Why is the university shutting down the co-curricular record, and what impacts will this have on the student experience?

The University announced that it is retiring the Co-Curricular Record (CCR) service last month and that CCR will no longer be available as of May 1, 2026. CCR was an official and personalized record of university-approved activities that students have been involved with outside of their degree, including volunteer work and experiences in clubs and organizations.

After years of the university advertising and encouraging students to participate in extra-curricular activities and volunteer experiences to add to their CCRs, it came as a shock to many that CCR’s service would be shut down.

The initial email sent to all students at USask last month announced that CCR was going to be shut down and that students should complete and submit all CCR-eligible activities by March 31, and download their CCR transcript by April 30 of next year for their personal records. There was no reasoning for the retirement of the program in any public correspondence.

In a statement to The Sheaf, the university explained that CCR was going to be retired because “although it is popular with some students, overall student participation has historically been low,” with about 6 to 10% of students using the service annually. With enrollment reaching roughly 26,000 students this year, this means that up to 2,600 students were participating in the CCR program annually, according to this data. 

The university also claims that the CCR Working Group, the overseer of the CCR program, found that “evidence of the CCR’s impact on career or academic success has been limited” and that “employers show little interest in CCR credentials.” 

The university found this through internal consultations and a campus-wide survey of CCR administrators. The university also says that it consulted academic leadership, such as the Office of the Vice-Provost, Students and Learning and the Associate Dean’s Academic Council. The CCR Working group states that it had also met with other post-secondary institutions that found similar patterns of student engagement and overall impact. 

The CCR Working Group’s conclusion that employers show little interest in CCR credentials is based on feedback from employers and national labour-market research. “In conversations with employers, recruiters and early-talent professionals,” the university states. “Our Career Services’ Employer Relations staff shared with us that the CCR is not something they recognize, request or reference in their hiring processes.”

“This aligns with national employer data. In Brainstorm Strategy Group’s annual Campus Recruitment Outlook Report—one of Canada’s largest surveys of early-talent employers—the CCR does not appear as a factor employers consider when evaluating candidates. Rather, employers look for evidence of relevant experience, skill development and professional readiness, most often demonstrated through résumés, interviews, letters of reference and experiential learning.”

While the university focused on the use of CCR in student employment, some are concerned about how the retirement of the program might affect incentives for students to volunteer without an official record.

The Sheaf asked the question: “What impacts will this have on the incentive for students to volunteer and specifically on the incentive for note takers volunteering to support students requiring Access and Equity Services (AES) accommodation?”

The university did not directly address the question, and instead said that “students will continue to have the opportunity to participate in volunteer and extra-curricular activities.” The university did not elaborate on whether this would impact the notetaking service that AES relies on for many students who require accommodations. AES Notetaking staff declined to comment on the matter.

Since the co-curricular record is an official statement of volunteer experience, The Sheaf also posed the question of how the university will address students who fraudulently say that they have volunteered in organizations without needing CCR for proof. The university responded that “just as we expect students to practice academic integrity, we also expect them to demonstrate integrity in their job search and professional lives.” While this may seem like a lacklustre answer, since there is little evidence that employers looked at CCR anyway, the risk of students reporting fraudulent volunteering on their resume may likely remain the same. 

The university stated that: “The USSU has historically been one of the heaviest users of the CCR, particularly through its support of campus groups, so their perspective was very important.” It did not comment that it consulted any campus groups about the decision, who often rely on CCR as an incentive for volunteers.

In a statement obtained from the USSU, the union clarified that its executive did not vote on the retirement of CCR, and that “the retirement of CCR appears to have been triggered through the dissolution of an advisory committee and movement of Information and Communications Technology personnel that supported the oversight.” 

In sum, the consensus from the university is ultimately that, “although it once served a purpose, the CCR does not add value to the recruitment or hiring process in a way that meaningfully benefits students.” 

The university added that the CCR Working Group will be looking into ways to better track student competencies through curricular and co-curricular experiential learning as a new careers portal is implemented sometime in 2026. The university states that the updated approach will hopefully help students “more effectively identify, develop, and communicate their skills,” and that the CCR Working Group welcomes “input from students on what they would like a future system to include so that it can better support their academic and career success.”