What is Badging?
Badges are
a way to recognize a student’s development of a particular competency. Think of it similarly to that of a sash from the Scouts in which you could earn your fire making badge and other badges to sew onto your sash. Digital badges are awarded in a similar fashion but are kept in an online portal for students to showcase on ePortfolios, through social media, and even on their resumes. They are the 21st century version of certificates.
Student Leadership Competency Badges
Each 
of the 60 Student Leadership Competencies® has a digital competency badge associated with it. These standardized badges are used across institutions and organizations. Simply set up your badging program and we will provide the badges to you to award to students. In addition, each competency has an icon that matches the badge so that you can put these icons on marketing materials to indicate that an event or experience will contribute to earning the associated badge.
Learn more about Columbia College’s implementation of the Student Leadership Competencies® badges!
Badge Requirements
Requirements for awarding each badge are to be determined by each institution but must meet the following criteria:
- Learning: 4 hours of training, workshops, retreats, courses, etc. related to the competency that student must complete
- Application: 4 hours of experiential engagement in using the competency such as employment, student organizations, service learning, leadership roles, internships, etc. that student must complete
- Assessment: Assessment on competency growth (self evaluation, rubric, etc.) that student must complete
- Reflection: Written or oral reflection of learning answering the question, “What did I learn in terms of this competency?” that student must complete
- Tracking: Tracking system to monitor badge distribution that institution must have in place
Badging Costs
- Setup Cost: There is a one-time $50 badge setup fee for each badge. This fee includes a review of the Badge Program Setup Form along with one round of written feedback to help you gain approval for your badge. Once a badge is setup, it can be awarded to an unlimited number of individuals and does not need to be renewed unless there are significant changes to the information contained in the Badge Program Setup Form.
- Individual Badge Fees: For each badge awarded, there is a $5 fee. For example, awarding one badge to 50 students would cost $250. Badge fees are not prepaid; only pay for number of badges you will be awarding.
Interested in Setting Up a Digital Badging Program?
Fill out the Badge Program Setup Form.