THE PERFECT TRANSCRIPT OF RECORDS International Staff Training week – V Edition – June 2016 Carlo Santoro - University of Ferrara

THE PERFECT TRANSCRIPT OF RECORDS Why should we have a standard What has been done up to now The situation in Europe nowadays Limits of the new Transcript of Records included in the Learning Agreement Creating a standard transcript of records Interaction with web-platforms

THE PERFECT TRANSCRIPT OF RECORDS WHY SHOULD WE HAVE A STANDARD

So why should we have a standard? In order to make work easier and faster For a fact of transparency toward students and other institutions but also for a correct conversion of grades To reduce the chances of making mistakes and disparity between students of the same study area Allowing to focus on a shared project between universities all around Europe (a team is always stronger than a group of individuals) Having a common standard would allow «third parties» to work and invest on tools allowing to dematerialize transcripts and other documents. THE PERFECT TRANSCRIPT OF RECORDS WHY SHOULD WE HAVE A STANDARD

THE PERFECT TRANSCRIPT OF RECORDS WHAT HAS BEEN DONE UP TO NOW A lot of work has been done at central level in order to suggest a standard solution for all Higher Education Institution.

THE PERFECT TRANSCRIPT OF RECORDS WHAT HAS BEEN DONE UP TO NOW According to the ECTS 2015 users guide: Full guide downlodable at the following link: guide_en.pdf guide_en.pdf

THE PERFECT TRANSCRIPT OF RECORDS WHAT HAS BEEN DONE UP TO NOW Even a platform has been created to simplify and automate the recognition procedure: EGRACONS ON OVER 5000 INSTITUTIONS ??????

THE PERFECT TRANSCRIPT OF RECORDS THE SITUATION IN EUROPE NOWADAYS Just some examples to have an idea if things are changing… OR MAYBE NOT!!! ?????????

THE PERFECT TRANSCRIPT OF RECORDS LIMITS OF THE NEW T.O.R. INCLUDED IN THE L.A. No ECTS grades, no information on the grading system. Am I the only one not undestanding why the transcripts includes also this column??? No stamp or signature??? Anyone could fill in the document If the Learning Agreement was structured differently this second part wouldn’t be necessary, because the information had to be provided earlier. Again no stamp or signature? ??? So is the student going to keep this document???

And these are the results: Would you ever accept such a document??? And even if it was acceptable how should it help us for a correct grade transfer of the activities done by the student??? THE PERFECT TRANSCRIPT OF RECORDS LIMITS OF THE NEW T.O.R. INCLUDED IN THE L.A.

THE PERFECT TRANSCRIPT OF RECORDS CREATING A STANDARD TRANSCRIPT OF RECORDS Information on the hosting institution Information on the student and the mobility period Include only courses with a positive grade (Listing all the courses shouldn’t be necessary) For each course provide the ISCED code instead of the course code The name of each course preferably written in ENGLISH (I know it is hard to accept but it would be is the easiest way) Only the ECTS credits obtained (NO LOCAL CREDITS or HOURS) Only the cumulative percentage range reached for each course (NO LOCAL GRADES or OLD ECTS GRADES) Digital signature NO OTHER INFORMATION (duration of the course, GPA, totals, home institution recognition, explanation annex, …)

Just a couple of examples: Egracons – FREE web tool - project developed during Lifelong Learning Programme and co-funded by the European Commission. The platform doesn’t allow to issue E- transcripts but for sure it allows to compare different grading system all around Europe and to store information of the credit transfers that have been already done through the platform. Moveonnet and Moveon – private platform and software both created by QS UNISOLUTION. The company is trying to develop an E-transcript procedure allowing institutions to create and share documents directly through the platform (ATTENTION: the software is not free of charge… only the web platform is accessible for free) Otherwise we could simply start by implementing a standard transcript in our own student career tools allowing institutions to issue similar documents. And, why not, in the meantime we could even work all together to a new project in order to FINALLY solve this long-standing problem. Think about it. THE PERFECT TRANSCRIPT OF RECORDS INTERACTION WITH EXISTING PLATFORMS

THANK YOU International Mobility and Education Office University of Ferrara Via Savonarola, 9 – Ferrara (Italy)