Success Stories
One Record for Skills Earned Everywhere
Northern Michigan University
Launching an LER from a strong credential foundation.
Northern Michigan University (NMU) already had a robust badging platform and an established credential ecosystem. The next step was to give learners one place to bring those achievements together with skills gained through work, education, and other experiences.
MCM supported the SmartResume implementation by helping Northern Michigan University prepare existing credential and skills data for the LER, align definitions and practices, and make the record more useful to learners. The result was a learner-facing platform designed to make skills easier to organize, present, and carry forward.
The Foundation
An established credential ecosystem, ready for a learner-facing record.
Northern Michigan University entered the SmartResume implementation with substantial credential and skills data already in place. The opportunity was to help learners make those achievements more visible, validated, portable, and connected.
Published Credentials Available to the LER
Programs Represented Across the Catalog
Skills That Could Be Made More Visible
Badges Earned in a Flagship Program
SmartResume extends NMU’s existing credential ecosystem by helping learners use their skills and achievements more effectively across education and employment.
Featured Credential Pathway
A stackable pathway learners can showcase with their Learning and Employment Record.
Applied Workplace Leadership shows how Northern Michigan University’s existing credentials can become more useful inside their LER, SmartResume. For Example, the Applied Workplace Leadership program stacks five course-level badges, built toward a summative certificate that gives learners a clear progression they can organize, present, and share with employers and other recognizers.
Five stackable course badges
LDR 100
Effective Communication in the Workplace
LDR 200
Ethical Leadership in the Workplace
LDR 220
Assessment in the Workplace
LDR 300
Leadership in Diverse Workplaces
LDR 400
Systems Thinking in Workplace Leadership
Summative Credential
Applied Workplace Leadership Certificate
From achievement to recognition
SmartResume gives learners a way to bring the pathway together and decide how it is presented beyond NMU.Earn and stack
Course badges build toward the summative credential.Bring into the LER
Achievements and skills become part of a fuller learner record.Share with recognizers
Learners can present the record to employers and other audiences.What learners can show
When learners choose to share their LER, employers and other recognizers can see more than an individual badge or certificate. They can understand the progression behind the achievement and the verified skill signals it represents — including communication, ethical leadership, assessment, leading across diverse teams, and systems thinking.
How the Project Unfolded
From platform decision to coordinated LER launch.
MCM connected the strategic, technical, and communications work that sits between selecting an LER platform and successfully introducing it across an institution.
Align the Foundation
Determine how SmartResume would fit.
We clarified the role of the LER within NMU’s existing systems, reviewed credential and skills data for readiness, and surfaced the institutional decisions required for implementation.
Build the Launch Story
Give every audience a shared point of reference.
MCM created a dedicated SmartResume landing page and communication plan to explain the initiative consistently, sequence outreach, and establish clearer calls to action.
Prepare for Adoption
Design for use beyond launch day.
We helped clarify onboarding, internal handoffs, ownership, and next steps so NMU could move from platform access toward sustained learner participation.
The Strategic Value
For institutions that already have credentials, this is the work that turns an LER contract into a coordinated launch: aligning the ecosystem, establishing a shared story, and preparing people to understand and use the platform.
Implementation & Impact
A strategic launch, validated inside and outside NMU.
NMU’s experience reflects both sides of a successful LER initiative: the coordinated work required to launch it and the value demonstrated once learners began using it.
The Institutional Perspective
Implementing an LER is a significant undertaking, particularly for an institution like NMU with an established badging ecosystem. Robert and the team at Micro-credential Multiverse were instrumental in helping us strategically launch MySkills@NMU. Their expertise extended beyond the technical implementation to include stakeholder engagement, standards alignment, and the development of a shared framework that supports consistency across platforms, users, and learners.
State-Level Recognition
Office of the Governor · June 4, 2026
“Your work implementing Learning and Employment Records allows students to take full advantage of learning and leadership opportunities, to strengthen their employability outside of the classroom.”
The letter also recognized NMU’s participation in the inaugural LER Accelerator, its contributions to education and workforce development, and its potential to serve as an example to other communities.
Following the Launch
From platform access to learner participation.
After MySkills@NMU went live, NMU engaged more than 4,000 badge earners and demonstrated how an LER can help learners articulate and showcase competencies gained both at the university and throughout their skills path.
Deliverable Highlight
A shared front door for NMU’s skills ecosystem.
The Skills Path landing page gave NMU one public-facing place to explain its credentials, connect them to MySkills@NMU, and help every audience understand where the experience could lead.
Visit NMU Skills Path
One shared source of truth
For Learners
A clearer path from achievement to opportunity.
Learners can explore available credentials, understand the skills behind them, and see how achievements earned at NMU can become part of a broader record in MySkills@NMU.
For Employers & Recognizers
More context behind the credential.
Employers and other recognizers gain a clearer explanation of what NMU’s credentials represent, which competencies they signal, and how individual achievements connect into a larger skills pathway.
For NMU
A consistent story the institution can scale.
NMU gained a shared reference point for communications, onboarding, and stakeholder engagement—making it easier to introduce new audiences and extend the ecosystem over time.
Planning an LER Initiative?
Turn the infrastructure you already have into an LER people can understand and use.
Micro-credential Multiverse helps colleges, systems, and workforce partners move from platform decisions to coordinated implementation—aligning credential data, standards, stakeholder engagement, launch communications, and adoption around a clear learner experience.