A co-curricular transcript at Ohio University could complement the increased use of swipe-card technology across campus for the Bobcat Passport program, but the idea is in the very early stages of development.
A co-curricular transcript is a document that would not only include academic achievement, but also extracurricular activities and events a student attends while at OU.
I don't foresee this as something that happens in the short term
but something that happens over a few years said Chad Barnhardt, assistant director for campus programs.
The idea stems from the use of the Bobcat Passport, a program that tracked students' participation in on-campus events through a paper passport and entered completed passports into a raffle for prizes. About 2,000 students participated in the program Fall Quarter 2005, but fewer than 100 students turned in completed passports, according to a Feb. 27 Post article.
The program could move to swipe-card technology by Fall Quarter 2006, Barnhardt said.
With a passport you could swipe in and swipe out of events and then at the end of the year you would have a transcript of things you participated in
he said.
The idea for a co-curricular transcript at OU has existed for many years, but until recently has not been technologically feasible, said Terry Hogan, dean of students.
There were so many logistical challenges to do it
he said.
While technology has evolved to the point that obstacles for such a project have diminished, this does not mean the idea will manifest on campus anytime soon, Hogan said.
What we're talking about doing with swipe-card technology to support a Bobcat Passport is several miles away from being a co-curricular transcript
Hogan said.
A co-curricular transcript has not been proposed officially and administrators have yet to decide what the transcript would keep track of, he said.
Swipe-card technology is already being used on campus to keep track of attendance in Walter Hall and was used at The Convo to track attendance at basketball games, said John Beam, assistant director of Computer Services.
That is the plan
the dream
of the Bobcat Passport program
Beam said. There's a number of costs and technical issues with the equipment to be discussed.
The equipment likely will be used in places where large public events occur, such as Baker University Center and Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium, Hogan said, adding that it likely will be used in the new university center.
I think the assessment we're doing right now is to determine which facilities on campus have it and what facilities we want to equip with it
Hogan said.
