Online services give students quick access to transcripts
Four weeks ago, a transcript ordered from USU would have taken 24 hours to be mailed out. Now, a transcript can be sent to any school in the nation cleared through the Student Clearinghouse within fifteen minutes.
These schools include Brigham Young University, the University of Utah, Salt Lake Community College, 19 other in-state colleges and universities and 3,500 schools nationwide. The new service allows students to order transcripts from USU by logging into Access and going to student records.
“It’s a simpler process,” said Marci Smith, the USU assistant registrar. “It benefits the students greatly, of course, to not have to wait for twenty four hours.”
Prior to the new system, a transcript would take 24 hours to process and be mailed out whether it was ordered in person or online. Lillian Tripp, the registrar staff assistant who prints and mails students transcripts, said the new system is convenient and inexpensive for students.
“It’s going to be easier for them to do,” Tripp said. “It’s going to get done faster so it’s going to be more convenient. It’s inexpensive to order online.”
A transcript ordered in person and picked up in the registrar’s office costs $5, while a transcript ordered online and picked up in the registrar’s office is free.
“It seems like it will be a lot faster,” said Ashley Calder, a senior majoring in human resource management. “It will be easier for the students rather than have to pick it up in person and either mail it or drop it off in person.”
Calder had to order a transcript for her financial aid, one of the many reasons a student would need a transcript. Other common reasons to order transcripts include transferring schools or reporting high school Concurrent Enrollment classes to a college. She said the process was inconvenient.
“I had to go pick it up in person,” Calder said. “It would have been nice to send it electronically.”
Becca Mortensen, a senior majoring in communicative disorders, had to order a transcript from Brigham Young University for her study abroad.
“It was frustrating,” Mortensen said, “And I still haven’t finished.”
Mortensen said ordering a transcript can be a frustrating, long process. She said she was impressed with the simplicity of USU’s new method.
In another new feature to the program, when ordering a transcript online, students now have the option to receive a text message when the transcript is sent and another mes
sage when the transcript is received.
“With the text message, they can know what is going on with their transcript,” Smith said.
– jerawood@aggiemail.usu.edu