With the skyrocketing costs of higher education and the increased scrutiny of how educational institutions prepare graduates for the workplace, this dissertation explored how the "outsiders," or employers, view and determine the value of academic credentials. Using the premise of credentialism, this grounded theory, qualitative study…

Career technical education plays an important part in the mission of community colleges--providing educational opportunities needed by members of their communities. Career technical programs prepare students for entry into the workforce. Accountability standards for career technical programs, from local, state, and federal bodies, monitor…

Eager to resolve a 30-year debate over the number, standards, length, and title of pharmacy degree programs, 3 of the largest pharmacy professional associations have released a joint statement calling for a new doctorate as the sole entry-level degree for pharmacists. An association of retail community pharmacies strongly opposes the move. (MSE)

A Delphi panel of 24 hiring managers, human resource specialists, business owners, and cooperative educators ranked entry-level skills and acceptable proofs of proficiency. Highest-rated skills involved interpersonal relationships. Traditional proofs (resumes, transcripts, references, testing) remained important. Nontraditional proofs…

The purposes of this conference were to clarify the role of health educators, to identify institutional responsibilities in credentialing health educators, to examine the credentialing process as it applies to the preparation of health educators, and to establish criteria for the entry-level health educator. Participants, health educators from…

Development of the credentialing system for health education specialists began in February 1978, when a conference was convened to consider the profession's interest in credentialing and develop an initial role specification for entry-level health educators. In the early 1980s, the role specification was verified and refined, the process of…

The question of how to best prepare nurses for practice continues to be debated extensively. The crux of the debate is whether a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) should be required of all registered nurses in the United States or whether an associate degree in nursing (ADN) and diploma programs adequately prepare novice nurses for practice.…