U of T’s co-curricular record has experienced an increase in students and campus groups using the program since it launched in September 2013.
The CCR now offers approximately 4,300 opportunities, from 1,500 listed in 2013, and approximately 220 club and organizational activities are recognized in it.
At the end of its first year, approximately 4,300 U of T students completed 5,700 activity validations. In the 2014/15 academic year, approximately 7,400 students completed 10,500 validations.
According to CCR program coordinator Kimberly Elias, one of the founders of the Canadian Co-curricular Record Professionals Network, over 70 universities and colleges across Canada use a CCR, an official document that tracks both undergraduate and graduate students’ engagement in extracurricular activities. The record is designed to complement an official transcript and allows students to market their skills and experiences to employers, graduate, and professional schools.
Students who wish to connect with CCR-recognized clubs and organizations can search for available opportunities on the CCR online database. Student involvement is validated two months upon completion of their roles at the end of the semester and appears on their CCR transcript.
According to Elias, those involved in UTMSU activities are also eligible to receive recognition on the CCR.
“At UTM, the student development officer, student organizations, and co-curricular record will work with a member of the students’ union executive team to act as the local staff validator to assist UTMSU with proposing activities and roles to be recognized on the CCR, and to act as a validator in collaboration with a designate from the students’ union executive,” said Elias.
In an email to The Medium, Elias explained that the process of activity validation can only be completed by a university staff or faculty member as the CCR is an official university record, comparable to a transcript. There are currently hundreds of staff across all three U of T campuses who have volunteered to have the ability to verify student activities.
According to Elias, in a series of consultations with club and organization leaders, students wanted to ensure that only those who fulfilled their roles and responsibilities were recognized.
“They felt that the process would be unfair if the validation decision came down to the president of group,” said Elias. “UTM Student Life and UTMSU have been meeting to discuss the implementation of a UTM student activities committee for the Co-curricular Record to streamline the process for student organizations to have their activities recognized on the CCR.”
According to Elias, the CCR plans to organize additional student consultations in the near future to focus on opportunities for graduate students to use the CCR and further explore barriers to co-curricular engagement.
