UHD’s 2026 Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), “Beyond the Bayou: Transferable Skills for the 21st Century,” aims to equip all graduates with four essential career and life skills: Communication, Professionalism, Decision Making, and Technology.
To accomplish this, micro-credential programs will be launched in 2026 in each of those four areas, and students will be able to access course content via Canvas and complete it at their own pace, after which they will earn not just the skills themselves, but a useful resume item as well as a digital badge they can add to their online professional profile.
To celebrate the launch, University Relations is hosting a student essay contest. To enter, read the prompt, compose a brief essay, then submit it via the link below. You might just win the prize!
Prompt:
Reflect on your daily life as a student or professional, as well as your personal life. Consider the following questions in your essay:
In what ways is technology currently shaping your life?
In what ways do you think it might change in the future to impact you differently? How might it stay the same?
You may also consider the inverse. That is, how you may or may not impact or shape the technology you use in the future.
Upload your submission as a Word document on the following page. Submissions should range between 300-500 words.