How students can improve their work and grad school prospects

Good grades are important, but they may not be the only thing students need when they finish their degree.

Anyone who's applied to graduate school knows that while a strong transcript is critical, admission committees will often want to know about the extracurricular activities you took part in. And if you’ve ventured into the job market for the first time, you may have seen how difficult it can be to prove that you have the skills — the abilities that complement your academic background — that employers are looking for.

With exactly that in mind, Concordia’s Student Services introduced the Co-Curricular Record (CCR), a university record that recognizes the volunteer work, community activities and internships undergraduates and graduates complete over the course of their studies.

“It was designed to give our students a little bit of an advantage over people who don’t have this record when they’re going out to pursue further education or look for employment,” says Paul Goubko, a Co-Curricular Record assistant in the Dean of Students Office.

By outlining extracurricular experiences in this way, the CCR highlights what Goubko calls the soft skills — leadership, communication, planning and organizing — that can be challenging to articulate in a CV or cover letter. In other words, it bolsters resumés by underlining exactly what the candiate in question can do.

“This doesn’t just tell people what you’ve done — it shows them,” says Goubko.

While the CCR does not recognize work done off campus, the list of on-campus activities that qualify for the record is long. Everything from serving as president of a club to working for the start-of-term Welcome Crew is eligible for inclusion.

“Basically, anything that’s organized at Concordia and that’s not for credit can be on it,” says Goubko.

This year, the deadline to add your activities to your CCR is April 30. They must then be validated by May 31.

Ultimately, a student's record will show what he or she did, along with a list of the skills gained from it — all of which will be proofed by a member of the Co-Curricular Record staff.

“It summarizes everything nicely,” says Goubko.

Paul Jerajian, a fourth-year student in the Faculty of Arts and Science, agrees. So far, he has added three positions he’s held — president, interim vice-president of finance and vice-president, external and sustainability, of the Arts and Science Federation of Students — to his record.

“These aren’t jobs in the conventional sense, but it will be great to show potential employers the skills they’ve given me, like accounting, an understanding of software and reporting, as well as leadership, communication and time management,” he says.

And that, says Goubko, is pretty much the goal of the CCR.

“It encourages students to gain more skills, and it shows off the skills that they’ve gained.”

How to add your activity to your Co-Curricular Record:

Sign into the MyConcordia portal using your Netname and password

• Click on “Co-Curricular Record” on the left-hand side of the page
• Click on “View My Record”
• Search for and select your activity
• Check off the relevant achievements
• Click on “Add to Record

How to add an activity to the Co-Curricular Record database:

Sign into the MyConcordia portal using your Netname and password

• Click on “Co-Curricular Record” on the left-hand side of the page
• Click on “Add an Activity to the CCR Database”
• Read the guidelines, and click the button at the bottom of the page to proceed to the activity request form
• Fill out the form, including the fields for the validator’s name and Concordia ID
• Click “Send Request”

The deadline to add activities from the 2013-14 academic year to your Co-Curricular Record — available on the MyConcordia portal — is April 30, 2014. All activities must be validated by May 31, 2014. For assistance, please contact Paul Goubko at the Dean of Students Office: 514-848-2424, ext. 3500.

Learn more about the Co-Curricular Record.