Jax State Students First to Earn Ethical Leadership Microcredentials through Jax MIX

11/30/2025

Brett Buckner 

Just as the students currently enrolled in its courses, Jacksonville State University’s Jax MIX general education program is steadily building momentum.  

Recent graduates Chris Holmes and Taylor Owen are the first Jax State students to earn the Ethical Leadership microcredentials as part of the Jax MIX microcredentials course.  

Jax MIX is the university’s signature general education program. The state of Alabama requires all students to complete core classes to earn a four-year degree. This is general education.  

Jacksonville State University has given this requirement a purpose through emphasizing four real-world topics that prepare students for work and life. Students learn the skills of communication, critical thinking, and collaboration, while exploring courses that investigate the big questions of human existence. In this way, Jax MIX helps to connect students’ first course to their first career. 

Jax MIX director Dr. Benjamin Gross explains that Jax MIX is the nation's first general education program to include pathways to microcredentials, a different but related program that adds an institutional filter to general education, providing additional credentials to students. 

“Jax MIX microcredentials highlight the connection between general education and career readiness,” he said. “These free credentials let students choose courses that build competencies aligned with their interests, experiences, extracurricular activities, and professional goals.” 

Jax MIX microcredentials help students stand out from other university graduates.  

“They’re more than just a line on a résumé or a badge on LinkedIn,” Dr. Gross said. “These credentials empower students to tell a cohesive story of their college experience in cover letters, interviews, and beyond.” 

Chris Holmes: A Leader in the Making 

Before enrolling at Jax State, Chris Holmes spent 10 years in the army. Becoming a college student was not her dream alone. Before my mom died," said Holmes, a native of Polk County, Fla., "I wanted to be able to tell her, 'I got into Jax State.'" 

Holmes not only “got in,” but she also graduated in May with a degree in sports management and recreation. While on campus, Holmes made the most of her time, joining groups such as the Black Student Union. “I was into almost everything imaginable,” she said. On the academic side, it was her advisor who suggested microcredentials as a boost to her résumé. The ethical leadership option made the most sense. 

It’s showing future employees that you're ready to step into a leadership role,” she said. “And having those credentials on top of other credentials really impacts it a lot. It helps me stand out.” 

On a personal level, the leadership microcredential brought Holmes out of her shell, forcing her out of her comfort zone. “I never thought I would be in college, let alone in leadership roles,” she said. “It also helped me maintain that discipline I learned in the army. I learned a lot about myself. It may look hard at first. It may be a little confusing but just stick with it. “I never thought in a million years I would get a leadership role, but I did it. I am a leader.”  

Holmes is envisioning how that leadership will work with her degree in sports management and recreation. "You have to learn how to be a leader, especially in that type of environment where you're working with ages from two months to 92 years old and coming in not knowing who you're going to get that day," she said. "Now, I have the leadership skills so I can talk to a two-year-old and say, 'Hey, it's going to be OK,' and talk to this 22-year-old and say, 'Hey bud, you know what you did. You know how you messed up. Let's fix this and move on.' I've learned to handle both of those." 

Taylor Owen: Building a Strong Foundation  

Taylor Owen recognized that the Jax MIX microcredentials program provided a solid foundation for her future career. "It was a huge building block for what I was going to see in my life outside of college," said the Huntsville native who recently graduated with a degree in forensic investigation. "It was presented to me as something that would give me more resources for the school. It would build connections for my degree, and that was just something that I was really interested in doing. 

Before her graduation, Owen didn't know exactly what she intended to do with her do but believed that Jax MIX would open doors to resources she didn’t know were available. 

“I thought it was a really cool, in-depth way to build a résumé,” said the Huntsville native. “I learned a bunch of things that I still use today to build my résumé and tweak it. I also made a lot of connections, and the career workshops that I went to were a good way to get my résumé out there to other people.” 

With her résumé in the right hands, those microcredentials are even more valuable.  

“It stands out,” she said. “It's something a little different. It's something new. The assignments really got your gears turning.”  

Owen earned two microcredentials—ethical leadership and media literacy—in a single semester. "It was rewarding, but it was a lot of work," she said. "Near the end, I was sweating to make sure I was going to get all my events done, but I did. It was very rewarding. I would 100 percent do it again. 

For those interested in the microcredentials program, Owen has some advice – start early, perhaps as a freshman. 

“It was something that could be done throughout the semester, So, it wasn't pressing,” she said.” It didn't have to be done ASAP, and I think that's also another good way for freshmen to get involved. It kind of gets you in slowly - not all at once – allowing you to go at your own pace through the semester. 

With this milestone accomplished, the Jax MIX microcredentials program is experiencing “significant growth,” Dr. Gross said. One microcredential was awarded in the fall of 2024, but six microcredentials were awarded in the spring of 2025. This included the first students to earn Ethical Leadership as a Jax MIX microcredential, as well as two students who were the first to earn multiple Jax MIX microcredentials in the same semester.  

Dr. Gross said the program is on pace to award 13 microcredentials in the fall of 2025 and that 32 students have registered for microcredential courses, known as MIX courses, for the spring 2026 semester. 

“More students are hearing about it through their professors, advisors, and peers,” he said. “Most first-year students can complete a Jax MIX microcredential by the end of their first year, giving them an advantage when applying for internships or summer jobs.”