Beginning in the early 1970s, when electronic information systems made it much easier to generate a transcript as a separate document from the permanent record card, it was no longer necessary to record academic and disciplinary probation, suspension, dismissal, or ineligibility to re-enroll on the official transcript. In 1996 the recording of disciplinary actions on the transcript was identified as no longer a recommended best practice.
In recent years, some have called for a return to notating disciplinary actions and other non-academic information on transcripts, citing the need for an official transcript to reflect an unabridged account of a student’s academic, disciplinary, and extra-curricular history at an institution.
What is a "disciplinary action"?
Disciplinary actions are typically defined as violations of an institution’s code of conduct. They may include, but are not limited to, academic infractions (plagiarism, cheating, etc.) or misbehavior (harassment, sexual misconduct, substance abuse, etc.). Current debate involves the inclusion or exclusion of such actions on the transcript as a method of sharing behavioral information or protecting a student’s privacy rights.
Survey data of current recordkeeping practices solidly demonstrates that the vast majority of institutions do not record disciplinary violations on the academic transcript. Ninety-five percent of survey respondents indicated that their institution’s academic transcript does not reflect students’ probationary status for behavioral reasons or students’ ineligibility to re-enroll due to minor disciplinary violations and 85 percent indicated that their institution’s academic transcript does not reflect students’ ineligibility to re-enroll due to major disciplinary violations.
Danger of misjudgment
In disciplinary matters, detailed supporting information is not included on or with the transcript, thus making the notation non-specific and potentially punitive. In addition, the information does not provide the recipient of the official transcript sufficient information to distinguish the nature or severity of the disciplinary action. Therefore, students may be misjudged by the notations.
A shifting perspective
The opinion of records professionals regarding the inclusion of disciplinary actions on an academic transcript, however, seems to be shifting. When asked to provide their opinions about best practices even if their opinions differed from their institution’s practices, 86 percent of survey respondents indicated that the academic transcript should not reflect a student’s ineligibility to re-enroll due to minor disciplinary violations, a difference of 9 percent from the institutional practice. Only 60 percent indicated that the academic transcript should not reflect a student’s ineligibility to re-enroll due to major disciplinary violations, a significant difference from institutional practice of 25 percent.
Public opinion about the disclosure of disciplinary action in an academic setting has also changed in favor of more transparency. Recent criminal offenses that captured national attention have resulted in changes in state legislation. To date, two states, New York and Virginia, have passed legislation requiring that such notation be made.
The 2016 AACRAO Annual Meeting in Phoenix, March-20-23, features a panel presentation on behavioral notations and the academic record. Panelists include public and private institution registrars as well as admission and student affairs professionals.
According to Kristi Wold-McCormick, Registrar, University of Colorado Boulder, “Panelists will deep dive into issues such as transcript notations and terminologies, practices based on various types of misconduct, retention and removal of notations, impacts and concerns for admission professionals, and more.”
Given the number of states that now mandate the inclusion of disciplinary actions on the academic transcript, AACRAO's recommendation on the issue has shifted from "Not recommended" to "Optional" in the updated edition of the AACRAO 2016 Academic Record and Transcript Guide, released earlier this month.
"With AACRAO changing its stance on this topic, a goal of the session is to brainstorm issues and ideas for new standards and best practices related to disciplinary notations and the official transcript," Wold-McCormick said.
For more discussion and guidelines on transcript and academic record annotations, pick up a copy of the Guide, available now in the AACRAO Bookstore.