All posts by Trish Jackson

New URL: MyExperience.ulethbridge.ca

Thank you for your continued support and connection to the Student Experience Transcript Project. We are very excited to announce that a new URL has been generated to capture the broader, collaborative use of the system. MyExperience.ulethbridge.ca is now LIVE, and by the end of the month students will be able to access and track:

  • Co-operative Education
  • Applied Studies
  • THRIVE professional development events for graduate students, offered by the School of Graduate Studies, Teaching Centre, Library, and Career & Counselling Services
  • THRIVE Individualized Development Plan (IDP)
  • Library events & workshops
  • Counselling & Career Services events & job board
  • Dhillon School of Business Student Professional Development events & workshops
  • Study Skills appointments & workshops
  • Student-for-a-day volunteer experience

This is only the beginning; we know there is so much room to grow with the hundreds of experiential learning options offered at uLethbridge. Before the end of the 2019/20 Academic Year, we anticipate that the following opportunities will be reflected on the student experience record:

  • Volunteer experience, managed via uVolunteer
  • ULSU Council positions
  • GSA Council positions
  • Greek Life Organization leadership roles
  • GSA Club leadership roles
  • New Media Internships
  • International Exchanges
  • Organization of Residence Students (ORS) Council

We anticipate significant growth over the coming years as we introduce this new tool to our students. Reflection tools are build in and connected a competency framework that will provide students with the language needed to articulate the value of their experiences and describe the skills they have developed.

The look and feel of the MyExperience.uLethbridge.ca portal will change over the coming weeks as we change the branding from Career Bridge to MyExperience. Your  login information will NOT change.

This is a reminder to please update the links on your departmental/unit websites and to share this update with your teams and stakeholders.

Also, please note that the name of the Career Bridge department is not changing; their website can still be accessed at ulethbridge.ca/career-bridge. We cannot thank the Career Bridge team enough for opening the portal to the broader student experiential learning opportunities!

What is the SET Project?

The Student Experience Transcript (SET)Project has an end goal of providing students with an experiential record, or Student Experience Transcript.  As an official record of a student’s curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular experiential learning, the SET is a supplement to the academic transcript that will help reflect a student’s complete University experience.

By managing these experiences through a new central platform, faculty and staff can help ensure the SET reflects a more holistic view of our students’ experiences. As a bonus, reporting and curation of student experiences promises to be easier for faculty and staff users and more consistent across campus.

So what types of experiences will be included? Examples that could be managed through the new platform include:

  • Cooperative Education
  • Applied Studies
  • Volunteer experience
  • Study abroad
  • Internships
  • Practicum placements
  • Athletics
  • Leadership roles with ULSU, GSA
  • Workshop participation
  • Research

All experiences will be managed and validated through the platform and a self-reflection component is also being developed where students can explore the competencies they are developing. The goal is to present students with a vocabulary they can use to articulate the value and impact of their experiences as they enter the job market.

For more information or to learn how you and your department can get involved, contact Kyra Gillert, Experiential Education Advisor, k.gillert@uleth.ca

Project Vision

The Student Experience Transcript will include validated credit and not-for-credit experiential education activities at both the undergraduate and graduate level.

Some examples of for-credit activities include:

  • applied studies
  • international exchanges
  • practicum placements
  • field study experiences

Not-for-credit activities might include:

  • workshops
  • varsity athletics
  • volunteer activities
  • ULSU/GSA leadership

Experiences will be validated by a trusted source prior to displaying on the Student Experience Transcript.

Project Objectives

  1. Promote ease of access to experiential learning by centralizing the opportunities in a searchable repository of relevant opportunities at the University of Lethbridge.
  2. Record and measure experiential learning outside of the classroom.
  3. Capture the diversity of experiential learning opportunities in which University of Lethbridge students are engaged.
  4. Stimulate student self-reflection and self-understanding to promote personal development.
  5. Help students contextualize and articulate what they have gained from their whole experience at the University of Lethbridge.
  6. Provide tools to help students articulate a meaningful purpose for themselves (e.g. make the world a better place).
  7. Help academic and student service teams to manage their experiential education activities more systematically, with the help of new technology.

The MyExperience Platform

The MyExperience platform is designed to help you track and share your uLethbridge experiences. You can publish your student experience record to share it with future employers.

Great features include the following:

  • A searchable catalogue of opportunities for you to explore, with the ability to customize and save search criteria.
  • A great calendar of events and workshops for professional and personal development.
  • Self-reflection tools to help you explore the skills you have gained, and to build a vocabulary for sharing your new skills with future employers and others.
  • You can generate a record of your experiences, and a customized link that can be shared with employers, etc.
  • The system includes cooperative education, applied studies, events, the Careers job board, professional development opportunities, personal development opportunities, and more!

Experience Categories

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The MyExperience platform includes activities that fall into these categories:

  1. Global Citizenship
  2. Leadership
  3. Research, Creativity & Innovation
  4. Work-Integrated Learning
  5. Community Service
  6. Certifications & Workshops

The long-term goal for uLethbridge is the production of a student experience transcript, a validated document to showcase your experiences as a supplement to your Academic Transcript.

Eligibility Criteria for Experiences

The development of eligibility criteria was guided by various uLethbridge planning documents, along with student development theories related to High-Impact Practices (Kuh, 2008), Student Involvement (Astin, 1999), and developing responsible global citizens (Astin & Astin, 2000).

  1. Eligible experiences will either:
    1. result in uLethbridge academic recognition (e.g. Applied Studies, International Exchange, Field Study course, Co-op, etc.), or
    2. comprise recognized not-for-credit activities (e.g. community volunteerism through uVolunteer, executive roles with ULSU/ULGSA, etc.).
  2. Eligible experiences will be either:
    1. administered or overseen by uLethbridge, or
    2. administered by a trusted validator. A trusted validator is an individual or organization with a formalized partnership or agreement with uLethbridge.
  3. Eligible experiences will be included in the approved student experience inventory.
  4. Eligible experiences will be validated by a trusted validator (uLethbridge or partner).
  5. Eligible experiences will be managed electronically, with records available in digital format to be incorporated into the system.
  6. Eligible experiences will provide the opportunity for students to develop one or more competencies from the SET Competency list.
  7. Eligible experiences will contribute to community betterment at uLethbridge and/or the greater communities in which we exist.
  8. Eligible experiences will be undertaken while a registered undergraduate or graduate student at uLethbridge.