By Katherine Pollock | This story appeared in the July 2017 edition of AUC Today.
For AUC students across generations, a lot of their formative learning experiences while at University took place beyond the walls of a traditional classroom. In an effort to formalize and officially document the wide array of extracurricular student activities, AUC is in the process of launching a new edition of its cocurricular transcript (CCT) that is integrated with Banner. A model found at U.S. universities, AUC’s CCT will be the first-of-its-kind in the Middle East.
In conjunction with traditional academic transcripts, the CCT is intended to give a more dynamic and holistic perspective on students. This will not only allow advisers to better understand, guide and direct students, but will also give AUC students a competitive edge in the employment market. Moreover, the CCT is a new and groundbreaking way to represent students, documenting on paper all the learning that occurs beyond the classroom.
“Whenever I apply for any internship or academic or professional program,
I am always asked about the experiences I had in extracurricular activities,” said Mohamed Nabil Elimam, petroleum engineering graduating senior.
“I find it much easier to let my transcript speak for me as an official documentation from the University of my work. It also helps me keep all the good memories I had in one place.”
Echoing Elimam’s sentiments, student Nour Beshir noted, “I chose the cocurricular transcript because it documents the extracurricular activities, where I have exerted enormous effort, and it is evidence that proves I’ve done this work. I believe I will benefit from it when applying for jobs or even postgraduate studies, as it depicts the skills that I’ve gained and my learning curve.”
Following a soft launch in Spring 2013, the CCT is currently in the process of being automated, which will allow all students to document and verify their extracurricular activities online in Banner.
The transcript will keep an accurate log of each student’s activities, awards and leadership positions, excluding those for which they receive academic credit. Specifically, the transcript will record activities that fall under six areas: Office of Student Engagement, First-Year Experience and Peer Advising Leaders, Career Center, Office of Athletics, undergraduate research and Academic Community Engagement.
To ensure the CCT’s accuracy, the verification for each activity logged on the CCT will come from both student leaders and the Office of Student Engagement.
To read more about what students have learned from their involvement in student clubs and organizations, click here.
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