Alternative Credentials: A 3-Part International Webinar Series for CE Leaders on Scaling, Modernizing, and Building Pathways
On-DEMAND | 45 minutes each
Alternative credentials are reshaping continuing education worldwide. Whether in the U.S. or Europe, CE leaders face strikingly similar challenges: scaling with limited staff and budgets, modernizing outdated systems, and creating pathways that connect noncredit learning to degrees and workforce outcomes.
This 3-part series brings together institutions from different countries to show how they are addressing these issues in practice. Their contexts may vary, but the lessons are transferable: issuing large volumes of workforce-aligned microcredentials, transitioning to modern CE systems, partnering with employers and unions, and building noncredit-to-credit pathways that support learner mobility.
This series is designed for leaders and professionals in continuing, professional, and workforce education as well as institutional decision-makers who want broad perspectives on how CE units can adapt, modernize, and grow in a changing credential landscape.
👉 One registration includes access to all three sessions (live + recordings)
Webinar 1
Serving More Learners with Less: How Jones College’s Online Workforce College Delivered 130,000+ Credentials with a 2-Person Team with an unexpected twist – accidentally setting up a CLR!
What does it look like when continuing education is built to serve the people who need it most, not just the people who can afford it? At Jones College’s OWC, two people run a CE program that’s lean, accessible, and statewide.
With only two full-time staff, OWC serves more than 4,000 learners annually and has issued over 130,000 credentials by managing 700+ training modules through automation and streamlined workflows. Programs are co-designed with local employers to ensure workforce alignment, with courses priced between $10 and $150 to keep access affordable. Learners progress through a stackable microcredential model, earning digital badges that build toward broader skillsets and are recognized by employers. Learners leave with a Comprehensive Learner Record (CLR) that showcases verifiable, portable evidence of skills and supports mobility across jobs and institutions.
This session will highlight how OWC built an innovative model that prioritizes impact over size, offering lessons for institutions looking to expand access, build trusted credentials, and sustain growth with limited resources.
Speaker:
Dr. Michael Trest
Dean of the Online Workforce College
With a strong commitment to addressing the skills gap and providing accessible adult education and training opportunities, Michael Trest, Dean of OWC, has played a pivotal role in setting up innovative solutions for learners seeking to bridge the gap between education and career advancement.
Webinar 2
Lifelong Learning Through Lifelong Experience: How the University of Iceland Modernized CE in 4 Months
How does a continuing education unit with 40 years of history modernize in just four months while sustaining access, strengthening partnerships, and expanding pathways for learners? At the University of Iceland, the CE unit has been serving adult learners since 1983, and in just four months it transformed its operations streamlining systems, creating new revenue opportunities, and expanding flexible learning formats
The University of Iceland’s Continuing Education unit delivers around 350 short courses, 7 programs to 10.000 learners annually. To meet changing expectations and scale sustainably, the team modernized operations with Eduframe + Canvas, introducing automation, a learner portal, and a business portal for employer and union training. This transformation improved efficiency, expanded access, and opened opportunities for closer collaboration with the wider university to align with evolving regulations and learner needs.
Today, the unit is expanding into self-paced courses that support learner mobility and institutional sustainability.
Webinar 3
Infrastructure as a Catalyst for Scale: Inside UC Merced PACE’s 2.6M Continuing Education Growth Story
Infrastructure as a Catalyst for Scale: Inside UC Merced PACE’s 2.6M Continuing Education Growth Story
What does it take to build a new continuing education division from the ground up and scale it to more than $2.6 million in under two years with a limited team of 9 FTE?
At the University of California Merced, the Division of Professional and Continuing Education (PACE) made a deliberate choice to focus first on infrastructure, reducing friction across the student journey, connecting its CRM and LMS, and preparing for a new SIS to enable future capabilities such as group and employer registrations.
This infrastructure-first approach has created the foundation for sustainable, data-informed growth—allowing the team to scale programs and operations efficiently while expanding access and impact.
Join Annette Roberts Webb, Dean of UC Merced PACE, as she shares how her team is designing infrastructure and processes that allow a small staff to operate efficiently while positioning the unit for long-term success.
Speaker:
Annette Roberts Webb
Dean, Division of Professional & Continuing Education, University of California Merced
In her role, she upholds the preeminent status of UC professional, online, and continuing studies by evaluating and responding to workforce talent needs then designing tailored educational programs for non-traditional and diverse communities of learners, both domestic and international. She is an experienced continuing and professional education leader with expertise in program development, strategic planning, partnership engagement, adult learner success, academic quality, and online and corporate education. Annette holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from California State University San Bernardino and a Master’s degree in Education with an emphasis on Higher Education Leadership and Policy from University of California Riverside.
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