Kentucky Graduate Profile

The Kentucky Graduate Profile is the state's postsecondary learning framework. It is an effort to align the knowledge, skills and abilities that students gain in college with the skills needed for success in the workforce and in life.

All students graduating from public postsecondary institutions in Kentucky should have multiple, intentional opportunities to develop these 10 Essential Skills through the institution's curriculum and co-curricular offerings.

Resource Repository for Practitioners

The 10 Essential Skills

Specifying the skills gained through the college experience gives faculty, staff, students and employers a way to talk about the value of higher education. Students gain these 10 Essential Skills that help them be successful in their first job, throughout their career, and in their personal, social and civic lives.

The 10 Essential Skills framework helps provide structure and coherence to the college experience. It allows students to better understand the purpose of general education, how general education connects to their majors, and how their majors connect to life after college.

The 10 Essential Skills

	Communication		Professionalism
	Critical and Creative Thinking		Civic Engagement
	Quantitative Reasoning		Collaboration and Teamwork
	Interpersonal Relations		Knowledge Application
	Adaptability and Leadership		Information Literacy

Download the 10 Essential Skills Icons

Definition and Demonstration of the 10 Skills

Teams of faculty, staff and employers joined together to identify the knowledge associated with each Essential Skill and behaviors that measure each skill. K-12 partners were invited to provide the secondary school context for this work. The goals of this phase of work were to:

• Develop shared, competency-based definitions for each of the 10 essential skills.
• Identify measurable indicators of different levels of student mastery of each skill.
• Create a toolkit of assignments and resources that faculty may choose to use when integrating and assessing these skills in their programs and courses.
• Foster collaboration among faculty and staff across disciplines and institutions.
• Build stronger partnerships between higher education institutions and employers.

The 10 Essential Skills are defined as:

1. Communicate effectively: Graduates will communicate effectively by listening, weighing influencing
   factors, and responding accurately and professionally. They will express their thoughts coherently in writing, orally, and in formal presentations. 
2. Think critically to solve problems and create new ideas and solutions: Graduates will think critically by evaluating assumptions and assessing information to make informed conclusions. They will also think creatively by combining ideas in original ways or developing new ways of addressing issues.
3. Apply quantitative reasoning skills to analyze and solve numerical problems: Graduates will hone their ability to provide solutions guided by data and choose the best methodologies for arriving at informed conclusions. 
4. Interact effectively with people: Graduates will demonstrate both self-awareness and appreciation of people with different perspectives, as well as the ability to collaborate, communicate, and work respectfully with others. 
5. Adapt to changing circumstances while leading and supporting others: Graduates will accept change and find effective ways to work and thrive in different settings. They will motivate others in the pursuit of a common goal and coach others in the pursuit of this goal.
6. Perform professionally within their chosen field of study or occupation: Graduates will adhere to the code of ethics in their chosen profession and act with honesty and fairness. They will prioritize their tasks, manage their time, take initiative, and demonstrate accountability and reliability.
7. Engage in civic life to improve society: Graduates will engage in political, social, and other activities to address issues that benefit society.  
8. Collaborate and work in teams: Graduates will collaborate with colleagues, become effective team
   members, and manage conflict. 
9. Apply academic knowledge, skills and abilities to their chosen career: Graduates will articulate and apply the theoretical content of their academic preparation with relevant knowledge and abilities essential to their chosen careers. 
10. Use information for decision making: Graduates will identify, evaluate, and responsibly use information needed for decision making.

These teams created performance indicators that differentiate between three levels of student achievement: benchmark, milestone and capstone.

• At the benchmark level, learners are beginning to acquire the knowledge or skill but may need guidance or support. Benchmark is how a learner would perform at the level of high school completion.
• At the milestone level, learners can demonstrate competence independently. This is the performance expected at the associate's level or halfway through a bachelor's degree program.
• The capstone level describes what learners can do at the completion of their bachelor's degree, applying the competency with the expertise and precision.

Levels of Mastery for Each Skill

1. Communication
2. Critical and Creative Thinking
3. Quantitative Reasoning
4. Interpersonal Relations
5. Adaptability and Leadership
6. Professionalism
7. Civic Engagement
8. Collaboration and Teamwork
9. Knowledge Application
10. Information Literacy

Alignment with P-12 and Employers

Kentucky's P-12 learning framework is known as the Portrait of the Learner (PoL). Adopted by the Kentucky Department of Education, the PoL identifies a model set of skills that learners need before they leave school. CPE staff has worked closely with KDE staff to ensure alignment of the state's P-12 and postsecondary learning frameworks. This alignment is illustrated below.

Essential Skills Crosswalk: KDE's Portrait of a Learner and CPE's Kentucky Graduate Profile

Portrait of a Learner (KDE)	Kentucky Graduate Profile (CPE)
Effective Communicator	Communicate Effectively
Critical Thinker Creative Contributor	Crticial and Creative Thinking
Empowered Learner Critical Thinker	Quantitative Reasoning
Engaged Citizen Effective Communicator Productive Collaborator	Interpersonal Relations
Empowered Learner Creative Contributor Productive Collaborator Effective Communicator	Adaptability and Leadership
Effective Communicator Empowered Learner Productive Collaborator	Professionalism
Engaged Citizen	Civic Engagement
Productive Collaborator Creative Contributor	Collaboration and Teamwork
Empowered Learner	Knowledge Application
Effective Communicator Critical Thinker	Information Literacy

The Graduate Profile is also closely aligned with national postsecondary frameworks, as well. These include the American Association of Colleges and Universities' Essential Learning Outcomes, the Quality Assurance Commons' eight Essential Employability Qualities, and the national Association of Colleges and Employers' Competencies for a Career-Ready Workforce.

Graduate Profile Academy

Each institution has a leadership team comprised of high-level academic administrators, faculty leaders, student affairs administrators, and other campus leaders. Those involved with the effort are encouraged to visit the repository for practitioners.