Co-Curricular Record: Beyond a Traditional Transcript

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• Stacey Carrillo - [email protected]

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For close to a decade, the Teaching and Learning Commons at UC San Diego has offered students a unique and official way to document their valuable beyond the classroom co-curricular experiences.

An official record called the Co-Curricular Record (CCR) documents a student's involvement and achievements in opportunities beyond the classroom. Since its launch, nearly 15,000 students have had at least one experience validated on a CCR.

What makes the CCR transcript especially rare is its verification process. All positions listed on the CCR transcript are verified by Experiential Learning Specialists, and student involvement is validated by a university staff or faculty member supervising the student's experiences. This makes the document stand out against self-reported documentation such as a resume or CV. This transcript of experiences complements a student's academic transcript and is shareable with potential employers, graduate schools, and professional programs.

Rochelle Smarr, Ed.D., Director of Experiential Learning at UC San Diego, said that the term "co-curricular" in the name acknowledges that "these experiences should be seen as part of, rather than outside, the curricular experience. And the CCR is a valuable tool for our students as a trusted record that documents their beyond the classroom experiences, and development of career-readiness skills that has gone through a verification process and has an official university seal."

Each opportunity listed includes a brief description and the competencies and skills the student developed through the experience. CCR eligibility has several requirements including not being repetitive of academic transcript course deliverables; enhancing and reflecting on at least three of 12 identified career-readiness competencies and transferable skills; and requiring at least 30 hours of participation within a single academic year.

The Co-Curricular Record recognizes student involvement in diverse areas including:

• Research / Academic Life
  ex. undergrad research, tutoring, academic publications

• Student Engagement / Campus Life
  ex. leadership, mentorship, athletics, clubs

• Community-Based / Global Learning
  ex. external community engagement, international opportunities

• Professional / Career Development
  ex. work study, internships, workshop series

Students can log on to the online CCR portal to view more than 1,677 diverse opportunities such as working as a Student Health and Well-Being Intern or Transfer Student Peer Coach, competing as Women's Soccer Intercollegiate Athletics Athlete, or serving as a Children and Youth in Transition Tutor.

The Globally Engaged Tritons Co-Curricular Opportunity (GET CCR) also enables all UC San Diego students to earn credit on their Co-Curricular Record for being involved in events on campus that promote the global engagement and internationalization of our university.

Lincoln Mehndiratta, a chemistry Ph.D. student, has been attending International Services and Engagement Office (ISEO) events for the past few years at UC San Diego. He was very excited to find out that he could participate in ISEO events and get CCR credit even as a graduate student. He has spent countless hours mentoring international and graduate students and attending intercultural events on campus.

With professional aspirations of becoming a teaching professor, Mehndiratta said, "These experiences are not only rewarding for me as I get to meet people from all over the world, but I will also have an official record demonstrating my commitment and experiences in mentorship and engagement with international students."

The CCR was developed as one response to UC San Diego's Strategic Plan, by creating a suite of electronic tools enhancing the student educational experience, and further supporting the intellectual, academic, cognitive, and social development of undergraduate and graduate students. UC San Diego is currently one of only a handful of universities with a verified co-curricular program. Other institutions include Michigan State University, Elon University and University of Nebraska-Lincoln. One of the first to launch such a program, UC San Diego has quickly become a national leader in the space, offering guidance to other universities looking to roll out their own programs.

UC San Diego's online CCR portal, already featuring a wide variety of verified opportunities, also continues to grow. Scholar-athlete positions, and affiliated student organizations were recently added, ensuring their unique experiences and skills are officially documented.

Additionally, a recent partnership between the Teaching and Learning Commons and the Student Employment Office (SEO) aims to ensure that all on-campus student positions are on the Co-Curricular Record (CCR) portal. All 2,436 non-academic student employee positions from all VC areas are eligible for the CCR. The SEO is working with campus departments to get all these positions captured on the CCR portal this year and to help them engage student employees with leveraging the CCR to document their on-campus engagement.