For graduating high school seniors and community college students preparing to transfer to four-year universities, early spring is application season — and applications mean sending official transcripts of academic work.
How can students complete these tasks while confined to home?
Seward County Community College Registrar Alaina Rice has the answer: electronic transcripts.
“The National Student Clearinghouse announced that it is recommending students avoid paper transcript orders,” Rice said. “Basically, there is no benefit to ordering official, paper transcripts by mail, because they may sit in a mailroom, unread due to all the closures.”
By contrast, electronic transcripts can be processed seamlessly from remote work stations, at home, or wherever college and university staff are operating.
“My entire office is working from home due to the pandemic, and I am able to do everything that’s needed, as long as students specify the electronic transcripts when they log on to the clearinghouse,” she said.
“Technology is definitely our friend in this set of circumstances.”— Registrar Alaina Rice
Rice, who occasionally works with her small household dog perched on her lap beneath an afghan, said she is grateful to be able to work from home.
“The students are the reason we do what we do,” she said. “It means everything to be able to continue serving them despite all the upheaval.”
As SCCC looks ahead to opening enrollment for Fall 2020 courses, Rice said her department continues to discuss adjustments that may be needed for incoming high school seniors slated to graduate in May. With public school buildings in Kansas closed for the remainder of the academic year, getting those completed high school transcripts poses difficulties.
“Students should reach out to admissions at the college if they have questions, and above all, try not to focus on worries at this point,” Rice said. “Our focus is to work with the students. We are all in this together.”
For more information about transcript requests and enrollment processes, or to contact a department directly, visit the college website at sccc.edu and click on “Faculty & Staff” for a directory listing.
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Categories: COVID-19 Response, Student Services
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