Monthly Summary
The DFI program entered the new year with several significant team updates. In January, Karina Hernandez took on the role of Interim Dean for the DFI program after Linda Smazik’s departure from the program. The core team saw an additional reduction in staff with the retirement of Ann Kennedy at the close of 2025. The DFI team relocated to new office spaces in building 3000 at the Highland Learning Center.
A key focus for the program is proactively aligning with various college systems and divisions to create a more integrated ecosystem that prioritizes student success and ease of use. All website copy, micro-credential content, and marketing materials were updated to standardize the hyphenation of ‘micro-credential’ and ‘micro-certificate’ to ensure full alignment with college protocols. Registration for opt-in students transitioned from the previous DFI registration process to ACC’s CE portal, providing a better student experience and integration with college processes. Other optimizations in the works include adding access to Suitable (badging system) directly from the college’s CMS and integrating co-curricular registration with the associated credit courses. Finally, the team started combing through all website and micro-credential content and making necessary edits to meet the new federal accessibility requirements by April 24, 2026.
Highlights
Outreach
- DFI website accessibility review started
- All instances of the word “micro-credential” and “micro-certificate” were edited on the website to include the hyphen (review of 100+ pages and posts)
- Launched outreach strategy across Instagram and LinkedIn to support Spring micro-credential enrollment.
- Coordinated a series of meetings with the Military Families Center in preparation for the VetConnect event.
- Initiated social media outreach aligned with the Spring Session 1 start
- Participated in the Affinity Programs Spring Kick-Off tabling event to increase student engagement and visibility.
Micro-credentials
- Opt-in student registration through CE website was seamless and did not require DFI team involvement, however 19 sections of Co-curricular student registration had to be manually processed by the DFI team (approximately 600 students).
- All aspects of micro-credentials must be accessible by April 24, 2026. Using Ally Course Checker in Blackboard, all content is being reviewed and remediated where necessary.
Data
- 20 opt-in and 19 co-curricular sections created for Spring #1 session
- Data audit began to reconcile first three years data