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  3. Policy On For-Credit Micro-credentials
  4. Approval Procedure: For-Credit Micro-credentials

Approval Procedure: For-Credit Micro-credentials

Final Approval Body: Micro-credentials Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Academic Development and Procedures (MC-SCADP) 
Senior Administrative Position with Responsibility for Procedure: Vice-Provost (Teaching and Learning) 
Date Initially Approved: October 7, 2026
Date of Last Revision, if applicable: n/a 

Purpose of the Procedure 

This procedure details the initial approval of For-Credit Micro-credentials to ensure their alignment with learners’ and employers’ needs. 

Definitions

 Academic Lead/Subject Matter Expert: Drives and supports the team’s work, ensuring that their collaboration is open and balanced. Makes links with any external collaborators early in the process and oversees collaborations with them. 

External Lead: Point person for the external collaborator organization who works with the team throughout to ensure relevance of content, approach, and outcomes to employers, or other external collaborators. 

Unit Head: Head in departmentalized faculties or the appropriate Associate Dean in non-departmentalized units. 

Procedure

Step 1 - Proposal Development

Responsible officer/unit – Academic Lead, working with External Lead and Unit Head.

  1. The Academic Lead and External Lead discuss the concept, guided by questions in the For-Credit Micro-credential Proposal Template (available on request from the Office of the Vice-Provost, Teaching and Learning).
  2. The Unit Head’s written support for development of the proposal must be obtained.
  3. The Academic Lead and External Lead sign a Letter of Intent for the project, detailing their responsibilities, expectations, and timeline for development.
  4. The Academic Lead and External Lead decide whether to seek approval for the Micro-credential to be eligible for financial assistance through the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP). If so, they must ensure that their proposal can fulfil both the baseline requirements that apply to all For-Credit Micro-credentials at 鶹’s plus those
    additional requirements stipulated for OSAP eligibility (listed in step 3 below). The Office of the University Registrar should be consulted at this stage.
  5. The Leads then complete the For-Credit Micro-credentials Proposal Template. The template designates required baseline fields, plus additional fields if OSAP designation is sought.

Step 2 – Approval

Responsible officer/unit: Faculty Dean, Faculty Board/Faculty Graduate Council, Micro-credentials Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Academic Development and Procedures (MC-SCADP)

  1. The Leads gain approval for the completed proposal from the Unit Head, following the appropriate unit-level governance process.
  2. The Unit Head submits the proposal for approval by the Faculty Dean (or delegate) and Faculty Board (or Faculty Graduate Council where appropriate).
  3. Once approved at the Faculty level, the proposal is then reviewed for approval by MC-SCADP.

For-Credit Micro-credentials offered by the School of Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs will need to be approved by the Graduate Studies Executive Council working in concert with the MC-SCADP.

Membership in MC-SCADP includes: (1) a member with Micro-credentials experience who acts as Committee Chair; (2) a member with budgeting expertise who will lead evaluation of the indicative budget in the proposal temple; and (3) a member with experience of working with external partners. The Registrar may attend MC-SCADP in a guidance role. This subcommittee has delegated authority from the Senate Committee on Academic Development and Procedures (SCADP) to approve for-credit micro-credential proposals.

An approval lasts for five years from the date of first offering, after which the MC-SCADP would conduct a light-touch review. If approved, MC-SCADP will forward the proposal to SCADP for information.

The Academic Lead and External Lead should establish a public webpage with key information about the For-Credit Micro-credential for students.

It is the Academic Lead’s responsibility to report annually, by May 31,to the Vice-Provost, Teaching and Learning on enrolment numbers, and any major changes to the For-Credit Micro-credential approved through the relevant academic governance body.

For-Credit Micro-credentials that seek OSAP Approval must complete the following process after approval by MC-SCADP:

Step 3 – OSAP Approval (if sought).

Responsible officer/unit: Academic Lead and 鶹’s Attestation Designate

鶹’s Attestation Designate is the Vice-Provost, Teaching and Learning (VPTL).

The Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security (MCURES, or “the Ministry”) approves OSAP eligibility for For-Credit Micro-credentials. The Ministry’s program submission guidelines must be followed. To approve a For-Credit Micro-credential as OSAP-eligible, the Ministry [1] requires that it is:

  • Quality assured following this procedure and associated policy.
  • Between 1 and 11 weeks and between 5 and 300 hours in duration.
  • Labour Market relevant: indicated by Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) and National Occupational Classification (NOC) codes, and through partnerships with specific industry partner(s) or employer(s).
  • Not in an excluded category (for example, activity delivered under contract [such as corporate training] or staff instruction [such as professional development courses provided by an institution for its own staff, or the staff of another post-secondary institution]).

Once the For-Credit Micro-credential is approved by MC-SCADP, it should be submitted to the Attestation Designate, who will forward it to the Ministry for review of OSAP eligibility. Submissions to the Ministry are made on a rolling basis. 

Revision of Procedure

Provided revisions remain consistent with the Policy on For-Credit Micro-credentials, this procedure may be revised by the Senate Committee on Academic Development and Procedures (SCADP), on the recommendation of the Vice-Provost, Teaching and Learning. Senate approval will not be required. Revisions will be reported to Senate for information. 

Related Policies, Procedures, Guidelines: Policy on For-Credit Micro-credentials Procedures 

Superseded by this Procedure: none. 

Responsible Officer (senior administrator ultimately responsible): Vice-Provost (Teaching and Learning)

Contact: vptl@queensu.ca 

Date for Next Review: 2031-2032 Academic Year

[1] Source: OSAP for Micro-credentials Program Submission Guidelines, Ministry of Universities, Colleges, Research Excellence and Security, August 2025.