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ARUCC MyCreds™ Reaching Higher Newsletter Winter 2022

1 February, 2022

Welcome to ARUCC’s MyCreds™ Reaching Higher Newsletter Winter 2022 Edition.

ARUCC is delighted to provide an update for the community on the National Network’s progress and milestones over the past year. MyCreds™ recently celebrated its one-year anniversary of the first institution launch. Today, there are 26 institutions in Canada launched on MyCreds™, issuing a range of academic documents from transcripts to parchments, letters, micro-credentials, badges, awards, and more. The First Nations University of Canada, the first Indigenous-controlled post-secondary institution has joined MyCreds™ and the Network has now expanded to Atlantic Canada with the launch of the College of the North Atlantic. Colleges, universities, Indigenous institutes, credential evaluators, provincial governments, and other organizations from coast to coast are currently in the onboarding pipeline.

The community will continue to be updated with news and MyCreds™ launches via its press releases and LinkedIn announcements. Read on to learn more.

New to MyCreds™

Humber College

Humber College, Canada’s largest polytechnic, joined MyCreds™ in October. Humber combines theoretical learning and hands-on experience with applied research and extensive industry connection. Humber launched with transcripts and has since made parchments available for students via the MyCreds™ platform. Read Humber’s press release announcement here.

University of Waterloo

In November, the University of Waterloo launched the use of MyCreds™ with digital transcripts. More digital documents will be added over time, such as parchments and letters. With over 17,000 paper transcripts being requested and issued annually, this new digital service will allow students to receive access to and share their digital copies with their intended audiences faster, more conveniently, and more securely. Read Waterloo’s press release announcement here.

Burman University

Burman University joined the MyCreds™ family in December, expanding the National Network across institutions of all sizes in the country. MyCreds™ will further enhance the speed and efficiency of Burman’s processes and the exceptional personal service they can provide their learners. Read Burman’s press release announcement in Academica here.

First Nations University of Canada

The First Nations University of Canada (FNUniv), the first Indigenous-controlled post-secondary institution joined the MyCreds™ National Network. FNUniv recently launched the Indigenous Continuing Education Centre (ICEC) which provides distinct Indigenous-focused non-accredited, short course programming for individuals, professionals, businesses, and communities – both Indigenous and non-Indigenous. Successful learners of the ICEC course offerings will earn digital credentials in badges, micro-credentials, and professional certificates via MyCreds™ virtual credential wallets. Read FNUniv’s press release announcement here.

Mount Royal University

Mount Royal University launched MyCreds™ at the end of January 2022 and is excited to offer a variety of academic documents coming soon through the platform including Parchments, Confirmation of Enrolment letters, Study Permit letters and Graduation letters. MRU will be transitioning to the fully integrated version of the system, to include automation of transcripts in late spring, 2022. The Faculty of Continuing Education will additionally be using MyCreds™ for digital badging of micro-credentials for two of its programs. Read MRU’s press release announcement here.

College of the North Atlantic

College of the North Atlantic (CNA) became the first institution in Atlantic Canada to launch the MyCreds™ initiative. With 17 campus locations throughout Newfoundland and Labrador, CNA is the largest post-secondary educational and technical skills training centre in Atlantic Canada. CNA students and graduates will have 24/7 access to transcripts and micro-credentials, and the college plans to expand what’s offered via this “one-stop shopping” means of acquiring official CNA documents. Read CNA’s press release announcement here.

 

Receiving Organizations

The following organizations have recently joined MyCreds™ as designated receiving organizations and are provided with their own receiver portal to accept digital documents shared via the Network: Saskatchewan Professional Teachers Regulatory Board, College of Medical Laboratory Technologists of Manitoba, Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration (MIFI), UBC Peter A. Allard School of Law, UBC Undergraduate Admissions, UBC Faculty of Medicine | MD Undergraduate Admissions, Ontario College of Teachers.

MyCreds™ Institutions and Organizations

ARUCC is pleased to announce that the following institutions and organizations have onboarded or are onboarding to MyCreds™. For a detailed list of the institutions and organizations that have launched, please visit the MyCreds™️ Member Directory .

Alberta

Launched: Bow Valley College, Burman University, Law Society of Alberta (receiver), Medicine Hat College, Mount Royal University, NAIT, Olds College, SAIT, University of Alberta, University of Calgary, University of Lethbridge

Coming Soon: Lethbridge College, MacEwan University

British Columbia

Launched: UBC Faculty of Medicine | MD Undergraduate Admissions (receiver), UBC Peter A. Allard School of Law (receiver), UBC Undergraduate Admissions (receiver)

Coming Soon: Trinity Western University

Manitoba

Launched: Booth University College (receiver), College of Medical Laboratory Technologists of Manitoba (receiver), Red River College Polytechnic

Newfoundland and Labrador

Launched: College of the North Atlantic

Coming Soon: Memorial University of Newfoundland

Ontario

Launched: Centennial College, Conestoga College, Georgian College, Humber College, Lambton College, OCAD University, Ontario College of Teachers (receiver), Ontario Law School Application Service (receiver), Ontario Medical School Application Service (receiver), Ontario Rehabilitation Sciences Programs Application Service (receiver), Ryerson University, Seneca College, University of Toronto (receiver), University of Waterloo, Western University, York University

Coming Soon: Brock University, Confederation College, Sheridan College, Université de l’Ontario français

Quebec

Launched: HEC Montréal, Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration (receiver)

Saskatchewan

Launched: First Nations University of Canada, Saskatchewan Professional Teachers Regulatory Board (receiver), University of Regina

Coming Soon: Saskatchewan Polytechnic, University of Saskatchewan

New MyCreds™ learner ‘How-To’ videos

ARUCC is pleased to provide new learner ‘How-To’ videos. These short videos answer learners’ commonly asked questions and provide step-by-step instructions of how to use the MyCreds™ portal.

MyCreds™ Strategic Plan

The ARUCC board with the support of the MyCreds™ Steering Committee has articulated a strategic vision and plan for MyCreds™ spanning the next few years. We successfully achieved the goals/objectives for our first inaugural year. This included finalizing and securing Digitary as the service provider for MyCreds™ through a significant national and international RFP process, launching two institutions as working proofs of concepts on the Digitary international platform in summer 2020, creating, testing, and launching fully bilingual MyCreds™ platform supported by a comprehensive website by October/November 2020, launching the University of Lethbridge as our first school in the country on the MyCreds™ environment, and successfully launching 10+ institutions on MyCreds™ by the end of June 2021.

We are now at 26 schools onboarded to MyCreds™ with several receiving organizations including MIFI and OUAC as receivers on the Network. ARUCC has received grant funding from the Ontario Council on Articulation and Transfer (ONCAT) to support onboarding of schools from that region. We are proud of the many accomplishments and excited about the coming year and look forward to launching more institutions on MyCreds™. For those interested in seeing the details of our strategic plan, contact info@aruccnationalnetwork.ca.

The MyCreds ™ strategic plan has been developed with input from CUCCIO, PCCAT, and the ARUCC representatives including for WARUCC, AARAO, CRALO, Quebec, and OURA.

News

University of Lethbridge’s One-Year Anniversary of MyCreds™ Launch

“December 10, 2021 marked the University of Lethbridge’s first anniversary of launching parchments on MyCreds™! We have since added transcripts and Dean’s Honour Roll letters to provide our students with a full suite of academic documents in a one-stop platform.”

– Natasha Buis Deering, Executive Director (SEM) & Registrar, University of Lethbridge

ONCAT Institutional Onboarding Funding Opportunity for MyCreds™

The Ontario Council on Articulation and Transfer (ONCAT) and the Association of Registrars of the Universities and Colleges of Canada (ARUCC) are pleased to announce ONCAT’s institutional funding opportunity which provides support for Ontario post-secondary institutions to onboard transcripts to MyCreds™.

ONCAT’s funding opportunity is available to Ontario institutions who are onboarding to MyCreds™ and to Ontario institutions who have already onboarded and are expanding their capacities. The funding helps cover costs relating to the development or the expansion of transcript digitization capacity through MyCreds™ as a support for achieving seamless transfer goals.

For more information about the institutional funding opportunity, please visit ONCAT’s funding webpage. You can access the ONCAT expression of interest here.

Canada-EU Academic Digital Credentials Project

The Government of Canada has recently announced its partnership with the European Commission to examine the use of digital credentials. The Canada–EU Academic Digital Credentials Project will demonstrate, at a Proof of Concept level, the use of digital credentials to provide the required proof of an individual’s academic achievements (i.e., Diplomas). Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED), and the European Commission/the European Blockchain Partnership (EBP) are the leads of the Project in partnership with the ARUCC MyCreds™| MesCertif™ National Network. The project working group includes ISED, European Commission, ARUCC, Digitary, and MATTR Global.

Increase focus on joint proofs of concept and pilots for end-to-end digital credential use cases (Recommendation 2 of Government Report)

As part of the September 2020 Canada-EU Digital Dialogue, both jurisdictions agreed upon two use cases to explore jointly through collaborative proofs of concept. The first proof of concept is the cross-border certification and authentication of academic diplomas, which is moving forward in partnership with the Association of Registrars of the Universities and Colleges of Canada (ARUCC).

See the full Government of Canada announcement here.

PESC International Recognition for MyCreds™

ARUCC is proud to share that MyCreds™ and its support team won four awards. MyCreds™ took an international first place finish in mobility and three of its leaders won international recognition from the Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council (PESC) for their work on behalf of MyCreds™ and learner mobility.

Charmaine Hack, former ARUCC president (2018 to 2020); project chair; vice president, strategic enrolment management, Centennial College

Romesh Vadivel, past president, ARUCC (2020 to 2022); assistant registrar and director, Service Point, McGill University

Joanne Duklas, executive lead, MyCreds™ | MesCertif™; former ARUCC president (2012); president, Duklas Cornerstone Consulting Inc. (DCC Inc.)

Congratulations are due to the entire MyCreds™ team which includes the ARUCC board, our Canadian colleges and universities and sector leaders, the support team at DCC Inc., a Canadian consulting firm that provides MyCreds™ operational and leadership coordination, and Digitary (now part of the Parchment family), an international technology company in higher education. Digitary provides the technical expertise and underlying technology that powers MyCreds™.

Conference Updates

GDN Annual Meeting 2021

The Groningen Declaration Network Annual Meeting held on November 10-12, 2021 was an incredible success, boasting the highest number of participants in the history of the GDN with over 200 registrants, and brought together thought leaders from around the world. The conference, held both virtually and in-person in Ottawa, explored the themes of Mobility, Digital Citizenship, and the Student Experience. Stakeholders from around the globe shared experiences and examined issues of mobility and recognition through many different lenses. ARUCC’s MyCreds™ was announced internationally at the conference and featured during the session, Changing the Mobility Paradigm with the Bold Launch of Canada’s MyCreds™. We look forward to welcoming you in October 2022 when the GDN Annual Meeting returns to where it all began, in Groningen, Netherlands. Stay tuned for more information at groningendeclaration.org.

ARUCC 2022 Biennial Conference

June 19-22, 2022

ARUCC has secured the Sheraton on the Falls Hotel in Niagara Falls, ON for June 19-22, 2022 for its 2022 Conference, Thriving in a time of Disruption. ARUCC looks forward to welcoming post-secondary colleagues from across the country to Niagara Falls for the ARUCC 2022 Conference. Further details will be provided as they become available. Visit the website for more information.

Governance

The ARUCC MyCreds™️ committees and working groups consist of representatives from ARUCC, MyCreds™️ service provider, Digitary, and from post-secondary institutions and organizations across Canada. For a detailed list of the committees and working groups, please visit the new ARUCC MyCreds™️ Governance page.