THE University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), Central Luzon State University (CLSU) and Visayas State University (VSU) joined a workshop that played a crucial role in finalizing the roadmap for micro-credentials and reaching an agreement among partner universities on offering the program at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia on Jan. 9 and 10, 2025.
Taking a step forward on micro-credential roadmap development, the Erasmus+-funded program on Postgraduate Micro-credentials in Food Security and Climate Change (PMC FSCC) opened the year 2025 with the workshop.
Organized by UGM in collaboration with Maejo University (MJU) of Thailand, the workshop gathered representatives from academic institutions.
Also in attendance were the Institut Pertanian Bogor, UGM, and Universitas Brawijaya from Indonesia; Universiti Malaysia Sabah and Universiti Putra Malaysia; and MJU and Kasetsart University (KU) from Thailand.
KU serves as the overall project leader, with the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) providing coordination support as the Secretariat of the Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources or UC.
Titled "Developing a Roadmap for the Establishment of Micro-Credentials," the workshop marked the project's final event under Work Package 3 or WP3.
In her opening remarks, Prof. Wening Udasmoro, UGM Vice-Rector for Education and Learning, emphasized the collaborative efforts to address food security challenges exacerbated by climate change.
She highlighted the program's innovative approach to equipping future generations with essential skills through micro-credentialing systems.
Udasmoro also invited the participants to experience the warmth and culture of Yogyakarta, which is celebrated as Indonesia's academic and cultural hub.
They were Budi Guntoro, dean of the Faculty of Animal Science and UGM's UC executive officer, who formally welcomed the attendees, and associate professor Buncha Chinnasri, PMC FSCC project coordinator and a SEARCA adjunct fellow, who provided an update on the project's progress and outlined the remaining deliverables for 2025.
Facilitating the workshop discussions were Ir. Hatma Suryatmojo, director of the Directorate for Academic Research and Innovation and UGM's UC coordinator; Irwan Endrayanto Aluicius, head of the Sub-Directorate for Academic Research; and Harry Freitag Luglio Muhammad, manager of UGM Online.
In country-based groups, participants collaborated to explore similarities and differences in credit recognition systems, establish timeframes for credit acknowledgment, and address module implementation, admission and payment processes.
Other discussions also focused on finalizing the roadmap and defining shared processes for implementing the modules and key aspects of micro-credentials were also tackled, such as recognition, certification, credential stacking, credit transfer, and the integration of digital badges for the 2025 PMC FSCC offering.
According to SEARCA, the outcomes of these discussions will be consolidated into a comprehensive handbook that outlines the establishment and implementation of micro-credential modules.
"This handbook will provide a unified definition of micro-credentials, quality assurance mechanisms, and detailed processes for recognition, credit transfer to advanced degrees, and portability across partner universities," it added.
SEARCA said the PMC FSCC project, which started in 2023 and runs until 2026, aims to deliver micro-credential-based short courses on food security and climate change using technology-driven online modules.
To date, UGM has successfully conducted three workshops and completed two deliverables, with their final deliverables, based on this workshop, scheduled for submission in Feb. 2025.