At least that's the vision of Clifford Adelman, a senior analyst at the Institute for Higher Education Policy who spoke to Utah's higher education leaders Friday. He urged them to embrace a movement toward more transparent degrees that is well under way in Europe, but not in America.

"It's exciting," said Julie Curtis, assistant to the vice president of academic affairs at Salt Lake Community College. "We can learn from other places and don't want to be left out."

Curtis was one of several dozen attendees at Friday's ninth annual higher education conference, "What is an Educated Person," hosted by the state Board of Regents' Task Force on General Education. The group spent the morning discussing Adelman's proposal and a related federal report.

U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings' Commission on the Future of Higher Education released "A Test of Leadership" in September. It decried "evidence that the quality of student learning at U.S. colleges and universities is inadequate and, in some cases, declining."

Adelman, a U.S. Department of Education analyst for 27 years, painted the report as a whiny document that laments current trends without looking beyond standardized tests for solutions.

"We can't sit there and just complain because we're fat and sassy arbiters of graduate schools," Adelman said during his keynote address. "Had I been there, I'd say, 'Folks, would you look at what's going on in these other countries so we could learn something?' ''

He was referring to a European effort to make degrees more transparent and transportable. Borders between institutions and even countries would virtually disappear because a "diploma supplement" would reveal the real skills students have acquired.

So instead of just saying a student got a B+ in "environmental design," for example, an electronic card would summarize the course requirements, highlight special projects the student did outside class and mention her study abroad.

In short, it would help potential employers evaluate the graduate's practical skills. It would also facilitate transfers between schools and bridge the months or years many students take off to work or travel.

So far, schools in 45 countries are incorporating the diploma supplements concept, which will likely be standard by 2015, Adelman said.

In an age of an expanding global workplace, America cannot afford to stay on the sidelines, he said.

He urged the Utah administrators to pioneer such a system, as he's been doing throughout the country.

Several conference participants questioned the need because resumes and letters of recommendation accomplish the same thing.

Adelman said the system would give students a lifelong transparent and certified summary of accomplishments for employers and other schools.

Other audience members pointed to the beginnings of such a system at several institutions.

"Salt Lake Community College is trying to do e-portfolios like this," said Sue Besser, the school's transfer coordinator. "We have so many things that go on on campus that are not documented."

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* NICOLE STRICKER can be contacted at nstricker@sltrib.com or 801-257-8999. Send comments about this story to livingeditor@sltrib.com.