Editor’s Note: this article was written by CUNY SPS contributing writer Tanzina Vega.
The CUNY School of Professional Studies (CUNY SPS) is proud to announce a recent grant from the CUNY College Completion Innovation Fund awarded to a team of CUNY SPS educators for their work on developing digital skills badges for students. The project, named “From Coursework to Career Signals” uses the Brightspace learning platform to teach students how to apply and convey their education into marketable workplace skills.
The team leading the effort included CUNY SPS staff Hannah Miller, general education assistant director, and Holli Broadfoot, experiential learning director, along with faculty consultant Howard Wach, former provost and vice president of academic affairs at Guttman Community College.
Broadfoot explained the need for this initiative. “At SPS, many of our students are already working, raising families, and managing full lives while earning their degrees. They’re learning a tremendous amount in their courses, including career skills, but we noticed that students didn’t always know how to talk about all their learning in a way that would be advantageous to their careers,” she said. “With support from the CCIF grant, we’re building a way for students to identify and communicate their skills as they develop them, not just at the end of their degree.”
The digital badges (see example, pictured left) align with the metrics of career readiness outlined by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), which include leadership, professional thinking, communication, and teamwork among others. Students earn their badges in real time and can post them online to job boards like LinkedIn instead of waiting for official transcripts. The idea is to help students “build a visible record of their skills as they move through their program and use that to support conversations with employers,” said Broadfoot. The badges are tailored to the specific skills the student learns in their coursework that fall under these larger areas. For example, “a MATH 102 student who writes a report and records a video based on quantitative data analysis earns a badge titled “Communication: Quantitative Analysis and Reporting,” said Miller.
The badges were an outgrowth of the work that CUNY SPS has done over the past few years to align student coursework to meet NACE standards. “As we did that, we kept hearing the same thing from students and faculty and staff:they were building valuable skills but didn’t always recognize them or know how to talk about them in a professional context,” explained Broadfoot. So Miller, Broadfoot, and Wach got to work on the badge idea and applied for the CCIF grant.
The $96,000 award has since allowed the team “to design, pilot, and evaluate the integration of digital skill badges into coursework,” while also supporting faculty development and instructional design. “For our working adult students, this kind of investment matters. Many don’t have access to internships or traditional career-building opportunities, so their coursework has to do more,” said Broadfoot.
The team hopes that the badges will also help students feel more certain about the future of their education. “Students often struggle to see the relevance of their general education coursework to their current and future careers,” said Wach. “For those whose primary goal is career advancement, we hope that reframing these assignments with the digital badges will increase motivation and perceived relevance.”
Founded in 2015, The CUNY College Completion Innovation Fund is a collaborative education fund that leverages partnerships with community-based organizations and colleges to address barriers that disproportionately affect New Yorkers with historically underrepresented backgrounds succeed and persist in college. As of 2026, the fund has invested $8 million in 34 pilot projects in colleges and community-based organizations across the city.
About the CUNY School of Professional Studies
As New York's leading online school since 2006, the CUNY School of Professional Studies (CUNY SPS) offers the most online bachelor's and master's degree options at the City University of New York, and serves as the University's first undergraduate all-transfer college. With over 26 degrees and numerous other non-degree and grant-funded workplace learning programs, CUNY SPS meets the needs of adults who wish to finish a bachelor's degree, progress from an associate's degree, earn a master's degree or certificate in a specialized field, and advance in the workplace or change careers. Consistently ranked highly by U.S. News & World Report for its online offerings, CUNY SPS has emerged as a nationwide leader in online education. The School's renowned and affordable online programs ensure that busy working adults may fulfill their educational goals on their own time and schedule.
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