Today’s college student is more likely to start college at a two-year institution, live off-campus, be older, have work, family and community commitments, and learn both inside and outside the classroom. With this in mind, AACRAO and NASPA: Student Affairs Professionals in Higher Education added four higher education institutions to their project to develop models for a more comprehensive student record.
Brandman University, University of Central Oklahoma, Dillard University, and LaGuardia Community College help round out the initial list of eight institutions chosen to develop new models of the academic transcript that expand beyond traditional course names, credits and grades. With additional funds added to the original $1.27 million from the Lumina Foundation and these four additional schools, the project will allow institutions to develop approaches that better serve diverse students who acquire learning from multiple sources.
Like the original eight institutions who met in Chicago this Fall, these four met in DC last month for their first convening. This is the first step in a year-long project that aims to have a comprehensive student record delivered to some or all of the pilot institutions’ students. The records will be created as digital secure documents and may be a part of or supplemental to the traditional course, credit, and grade report transcripts used to exchange student records today. Campuses will be expected to equip academic and student services, student affairs, and other campus professionals with the knowledge and skills to utilize and sustain the extended transcript frameworks.
AACRAO is a non-profit, voluntary, professional association of more than 11,000 higher education professionals representing approximately 2,600 institutions in more than 40 countries. Its commitment to the professional development of its members includes best practice guidance on admissions strategies to meet institutional diversity objectives, delivery of academic programs in innovative ways to meet the needs of a changing student body, and exemplary approaches to student retention and completion.
NASPA is the leading association for the advancement, health, and sustainability of the student affairs profession. Our work provides high-quality professional development, advocacy, and research for 15,000 members in all 50 states, 25 countries, and 8 U.S. territories.
Lumina Foundation is an independent, private foundation committed to increasing the proportion of Americans with high-quality degrees, certificates and other credentials to 60 percent by 2025. Lumina’s outcomes-based approach focuses on helping to design and build an equitable, accessible, responsive and accountable higher education system while fostering a national sense of urgency for action to achieve Goal 2025. For more information, logon to www.luminafoundation.org
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