Digital Badges
Digital Badges
A digital badge is issued to a student upon successful completion of a set of courses, program, or other competencies. Students earn badges for a variety of accomplishments on their own or as their work towards a degree. The benefits of earning a digital badge are to exemplify skills and achievements earned to employers, colleagues, and peers.
At Middle Tennessee State University badges are awarded through our partner Parchment and are available to students by setting up an account with them. Students who earn a badge will be sent an email from Parchment to claim it. Once claimed you can add it to your existing Parchment account, or you will be prompted to create an account if one has not already been established. Students can then save all their badges in one place to include on a résumé, share on social media, or attach to a transcript.
Listed below are the current badges offered by MTSU to students who meet the listed requirements. Faculty or staff who would like to propose a new digital badge for your area may do so here: Digital Badge Proposal Form. For more information about badges, please reach out to the MTSU Registrar’s Office at records@mtsu.edu.
MTSU Digital Badge Offerings
Badge Title: Career Leadership
Description of Badge: The Career Leadership badge is awarded to students who demonstrate initiative in preparation for their careers by completing the six-step Career Action Plan. Recipients attend skill-building events, conduct research and interviews, and develop informed career goals.
Required Courses or Competencies: Curricula focus on these 6 competencies:
- Self-Assessment
- Career Investigation
- Skill Building
- Career Goal Setting
- Principles of Job Search and Networking
- Career Navigation
Outcomes: Students will gain exposure to the necessary leadership skills to acquire a job in their chosen field, thrive in that job, and manage their career path going forward.
Badge Title: Certified Business Relationship Builder
Description of Badge: This badge aims to equip students with the essential skills and knowledge needed to create a strong and impactful professional brand, enhancing their career prospects and networking abilities.
Required Courses or Competencies:
- Attend all required events and workshops.
- Submit a completed LinkedIn profile checklist.
- Submit an elevator pitch video.
- Submit a reflection paper.
Outcomes:
- Students will create and submit an elevator pitch video that applies the principles learned in the program. They will analyze the effectiveness of their elevator pitch videos and LinkedIn profiles in conveying their professional identity.
- Students will grasp the significance of building a professional brand in the context of their future careers and create a strong online presence on LinkedIn, which represents the culmination of their branding efforts.
- They will understand the principles of effective networking and how it contributes to career success. Students will evaluate their networking experiences and the value of networking in their career development.
Badge Title: Daniels Center Service Distinction
Description of Badge: The Daniels Center Service Distinction is awarded to military affiliated students who engage in service to their communities on and off campus and exhibit preparation for professional life postgraduation.
Required Courses or Competencies: Badge earners are those students who have:
- Met with MTSU’s military career counselor or employer search agent to explore employment opportunities, job placement, and/or graduation plans regarding professional aspirations.
- Joined the BRAVO Chapter of the Student Veterans of America at MTSU, which provides community, mentorships, and networking opportunities for all military connected students.
- Completed at least 100 hours of volunteer work/peer mentoring in a single academic year as tracked by BRAVO.
Outcomes: Students will foster a stronger, healthier campus community through peer mentoring while implementing the military ideals of selflessness, honor, and integrity. They will help incoming military affiliated students navigate the transition to MTSU and serve as a positive example. They will be able to network with military friendly businesses and organizations through volunteer work, establishing connections that could lead to career opportunities.
Badge Title: Dean’s List
Description of Badge: The Dean’s List is an honor granted to undergraduate students each semester whose academic efforts earn them special recognition. The honor is granted to full-time undergraduate students in each semester they earn at least a 3.5 GPA in their courses. This recognition is noted on the student’s official university transcript for each semester it is earned, and the Dean’s List is posted to the university’s website at the conclusion of each semester. Students may earn the Dean’s List honor multiple times for each semester they meet the requirements.
Required Courses or Competencies: Undergraduate students must obtain a 3.5 semester GPA or higher and earn at least 12 semester hours to be awarded the Dean’s List designation.
Badge Title: EXL Scholar Graduation Distinction
Description of Badge: The EXL Scholar Distinction is conferred upon graduating students who have successfully completed the required experiential learning (EXL) courses, service activities, and capstone ePortfolio course.
Required Courses or Competencies:
- Develop an experience-based knowledge of their disciplines and demonstrate the ability to apply theories and concepts to practical problems.
- Engage in systematic reflection and demonstrate the ability to critically examine their experiences and to create connections between those experiences and disciplinary knowledge.
- Make contributions to their communities and learn the value of making these contributions. Develop as individuals including understanding the needs of others, learning cultural awareness, and appreciating the differences in others.
- Demonstrate managerial skills including planning, organizing, researching, problem solving, and communicating.
- Demonstrate leadership skills including ability to direct others, interpersonal skills, and teamwork.
Outcomes: Students will be able to integrate their learning experiences within a course, across courses and disciplines, within their personal and professional lives, and within the global context.
Badge Title: Global Engagement
Description of Badge: Badge holders have earned education abroad experience and academic credit from one or more of MTSU’s education abroad programs. Learners have also acquired sufficient international outlook and multicultural competency through relevant coursework and immersion into a culture outside the United States during their career at MTSU.
Required Courses or Competencies:
- Travel abroad and earn a minimum of 3 credit hours through one or more programs at MTSU.
- Complete GS 3010 – Education Abroad: Reflection and Application OR make a public paper or poster presentation about their education abroad experience at an academic or public forum.
- Complete 6 additional hours of course credit from courses selected from an approved list or courses with significant global focus approved by the department.
Outcomes:
- Apply knowledge and cross-cultural experiences earned from their travel in their lives.
- Appreciate and relate to cultures other than their own.
- Gain multicultural competency through immersion into another culture.
Badge Title: HackMT
Description of Badge: The HackMT badge is awarded to any individual participating in the annual HackMT 36-hour hackathon. The event gathers software developers, visual designers, programmers, and computer/data science students from local universities and professionals from local industry to form teams to invent new web platforms, mobile apps, and electronic gadgets over 36 high-intensity, uninterrupted hours.
Required Courses or Competencies: Recipient must be an individual who is registered for the event, participates, and completes the 36-hour hackathon team project. This event culminates in a live demonstration/project expo that is judged by our industry partners. Each badge recipient must work on a new software project and have it designed, coded, tested, and reviewed by external judges by the end of the 36 hours.
Outcomes: The interaction between industry partners and MTSU students as well as other university students during HackMT offers business and industry the opportunity to observe the knowledge and skill sets of the students. Additionally, the interaction between industry and students facilitates networking between students and business partners, while supporting the business goal of attracting and retaining new talent to our region.
Badge Title: Lean Six Sigma Green Belt
Description of Badge: Badge holders have acquired the skills and techniques needed to lead the Lean Six Sigma process improvement methodology and move an organization towards operational excellence. They have expertise in the DMAIC method and know how to implement, interpret, analyze, and perform Lean Six Sigma methods.
Required Courses or Competencies:
- Lean Six Sigma Green Belt
- Lean
- Six Sigma
- Organizational Change
- Quality Management
- Change Management
- Quality Improvement Tools
- DMAIC
Additional Requirements (if any): Badge holders have passed Lean Six Sigma Green Belt content exams as part of their training.
Badge Title: Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt
Description of Badge: Badge holders have acquired the skills and techniques needed to execute the Lean Six Sigma process improvement methodology and practice and move an organization towards operational excellence. They have the knowledge to execute improvement projects and work effectively as a member of a process improvement team working within an environment supporting Lean Six Sigma.
Required Courses or Competencies:
- MGMT 6760
- Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt
- Lean
- Six Sigma
- Organizational Change
- Quality Management
- Change Management
- Quality Improvement Tools
Additional Requirements (if any): Badge holders have passed Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt content exams as part of their training.
Badge Title: MT Engage Certified Graduate Program
Description of Badge: This honor is conferred upon graduate students who demonstrate the ability to make meaningful connections across learning experiences and engage in sustained reflection about the knowledge, skills, and abilities they gained in their program of study.
Required Courses or Competencies: Recipients complete at least two MT Engage designated graduate courses requiring engaged learning and submit a polished ePortfolio presentation containing developed reflections. Students’ ePortfolios explore potential applications of disciplinary knowledge in their continued study or future career paths.
Outcomes: Students will use integrative thinking and reflection to demonstrate the ability to make connections across multiple contexts and educational experiences.
Badge Title: MT Engage Graduation Distinction
Description of Badge: The MT Engage distinction is conferred upon graduating seniors demonstrating the ability to use integrative thinking and reflection to connect learning experiences. Recipients submitted an ePortfolio showcasing the knowledge and skills they gained at MTSU.
Required Courses or Competencies: Recipients completed at least four MT Engage designated courses requiring engaged learning and submitted a reflective ePortfolio while maintaining a minimum 2.75 GPA.
Outcomes: Students will use integrative thinking and reflection to demonstrate the ability to make connections across multiple contexts and educational experiences.
Badge Title: Project Management
Description of Badge: Badge holders have acquired the skills and techniques needed to deliver projects on time and within budget. Learners have the knowledge to develop the scope of a project, including estimating and cost-benefit analysis, project scheduling and planning, managing risk, quality assurance, and change control.
Required Courses or Competencies:
- Project Management
- Project Planning
- Risk Management
- Change Control
Additional Requirements (if any): Badge holders have passed Project Management content exams as part of their training.
Badge Title: Undergraduate Research Distinction
Description of Badge: The Undergraduate Research Distinction badge recognizes students who have achieved excellence in undergraduate research or creative activity through active engagement, mentorship, and a scholarly or artistic contribution to their academic discipline.
Required Courses or Competencies:
- Successful completion of an Undergraduate Research Experience and Creative Activity grant project.
- Poster presentation or creative performance at one of the MTSU’s signature events: Fall Open House, Scholars Week, or Summer Research Celebration.
- Active participation in the Student Organization for the Advancement of Research (SOAR).
- Endorsement from the student’s faculty mentor.
Outcomes: Students will make a scholarly or artistic contribution to knowledge through their research or creative activity.
Badge Title: Urban and Regional Planning Scholars Program
Description of Badge: The Urban and Regional Planning Scholars Program badge is awarded to students who
have completed the Chair of Excellence in Urban and Regional Planning Scholars Program. This nine-month research and engagement program targets urban and regional challenges in Middle Tennessee.
Required Courses or Competencies:
- Researching and identifying problems affecting Middle Tennessee
- Fine-tuning researchable ideas and research questions
- Creating a conceptual framework and completing a literature review
- Gathering data and analyzing findings
- Writing a final research paper
- Presenting a research paper and poster
Outcomes: Students who complete the COE-URP Scholars Program have developed applied research skills, collaborated with community stakeholders and experts, and proposed solutions to urban and regional challenges.
For more information, please contact records@mtsu.edu with any questions
