student later be admitted to a degree program.
Instructors must meet Higher Learning Commission credentialing polices, which includes possessing an academic degree relevant to what they are teaching and at least one level above the level at which they teach, except in programs for terminal degrees or when equivalent experience is established.
Badges, for which academic credit is awarded, must meet the University’s definition and assignment of credit hours and be offered for one credit hour or less. A 0.5 hour badge offered in a traditional classroom setting requires 7.5 hours of direct instruction and 15 hours of outside course work. Online coursework may require students to watch videos, interact with discussion forums, and submit assignments and take quizzes electronically.
No. Badges must be offered for either credit or noncredit.
Badges can be offered either online or in a traditional classroom setting. On-line badges are preferred as they are more convenient for students and widely accessible. The WSU Office of Instructional Design is available to assist faculty members develop online badges or take existing course work and transition it to an online format.
Faculty may require certain pre-requisites prior to enrollment, however it is preferred, once enrolled in a series of badges, that students not be required to take them in sequential order.
The Registrar’s Office has created a new part of term for badges. Students can add, drop, or withdraw from a badge course through the 60th day of the fall or spring terms.
No. Market Based Tuition is tuition based on cost recovery and constitutes the total amount for the course exclusive of any administrative cost, books, software, or other materials required to complete the course and is independent of the tuition rate approved by the Board of Regents. MBT has been approved by the Kansas Board of Regents for credit-based education (including for credit badges) that meet the needs of non-degree seeking working professionals.
Students who successfully complete the badge requirements will be awarded a badge. “Badged” or “BG” credit will be reflected on their transcript. If a student does not complete all of the requirements for the badge, their transcript will reflect a notation “no badge” or “NBG.” Whether or not a badge is earned a student’s GPA will not be affected.
Licensed professionals may earn both college credit and contact hours for successful badge completion subject to meeting the relicensure requirements of individuals’ professions. For example, a nurse who takes the 0.5 hour Care of Populations badge would earn 0.5 credit hours and receive 7.5 contact hours for relicensure.