2026 Badge Summit

2026 Badge Summit

2026 Badge Summit @ CU Boulder
In-person July 13-15 | Online August 4

Lauren Arbaugh

Eastern West Virginia Community & Technical College

Dean of Workforce Innovation & Industry Partnerships

Moorefield, WV

https://easternwv.edu

Find me on

9:00am MDT

Registration | Pre-Conference Workshops | Campus Tours Glen Miller Ball Room

11:30am MDT

Opening Luncheon + Badgesplaining Talks Glen Miller Ball RoomAlan Heppenstall • Cate Tolnai, MAT • Geeta Verma • Kelsey Draper • Keith Look • Chris Newlon • Thania Guardino • Nadia Starr • Jeremy McQuigge • Konrad Sowa

1:00pm MDT

1:30pm MDT

Beyond the Badge: How Arizona Is Aligning Micro and Milestone Credentials for Learner Mobility UMC 415+417David Borofsky • Elisabeth Fellowes • Dr. Lisa Young

2:20pm MDT

2:40pm MDT

Gaining Employer Buy-In: What’s working, what’s not, and how we'll fill existing gaps UMC 247Greg Watkins

How might we design a “commons” infrastructure to make microcredentials discoverable, adaptable and reusable? UMC 235Başak Büyükçelen • Dr. Lisa Young

3:30pm MDT

3:45pm MDT

Better Evidence for Skills Validation: An Assessment Use Quality RubricDanielle Saunders Mapping Competencies for Career Programs: Driving LER Adoption with Credential EngineTim Hathaway

8:00am MDT

Breakfast Keynote featuring Keisha Katz Glen Miller Ball Room

9:30am MDT

10:00am MDT

From Completion to Application: Badges as Evidence of Learning Transfer UMC 285+287 (Aspen)Stella Porto Issuing at Scale: How Maricopa, ASU, and DXtera Are Building a Cross-Institution Credentialing Network CASE CTL (E390)Brooke Lipsitz • Sasha Flores

10:30am MDT

10:45am MDT

Banking on Skills: A Cross-Sector Model for Workforce-Aligned Microcredential Pathway UMC 247Sasha Flores • Dr. Lisa Young Exploring Definitions and Implications of Micro-credentials and Digital Badges in Higher Education and Workforce UMC 235Marilys Galindo • Thomas Gauthier

11:15am MDT

11:30am MDT

Considerations for Digital Credentialing in Higher Education: Guidance and Emerging Best Practices in Support of Learner Mobility UMC 285+287 (Aspen)Dale Allen • Jon Furr • Jeff Merriman • Nate Otto Essential Skills - The Key to the Future of Work UMC 247Kelly Strong

12:00pm MDT

Tuesday Luncheon | T3 Innovation Network Mid-Year Meeting Glen Miller Ball RoomNate Otto • Robert Bajor • Colin Reynolds • Madelyn Rahn • Joseph Davis • Amanda Winters • Jeanne Kitchens • Karen Passmore • Jim Goodell

2:00pm MDT

2:30pm MDT

Don’t Be a Free-Badger – Align Criteria and Evidence to Ensure Workforce Value UMC 247Sandra Bullock • Randy Bowman How Do You Spell L-E-R? Spotlighting Scalable Practices Beyond the Transcript UMC 235Mike Simmons I Value Badges! Making the Micro-Credentials Case on Campus UMC 285+287 (Aspen)Carmen Bain • Amy Mendee Making Micro-Credentials Stick: Tools for Faculty Support and Employer Engagement CASE E422Andrea Fortin • Kristen Vanselow

3:00pm MDT

3:15pm MDT

Build Your Own Badge UMC 247Tomás Mindlin • Jim Vernon

4:00pm MDT

Reception in the Connection

8:00am MDT

Wednesday Breakfast + Badgesplaining Glen Miller Ball Room

9:30am MDT

Critical Partnerships for STEM Career Pathways via Skills-Based Microcredentials UMC 285+287 (Aspen)Garrett Groves • Alyssa Reinhart, Ph.D. • Jennifer Fong Designing Skills Evidence that Employers Trust UMC 247Angela Consani

10:00am MDT

10:15am MDT

Evaluating the Technical Foundations of Badge and LER Systems: A Ready-to-Use Self-Assessment Tool UMC 285+287 (Aspen)Robert Bajor • Nate Otto Making the STEM Microcredential Landscape Less Bumpy UMC 247Kent J. Crippen • Sooomin Lee • Rob Moore Where Skills Really Get Assessed: Mapping the Signals That Shape Opportunity CASE E422Nishita Chheda • Meghan Raftery

10:45am MDT

Exhibitor Break

11:15am MDT

Ensuring Trusted and Transparent Credentials in Higher Education CASE CTL (E390)Penny Ramirez • Preston Trebas Skills based hiring for employers UMC 285+287 (Aspen)Nate Otto

11:45am MDT

12:00pm MDT

Closing Plenary Luncheon Glen Miller Ball Room

TBA

Beyond the Badge: Rebuilding Employer Trust in Digital CredentialsSonia Malik

12:00pm MDT

Behavioral Health Pathways: Stackable Credentials Empower Learners and Meet Employer NeedsSusan Paulsen

12:45pm MDT

From Industry-Based Skilling, to New Career Pathways, to Advancing Democracy: Bridging Divides with Digital CredentialsMelanie Booth