Credentialing Industry
Summary
LearningBuilder is a "Credentialing Management System". This page provides a high-level overview of LearningBuilder's place in the credentialing industry.
Credentialing
In broad terms, a "credential" is an attestation of qualification, competence, or authority that is issued by a third party to an individual or organization. Credentialing is the process through which the 3rd party establishes the qualifications of that individual or organization and validates that they meet some standardized criteria.
Credentialing is an umbrella term that covers licensure, certification, accreditation, etc. (See also: Types of Credentials)
Industry Purpose of Licensure
Licensure is the process through which a government agency, typically a State, verifies that a given individual is qualified to perform a specific occupation and permits that person to practice in that occupation within a specific period of time.
The goal of licensure is to protect the public safety by ensuring that all practitioners of an occupation meet some minimum standard of competency. This is often implemented by establishing education requirements that dictate if someone is eligible to practice, an assessment or exam that demonstrates competence, and ongoing requirements for maintaining the license (continuing education, etc).
For example, all Barbers that wish to legally practice within the District of Columbia must obtain a license to do so. Members of the public can visit a licensed Barber and expect a certain degree of competence and safety without needing to conduct their own assessment of the practitioner.
Obtaining a Credential
At a high enough level, most credentials are awarded using a consistent process. LearningBuilder participates in nearly all aspects of the process in one way or another.
- First, an applicant fills out an application that collects information needed to determine if that person is eligible to become licensed. (In LearningBuilder, these applications are modeled as Learning Plans a.k.a., Applications)
- Once the system verifies the applicant's eligibility, they are granted approval to sit for an exam. LearningBuilder does not deliver the exam experience directly but can automate the process of sending the "approval to test" to the test provider and integrating the results back into the application process. (See Managing the Exam Process)
- Upon passing the exam and fulfilling all other application requirements, which may involve paying a fee, the applicant can submit the application to the credentialing body for review.
- Some credentialing bodies may perform an application review or audit, others may not. Once the application is approved, the credential is granted to the applicant.
- Most credentials contain an ongoing "maintenance" phase in which the practitioner must regularly re-certify against additional requirements, such as completing a set amount of continuing education within a set period of time. This process can be managed within LearningBuilder as well.
Primary Actors
| Practitioner | Generically refers to someone who is interested in achieving a credential, although some communities (specifically medical) may assign more specific meaning to this term. Examples of Practitioners:
Other words for being "Credentialed" include
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| Provider | This is a shortened term for Education Provider. Education Providers offer training to participants in a credentialing ecosystem. They can be associations that are closely affiliated with the certification board or they can be commercial entities. Usually, education providers participate in the system to become an approved provider or to submit courses to be approved for continuing education. Providers will be interested in the following value:
Other terms for Education Provider:
Common Education Provider user stories are:
Providers are Organizations, and can therefore participate in many of the Organization user stories, such as:
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| Reviewers | These are individuals assigned to review applications. Reviewers can be many different kinds of participants and may review applications for a variety of reasons:
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