At Thursday’s UW System Board of Regents meeting, the Board of Regents approved the creation of a second transcript for all UW System students.
This second transcript will provide information on a student’s extracurricular activities, which, in theory, would supply a more well-rounded view of the student.
The approval of the transcript shows the university’s support for extracurriculars, but in practice, the dual transcript fails at many levels.
On the surface, the second transcript seems to replace the need for students to create resumés, but resumes provide more detailed information than the transcript could. The student will still be responsible for providing the information that will appear on this transcript.
The biggest caveat, though, is that all information provided for the second document has to be authorized by the university. It is possible, then, that an activity a student pursues outside of academics could be deemed inadquate by the university to appear on a second transcript.
If certain activities are denied from appearing on a second transcript, how would the university or potential employers truly understand a student’s development outside of the classroom.
This authentication process will prove only to be an inconvenience to students, who will not receive many benefits for having the document. If the process is not personalized, the second transcript will become a mass-produced, rubber-stamped piece of paper.
The addition of a new transcript could also mean that students will have to pay to receive a copy of their second transcript. It seems this transcript could be another way for the university to get money from students.
If the university really wants to know its students better, the first place to start is with advising. An improvement to the advising services at UW-Madison would prove to be more beneficial than a resumé substitute.
UW-Madison is not known for hand-holding students through their college years. If the university wants to improve the relationship between its students and its administration, a second transcript is not the way to achieve that goal.
It is difficult to see how this transcript exemplifies the UW System’s goal of committing to student success.
This “precedent-setting” dual transcript will not provide any benefit greater than what a resumé or cover letter has to offer. The second transcript is just another piece of paper stamped with a University of Wisconsin logo.
