By: Jehiely Balabarca
Southern Adventist University is working on a digital badging system to affirm student leadership skills, providing verified credentials for students to display alongside their experience.
Dennis Negrón, vice president for Student Development, said the initiative is part of a larger campus strategy to embed digital credentials in academics, student leadership and campus employment.
“The idea is to let potential employers know that somebody has developed a skill as a result of the classes that they take or leadership roles that they hold on campus,” Negrón said.
The badges will be for four specific skills: leadership, teamwork, communication and problem-solving.
“This year, we’re building the ones in leadership and teamwork,” Negrón said. “We hope to start the pilot next year with student government leaders and develop the other two.”
The program has a five-year implementation plan, with all four badges anticipated to be accessible to students by the 2027-28 academic year.
Badges will be listed on Southern’s co-curricular transcript, which documents participation in extracurricular activities and learning of soft skills. Although they won’t show up automatically on resumes, students will be able to add them.
Joseph Khabbaz, vice president for Spiritual Life, said digital badging could help with students’ personal and professional development.
Digital badges have emerged in higher education as mechanisms to document informal learning that occurs outside of courses or credit programs. According to Khabbaz, research shows that they offer a broader representation of student achievements than degrees or certificates.
“Digital badges can give students a more tangible way to showcase their skills and experiences to employers, graduate schools and professional networks,” Khabbaz stated.
Negrón said the badging system might grow beyond leadership roles to include volunteer work and campus employment.
“We want to ensure that these badges have true currency in the workplace,” he said.
