Catching Up With the Times: CU Transcripts Go Digital

Now, students don't have to make time to go to the Registrar's Office or wait days to recieve their transcripts. 
Photo courtesy of concord.edu

On April 13, after years of offering transcript services the traditional way, Concord University’s Registrar has authorized National Student Clearinghouse, a nonprofit organization serving the higher education community for more than 20 years, to be the sole agent to provide transcript ordering to students through the website getmytranscript.com. Now students can enjoy the benefit of the service available 24/7 and having their official transcripts delivered as little as 30 minutes from the time of ordering without the usual wait and the hassle of having to mail or fax in transcript request to the office. 

Carolyn Cox, Registrar for Concord University, opened up about the decision to make the transcript ordering process easier for Concord students all around the world. “We made this decision now because of several reasons. One is that international students often have difficulty getting official transcripts sent to them physically where they are either on the break or after they graduate from Concord. The delivery would take up to a month depending on where their country is. And we also have the issue of the transcripts being lost during shipping and getting there not on time. The same goes for alumni. Moreover, professional schools nowadays such as medical schools and law schools often prefer students to send transcripts electronically. At the age of technology, people want things done instantly. There are students who can’t wait for the usual 5 days process here at the [Registrar’s] office if they need the transcript right away for an interview.” 

The price of ordering transcripts this way, which is around $14, is a little more expensive than the traditional way, compared to $5 for transcript to be sent by the Registrar’s Office, which can take up to five days, and $10 if one prefers to send it themselves, in which case the transcript will be available instantly. “Concord gets to keep $10, and Clearinghouse keeps $4 for their service,” Ms. Cox said. 

The process stays similar to what the Registrar’s Office has been doing and is fairly easy to follow. After the request has been made, one would receive notification by email of the ordering status. If one has a hold in his or her account due to balance with the Business Office, a notification will be sent right away. As soon as the hold is removed, the request would be processed instantly. The service is only available to students who enrolled at Concord University after 1988 because students enrolled before that time have their records stored in hard copy files. 

“There are several measures that they [Clearinghouse] take to make sure students are in the know of their transcripts status to when they process the request, when the transcript is available,” Cox added. 

“Students are more than welcome to request their transcripts at the office. But we also encourage students to try out this new service. It’s really up to the student’s preference. The service is trusted and secured to maintain the confidentiality and privacy of student records since 1993. Concord is the first university in West Virginia to use Clearinghouse service.” 

Dr. Peter Viscusi, Vice President and Academic Dean, whom Cox consulted on the project, commented, “It really is a tremendous service to Concord students.” 

On whether Concord is considering to make the process of getting transcript completely online, Cox said, “I don’t think we would ever go online completely, that is one thing that we like about Concord University is the personal service. I would like to thank Ms. Susie Lusk, Associate Registrar and Mr. Jamie Boggs, Director of Application & Web Development who worked with me tirelessly on the project to make it happen.”

According to its website, getmytranscript.com, The National Student Clearinghouse is the nation's trusted source for education verification and student outcomes research, founded in 1993 by the higher education community. More than 3,600 colleges and universities participate in the Clearinghouse, reporting enrollment and degree information regularly throughout the year. Earlier this year, Concord University also teamed up with National Student Clearinghouse to provide degree and enrollment verifications for employing agencies and background screening firms. 

To order transcript online, visit getmytranscript.com then choose Concord University to start the ordering process or go to concord.edu/order-your-transcript to be taken directly to the service from Concord University. Contact Carolyn Cox in Registrar’s Office at registrar@concord.edu for any related questions. Let the CU Help Desk know if any problems occur in the ordering process at cuhelpdesk@concord.edu or (304) 384-5291.