Career Brand Management is a four-course, OPEN SUNY specialization on Coursera that supports the professional development and personal enrichment of adult learners, nationally and globally, by providing them with open, on-demand access to academically rigorous and workplace-oriented career development learning. The purpose of the specialization is to enhance employability and foster career self-management skills. The initial manufacturing advance for developing the specialization was provided by Coursera; it supported the launch of the pilot version in 2016. Within the first six months, the specialization enrolled 44,500 learners from 168 countries; the learners reported positive learning outcomes and high levels of satisfaction (95%). In addition, the specialization was shortlisted by QS-Wharton’s Reimagine Education for 2016 Higher Education Innovation Award in the Nurturing Employability category. Building on the overwhelming success of the pilot, the project proposes to review, update, complete, and permanently deploy the specialization on Coursera in 2017-2018 as part of the Open SUNY 2.0 initiative.

The project has now been successfully deployed as a specialization on Coursera. It has considerably increased access to advanced career self-management learning, as demonstrated by many dozens of thousands enrolled learners, statewide, nationally and globally. The project significantly contributes to non-credit, continuing education of working professionals, and supports it by introducing a verifiable credential (Coursera Certificate). Also, it has resulted in developing new career training methodologies (individual skills management), resources (The Skills Manager Pro), and partnerships (as reported at Coursera Partners conference, the project is already used by businesses and organizations, including a United Nations Agency in NYC).

Project Outcome Report