The Trusted Learner Network (TLN) has set forth to bring credentials into the 21st century. To accomplish this, the TLN must reimagine the complex regulatory, technical and economic factors that govern the way all types of credentials are created and shared. 

“A diversity of voices, experiences and expertise is going to be required to achieve our goals,” noted Kate Giovacchini, Managing Director of the TLN. “We set out to bring together and organize this group of individuals, who we are calling the TLN Governing Body.” 

The first task at hand? Creating the project’s governing charter, which outlines the roles, scope, responsibilities, and aspirations of the governance committee. 

The Governing Body recently completed its first draft of its Governing Body charter. Around August 29, the TLN made its Charter available to its community (via email) for public comment for the first time. Join our community to be a contributor to the Charter.

The TLN Governing Body, which you’ll learn more about below, is charged with crafting a charter that guides for the Trusted Learner Network. By doing so, the Charter will also establish the TLN design policies that will manage the technology of the TLN. For example, as the TLN establishes a credential repository, the team needs to think about questions like: 

• “What are the qualifications to issue credentials?” or 
• “What types of credentials belong on the TLN?” 

The answers to these questions then convert into the technology that manages and reposes credentials. 

Discover why this is important and how the TLN community will share their input!

Meet the governing body

The TLN Governing Body is composed of individuals from a variety of different backgrounds focused on worker/learner initiatives, K-12 curriculum, and post-secondary education:

• NGO
• public and private 
• 2-year and 4-year 
• technical and research 
• rural and urban

Bringing together a diverse set of individuals ensures that more voices are present in the conversation of making digital credentials more accessible to all. “Bringing this range of experience together has been crucial to create a diversity of perspective and representation, as each Governing Body member applies their individual and institutional experience to the table to develop guidelines for the TLN,” noted Giovacchini.

The TLN Governing Body will change and evolve, with the hope that the Body will continue to grow and voting opportunities will become available as the TLN moves forward in design and implementation cycles.

How it works

Work on the first draft of the governing charter began on the first day of the 2022 TLN Unconference in May, and continued until the first draft was completed. “We’ve all put our thought, insight and best practice into the document and now would like to turn to the TLN Community for the same thing — looking for your thought, insight and best practice to create a just, intentional and effective governance structure as we start off,” said Giovacchini. 

The TLN community was emailed a link to the Governing Charter, in which they may provide constructive feedback based on their experiences. 

We ask community members to consider answering these questions:

• What concepts are missing from this organizational document?
• Are ideas or concepts unclear, missing or need to be better explained?

During the public comment period, the Governing Body will review comments and use best judgment to integrate changes, updates and suggestions as they come in. TLN Community members are invited to share their thoughts on the Governing Charter through Monday, September 19. Interested in contributing? Join the TLN Community.

The TLN Governing Body will subsequently review all comments and suggestions in late September for ratification of the Charter.