By Michelle Mott, ̽»¨Â¥ Consultant, Innovative Credentials Project Manager
Higher education stands at a critical juncture. Demographic shifts are altering enrollment patterns, artificial intelligence is becoming part of daily operations, and workforce expectations are evolving faster than ever. Institutions face significant opportunities and challenges—managing multiple initiatives, balancing budgets, and seeking greater efficiency—that are shaping expectations for how student data systems can best serve the academic mission.
̽»¨Â¥’s Technology Advisory Council, established by the association’s leadership and Board of Directors, has stepped forward to address this challenge, outlining operational principles that guide the development, evaluation, and implementation of Student Information Systems designed to meet the complex and evolving needs of 21st-century learners and institutions.
From Transactional Systems to Strategic Foundations
Historically focused on compliance and transactional processes, SISs are foundational to the effective functioning of educational institutions. ATAC’s SIS Operational Principles reflect a broader vision that centers the learner experience, embraces interoperability, and facilitates institutional innovation.
The principles—developed through stakeholder engagement and analysis of current system limitations—position SIS platforms as strategic enablers that support learners across credit, non-credit, professional, and experiential domains.
The nine SIS Operational Principles are:
Designed for All Users: Representing all learners and their achievements across curricular and co-curricular contexts, with interfaces that work across devices and integrate data from other systems.
System/Platform Interoperability: Using open data standards to connect seamlessly with CRMs, LMSs, scheduling, credentialing, digital wallets, and other platforms.
Credential/Student Information Interoperability: Supporting open standards for digital credentials of all types to ensure verifiability and portability.
Learning Outcomes/Skills-Centered: Embedding evidence of knowledge and skills within credentials to enhance trust and usability.
Privacy-Protected and Maximally Secure: Adhering to data minimization, transparency, user consent, and strong security practices.
Identity, Authentication, and Authorization: Ensuring confidence in learner identity and credential ownership.
Enable Standard and Flexible Academic Calendars: Supporting varied pedagogical and regulatory needs.
Integrate Professional, Non-Credit, and Curricular Learning: Capturing all forms of learning without workarounds or complex integrations.
Process Automation: Allowing institutions to automate routine tasks without requiring specialized IT resources.
These principles are more than aspirational—they are a practical roadmap for institutions and vendors to align on the core capabilities needed to serve learners in an increasingly complex educational ecosystem.
Principles at the Enabling Learning Mobility Summit
ATAC representatives brought these principles to the forefront during the recent Enabling Learning Mobility Summit, hosted by ̽»¨Â¥, the LER Accelerator Coalition, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s .
The convening gathered over 35 leaders from SIS vendors, higher education institutions, workforce organizations, and policy circles to address one pressing question: How can we make all learning count, for all learners, across all systems?
Discussions reinforced ATAC’s findings on current SIS challenges:
Disparate operational systems requiring manual data reconciliation.
Complex and inaccessible API implementations.
Absence of shared learner identity infrastructure.
Difficulty integrating non-traditional credentials.
Calendar and program complexities that hinder portability.
Process automation gaps and inconsistent user experiences.
These barriers align directly with the areas addressed by ATAC’s SIS Operational Principles, underscoring their relevance and urgency.
Collaborative Solutions: Lessons from Cross-Sector Collaboration
The summit revealed that these kinds of challenges are not unique to higher education. The —an initiative led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation—demonstrates how public-private partnerships can transform disparate systems through standardized approaches. Like higher education institutions, employers must submit data across 50+ state and federal systems with different definitions and formats, creating incomplete, siloed information.
JEDx's success framework offers valuable lessons:
Most importantly, it shows how systemic reform can reframe compliance challenges as transformation opportunities.
The Path Forward: From Principles to Practice
ATAC’s SIS Operational Principles provide a clear, actionable framework for institutions, vendors, and policymakers to work toward a shared vision—one in which student information systems are not simply repositories of past records, but platforms that actively enable learning mobility, equity, and institutional adaptability. The discussions at the Enabling Learning Mobility Summit underscored that while challenges remain, solutions are within reach when stakeholders commit to open standards, collaborative governance, and cross-sector innovation.
The ultimate goal transcends technology—it is about creating an educational ecosystem where all learning counts and all learners are empowered to achieve their goals.
When a student transfers between institutions, their prior learning should transfer seamlessly.
When a professional pursues continuing education, those credentials should integrate naturally with their academic record.
When an employer provides training, that learning should be recognized and portable.
With higher education’s needs and learners’ pathways continuing to evolve, these principles offer a common foundation for building systems that recognize all learning, support seamless transfer, and empower both learners and institutions to thrive in a connected, skills-centered future. The work ahead will require sustained partnership and a willingness to rethink entrenched processes.
Still, the opportunity is clear: by aligning technology with mission, the sector can create infrastructure that truly serves the learners of the 21st century and beyond.