More broadly, higher education
has struggled with the issue of competency-
based education for some time
(Calhoun et al. 2002; Westera 2001).
The main idea behind this initiative is to
design curricula based on the roles that
graduates will assume after completing
their degree and to incorporate the
specific knowledge, skills, and abilities
(KSAs) that future employees will need.
Efforts to promote competencies have
been undertaken in numerous fields,
including public health (Council on
Linkages Between Academic and Public
Health Practice 2001) and the health
professions (IOM 2003). The controversial
Spellings report (issued in 2006 by
the Secretary of Education's Commission
on the Future of Higher Education
convened by U.S. Secretary of Education
Margaret Spellings) pushes universities
nationwide to measure student
outcomes and then make these results
available to the public.