Co-curricular credit has not been easy to come by this year. Many students have complained about this, claiming that programs that offer residence hall credits, of which each on-campus student needs six to meet co-curricular requirements, have been sparse.
There seems to be a scarcity of residence hall co-curriculars. Ekklesia, a regular vespers held on Sundays, is no longer providing dorm co-curricular credit. Another instance was the recent College Days hosting event. On-campus dorm students hosted preview students in their dorm rooms for a night. The event only counted for regular credit, not dorm credit, leaving many students puzzled.
Matthew Fitting, dean for undergraduate residence life, commented on the hosting event and explained that co-curriculars are meant to “enhance a student’s portfolio” and complement what they learn in the classroom.
“Hosting someone in your room overnight isn’t really in and of itself something that is going to allow for specific skills to be learned without direction,” he said. “So when it comes to [residence hall co-curricular] offerings … we want to use those for programming that we are invested in and ensuring that’s going to enhance someone’s ability to grow in their skill set for life.”
Besides this, the co-curricular record had not been properly updated during the first month of school, with residence co-curricular events not showing up, leading to a lack of awareness of programs during the initial weeks of the semester.
Some students have also mentioned that the times of the residence hall co-curricular events have been a stumbling block to being able to meet the six-credit requirement. Some co-curricular events take place at times like 5:30 p.m., when classes are still going, preventing them from being able to attend, while others happen at 9:30 p.m., which is quite late in the evening.
“Getting co-curricular dorm credit has been really hard because, for the first month, there was only one opportunity,” said Bianca Loss (senior, elementary education). “Now there are more, but with no consistency, so nothing you can plan on. Also, all my classes are at night [from] 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., so it’s nearly impossible for me to get my credit.”
Christen Li (senior, global studies and anthropology) raised another important point concerning residence co-curriculars, saying, “The residence halls changed how co-curriculars worked this school year. They encouraged us to create our own programs, which I appreciated. However, they created very few dorm co-curriculars outside of the expectation that we would make our own, which made it difficult to actually get any dorm credit during the first half of this semester.”
She believes that this was primarily due to an oversight in how difficult it would be for students to make their own programs. She also echoed the concern about residence co-curricular credit picking up later in the semester.
“The residence halls only started offering regular co-curricular credit opportunities a large part of the way through the semester, which effectively halved our chance to gain credit,” she said. “Normally, I would get all my dorm credit early in the year and be done with it, but this was not possible this semester. Because of this, I am struggling to get dorm credit and do not know what to do because this is the busiest part of the semester.”
“The times are so inconvenient for students like myself that have evening classes, which is when 90% of the dorm opportunities are made available,” said Avery Handy (junior, architecture). “The new ‘calendar’ system has been inconsistent with what’s posted on the co-curricular website as well, which has been frustrating. The weird times and uninteresting topics (that don’t really highlight dorm life or life skills as much as they could) make the whole process a really annoying experience. I think many other students are beginning to question the existence of these programs. The whole system currently needs to be reimagined with the students’ best interest in mind.”
This growing concern over how one will be able to meet the required dorm credits this semester has left many wondering why this situation is the way it is while also playing an impossible game of catch-up with a seeming lack of support from Student Life.
However, this is also the case for co-curricular credits in general. Many people seemed to be heavily concerned about problems obtaining co-curricular credit, especially in light of the departure of Stephen Yeagley, who had been in charge of co-curricular credit. Patricia Fitting, who serves as the Title IX deputy coordinator and the AUSA Senate mentor, has taken over this responsibility.
Hanna Helfenbein (senior, health science) said that co-curricular credits have been a widespread issue. She said that about five to six credits from events she attended—some of which happened the first week of the semester—are missing from the co-curricular portal. One of the biggest frustrations for her is that usually, Yeagley would have been a quick resource of help when addressing these issues. However, now that he is gone, things have become more challenging for her.
Despite the concerns and apparent confusion from students, Patricia Fitting has expressed that she is ready to assist students and keep an accurate record of co-curricular attendance. Thanks to Yeagley preparing her for the responsibilities, Fitting expects that co-curriculars should proceed smoothly moving forward.
“Dr. Yeagley has scheduled quite a bit [of programs] already with different departments and clubs,” she said. “So [I will] pretty much be continuing the work he started for the year and be managing the attendance and how to keep things going throughout the year.”
Some classes have thankfully allowed students to quickly accumulate co-curricular credits. Samuel Martin (junior, biochemistry) shared that this year has been easier than others to get credit because of the chemistry seminar.
“This year, it’s been easy because I’m actually enrolled in a class called chem sem, which gives co-curricular every Thursday,” he said. “So, I don’t have to really scramble to get co-curricular credit because I know I can attend that class every week and get one for sure.”
To stay on top of potential co-curricular options, check your emails as frequently as possible, and keep an eye on Instagram and posters around campus for events that are happening that offer co-curricular credit, such as club vespers.
To make sure you are on track with your co-curricular record, here are a few helpful resources:
- —A Google Calendar with all programs for the semester.
- Program List and Co-Curricular Record—The full list of all upcoming co-curricular programs. You will also find your co-curricular record listing all programs you have already attended.
- Missing Credit Form—Missing a program? Use this form to request a review of your attendance for a specific program. Provide as many details as possible to speed up the investigation process.
- Co-Curricular Education Website—A link to the general co-curricular education website.
- Co-Curricular Requirements—Forget how many credits you need per semester? Click on this link to determine how many credits are required based on your housing situation.
Please address all co-curricular questions, concerns, attendance data and requests for credit to Patricia Fitting (fittingp@andrews.edu). Her office is in the Student Life suite in the Campus Center. Celeste Velinova (velinova@andrews.edu) will continue to serve as the co-curricular records manager and will keep hours and have a desk in the Student Life suite as well.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of 老司机传媒. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, 老司机传媒 or the Seventh-day Adventist church.