Transcripts and student records to go through facelift

Since last week, changes have been implemented to Concordia’s student records and transcripts.
According to interim registrar Terry Too, the changes aim to make transcripts more transparent and informative by bringing modifications to GPA information, transfer credits and graduation requirements.
“Students should really see these changes with positive eyes,” said Too. “We used to have a graduation GPA that was kind of confusing. We got rid of it to make it only a cumulative GPA, while showing a term GPA that would help those students who only had one bad term.
“We’re now also showing class sizes and class averages and it helps students who were doing good compared to their classmates,” added Too. “Class sizes now also show rankings, and if you are the top student in a 300 student class, it makes a great difference than if you are a top student in a 15 student class.”
However, what seemed to worry some students, according to Concordia Student Union VP academic Hasan Cheikhzen, is that in order to graduate, students will now have to reach a cumulative GPA of 2.0 that takes into consideration all years spent at Concordia rather than only needing a last annual GPA of 2.0. This modification seemed to concern a number of students, especially those studying at JMSB or in engineering, who tend to have a difficult first year.
The changes brought up will also affect students who transfer programs within Concordia. Their GPA will now include the grades of their previous program.
Finally, one of the major changes, said Too, concerns graduate students. Instead of having a quiet brief about their degree on their transcripts, those working towards a master’s or PhD will now be provided with a lot more information. It will notably show the basis of admission, the number of credits required, the time limit to finish their degree, the thesis title, the thesis ranking and “a lot of positive changes that will help students when they apply to institutions outside the university.”
Cheikhzen added that although the students were not heavily involved in the process, the changes seem to be convincing enough for the CSU and the students to question the matter.
“Overall, we had good feedback from students and student representatives,” said Cheikhzen.
“We did receive mixed feelings about the changes over graduation GPA and transferring credit, but nothing major,” he added.