- Certificates of Completion will be issued by Synergia Co-operative Institute and Athabasca University for those who complete the MOOC.
- Graduate degree credits from Athabasca University will be offered on completion of the credit requirements.
Getting a Certificate
Certificate of Completion Level 1:
Modules 1 through 4 and two reflections.
We encourage all participants to consider doing each of the reflection exercises. For those who want to receive a Level 1 Certificate of completion from Synergia Institute, you will need to complete at least two of the four reflection exercises.
Certificate of Completion Level 2:
Modules 1 through 7 and four or more reflections.
We encourage all participants to consider doing each reflection exercise. For those who want to receive a Level 2 Certificate of completion from Synergia Institute, you will need to complete at least four of the seven exercises.
Certificate of Completion with Synthesis Level 3:
We encourage all participants to consider doing each reflection exercise. For those who want to receive a Level 3 Certificate of completion from Synergia Institute, you will need to complete four or more reflection exercises across modules 1 through 7, and Module 8 Final Synthesis report.
Getting University Credit: 2023 Pilot
Towards Cooperative Commonwealth: Transition in a Perilous Century is breaking new ground in educating for system change and mobilizing community action.
This Synergia/Athabasca University collaboration grew out of a multi-year Canadian research program investigating the Canadian and international social and solidarity economies.
As part of the innovation, Athabasca University’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and MA Interdisciplinary Studies (MAIS) program have agreed to pilot an evaluation of the performance of participants who want to receive university credits for their work in the Synergia MOOC.
Successful applicants will register as non-program students in the MAIS (application fees are waived for the pilot). If successful in the MOOC, they would receive three graduate credits (MAIS 5XX) in the Community Studies or Global Studies streams of the MA Interdisciplinary Studies. These will appear as PLAR or Prior Learning Assessment credits. They can be applied to any future application to study for the MA Interdisciplinary Studies at Athabasca University. The MAIS has an open admission policy. See http://mais.athabascau.ca/program/admissions/
Interested participants should check with their home university program to confirm that the Athabasca University credits will transfer to their program. This is a normal precaution.
Alternatively, you may simply wish your achievement (three graduate credits at the MA level on official university transcript) to denote a professional achievement or to show a current or future employer.
Those participants interested in university credit will be required to submit a portfolio of their performance in the Synergia/AU MOOC. You are asked to share samples of your posts and discussions, and four or more of your reflection papers, and to develop a final overall analysis of how the MOOC applies to your changemaking approach and work, and if you are an AU student, how it applies to your studies.
The evaluation process will cost $309 Canadian dollars to cover administration costs. For more information on the application process, please contact Dr. Mike Gismondi mikeg@athabascau.ca
Exception notice for current AU MAIS students: For this pilot, applications from current MAIS students are restricted to no more than six applicants who must be studying in the MAIS Global Studies or Community Studies streams.
This is a limited Pilot.
Participants should contact Dr. Gismondi mikeg@athabascau.ca early in the MOOC to indicate their interest and clarify the process to register as a non-program student, or for MAIS students to go on the short list of six pilot candidates.
We propose to start the evaluation process at the end of Module 8 in June 2023. You will have a month or so to compile and submit your portfolio for review.
Details of the evaluation process will be released upon request.