Undergraduate Certificates
Guidance for MSU Units 

UGC offerings should advance MSU’s mission and support its strategic planning efforts. Specifically, the UGC initiative seeks to:

• Strengthen MSU’s ability to attract and meet the needs, goals, and aspirations of dynamic undergraduate students
• Increase the number and diversity of learners MSU serves by providing wider access through targeted programs and proactive engagement with underserved communities
• Strengthen students’ educational experience to eliminate opportunity gaps and support success through graduation and beyond
• Develop and implement new strategies to recruit and retain highly talented and more diverse students across all disciplines
• Ensure students and stakeholders have access to MSU and its resources to address current and emerging issues that affect Michigan and the world through micro-credentials and certificates

Minors 

• Sub-set of a major or collection of interrelated courses related to a theme
• Minimum of 15 credits
• Serve MSU students
• Transcriptable
• Done as part of a degree program
• Does not necessarily include non-course components

UGCs

• Disciplinary, interdisciplinary, thematic, or professional
• Minimum of 9 credits or their equivalent
• Serve MSU students & external stakeholders
• May be transcriptable or not
• May be completed separately from degree
• Can include co-curricular and experiential opportunities

• 9 to 12 credit-hours or the equivalent in contact time (i.e., 126 – 168 hours of engagement)
• Stated learning outcomes and assessment process for all aspects of the program—curricular and co-curricular
• Stated admission criteria and application process
• Transparent policies on acceptance of transfer or credits taken before admission, as well as standards for double-counting and unique credits
• Sponsoring academic unit (e.g., APUE, College, Department, or School)

• Target Audience – MSU students in specific majors or minors
• Focus – Disciplinary and/or interdisciplinary study related to specific majors or fields of study
• Credits – 9 to 12 credits, or fewer credits with co-curricular/experiential learning
• Administering Unit – Degree-granting college, department, or school 
• Approval Process – Unit curriculum committee, college curriculum committee, UCC, and UCUE
• Transcriptable – Yes
• Admission – Defined and administered by responsible academic unit
• Program fee – Allowable to cover co-curricular and experiential components; funding goes to sponsoring unit(s)

Type 1: Characteristics & Examples

Type 1 Certificates are highly-focused, specialized micro-credentials in an area of study related to a major or minor; they serve MSU students

Type 1 Certificates would typically be offered by academic Departments or Schools for students in specific majors
Admission requirements could be predicated on a certain academic background or knowledge

Examples:

• Drone Technology, Departments of Geography and Civil Engineering
• Companion Animal Care and Grooming, Department of Animal Science
• Herbs and Supplements, Departments of Horticulture and Human Nutrition
• Social Media Law and Administration, Department of Advertising and Public Relations

• Target Audience – MSU or guest students with specified background
• Focus – Inter-disciplinary, competency, and professional skills
• Credits – 9 to 12 credits, or fewer credits with co-curricular/experiential learning
• Administering Unit – Degree-granting College, Department, or School; APUE to serve as primary academic Unit for non-degree granting colleges and departments
• Approval Process – Unit/college/APUE Curriculum Committee, UCC, and UCUE
• Transcriptable – Yes
• Admission – Defined and administered by lead academic unit
• Program fee – Allowable to cover co-curricular and experiential components; funding goes to lead academic unit and may be split with collaborators

Type 2: Characteristics & Examples

Type 2 Certificates are broader in focus than Type 1, and they serve a larger audience with less focus on a specific discipline; they serve MSU and guest students

Type 2 Certificates would typically be offered by a degree-granting College or unit in collaboration with APUE and serve student across multiple majors and/or colleges

Examples:

• Corporate Leadership & Decision-Making, Colleges of Business and Social Science
• Thinking in Systems, Colleges of Engineering and Agriculture and Natural Resources
• Art as Social Justice Protest, College of Arts and Letters, Music, and RCAH

• Target Audience – Guest students
• Focus – Specialized disciplinary, interdisciplinary, or professional study
• Credits –Experiential learning opportunities at least 9 SCH of contact time
• Administering Unit – Degree granting College, Department, or School 
• Approval Process – Unit curriculum committee, College curriculum committee, APUE, and UCUE; if offered by non-Academic unit, starts with APUE
• Transcriptable – No
• Admission – Defined and administered by responsible academic unit
• Program fee – Allowable to cover co-curricular and experiential components; funding goes to sponsoring unit(s)

Type 3: Characteristics & Examples

Type 3 Certificates are co-curricular in design, do not require courses, and serve external stakeholders

Type 3 Certificates might have parallel Type 2 and Type 4 offerings for MSU students, but these Type 3 UGC are designed to serve audiences without enrollment in MSU classes

Examples:

• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Educators, College of Education
• Culturally Competent Health Care, APUE with medical colleges
• Coding for Mid-Career Professionals, College of Engineering

Type 3: Special Notes

• These credentials need to mimic certain administrative processes, such as the creation of student group codes, as would occur during the curriculum process
• They need to embed assessment of student learning and outcomes
• If coursework is required for credit, then the credits will appear on a lifelong education transcript; however, the certificate itself is not transcriptable

• Target Audience – MSU and guest students
• Focus – Inter-disciplinary, competency, and professionally based skills
• Credits – 9 to 12 credits, or fewer credits with co-curricular/experiential learning
• Administering Unit – APUE in collaboration (often with non-degree granting units)
• Approval Process – APUE curriculum committee, UCC, and UCUE
• Transcriptable – Yes
• Admission – Defined and administered by APUE
• Program fee – Allowable to cover co-curricular and experiential components; funding goes to APUE and can be shared with collaborators

Type 4: Characteristics & Examples

Type 4 Certificates are similar like Type 2 certificates, but they either do not directly relate to content associated with a degree-granting College or provide content that crosses multiple Colleges

They serve a pan-institutional and guest audience , often with focus on professional skills

Type 4 Certificates are offered by APUE in collaboration with relevant campus units

Examples:

• Career Readiness and Professionalism, APUE and Career Services
• First-Year Leadership, APUE and REHS
• Globally-Engaged Leadership, APUE and ISP