ONCAT and ARUCC announce MyCreds™ institutional funding opportunity to support transcript digitization

The Ontario Council on Articulation and Transfer (ONCAT) and the Association of Registrars of the Universities and Colleges of Canada (ARUCC) are pleased to announce a new institutional funding opportunity which will provide support for Ontario postsecondary institutions to onboard transcripts to MyCreds™.

MyCreds™ is a national shared service project led by ARUCC and is endorsed by ONCAT, the Council of Ontario Universities, the provincial registrars’ associations and other organizations including individual institutions. It represents an example of colleges, universities and Indigenous Institutes working together to provide transformational change to service delivery for learners across the country.

ONCAT’s funding opportunity will be available to Ontario institutions who are onboarding to MyCreds™ and to Ontario institutions who have already onboarded and are expanding their capacities. The funding will help cover costs relating to the development or the expansion of transcript digitization capacity through MyCreds™ as a support for achieving seamless transfer goals.

MyCreds™ provides students and graduates access to a secure, virtual learner credential wallet and national document and data exchange network. It facilitates more seamless student transfer by making it easier to share and ensure the veracity of transcripts and other documents.

If you are new to MyCreds™ or in the preliminary stages of exploring MyCreds™ for your institution, please reach out to ARUCC at info@aruccnationalnetwork.ca to learn more about what is involved in the onboarding process. For more information about the institutional funding opportunity, please visit ONCAT’s funding webpage. You can access the ONCAT expression of interest here.

“MyCreds™ is an exciting opportunity to support learner mobility and more seamless transfer experiences for students through digital transcript exchange,” says Yvette Munro, Executive Director, ONCAT. “We have proudly supported ARUCC and our colleges, universities and Indigenous Institutes with this project since the beginning. Now that MyCreds™ is here, ONCAT is pleased to continue supporting this innovative work by directly contributing to the transcript needs of our colleges, universities and Indigenous Institutes. It is exciting to see the entire post-secondary community working together at this scale to support mobile learners.”

“The support of the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities for MyCreds™ is fitting and timely,” says Steve Orsini, CEO, Council of Ontario Universities. “This sector-driven initiative has endorsement from both the university and college Ontario registrars, COU, ONCAT, OUAC, and others across the country. With close to 70 percent of Ontario postsecondary enrolments represented in the institutions launched or soon to launch, it is an excellent example of higher education institutions leading the charge in supporting learners with virtual wallets. We are pleased with the Minister’s support for this innovative approach to collaborative shared services and commend ONCAT for their forward-thinking support.”

“Our colleges, universities and Indigenous Institutes are thrilled with ONCAT’s grant funding for MyCreds™,” says Charmaine Hack, Past President and Project Chair, ARUCC; VP Strategic Enrolment Management, Centennial College. “The potential to contribute meaningfully to improve the supports for mobile learners with this provincial funding is significant. As a shared, not-for-profit service led by our community, we are working hard to ensure comprehensive and collaborative options for learners. These partnerships are critical to our success.”

“The Ontario College Committee of Registrars, Admissions and Liaison Officers (CRALO) has long worked in partnership with ARUCC on the MyCreds™ project,” says Patrick Bennett, Chair, CRALO; Director, Institutional Intelligence & Registrar, Lambton College. “ONCAT’s timely support will be a catalyst for further change. We are grateful to early funders including ONCAT who understand the importance of the means to advance scalable transfer in Ontario.”

“The Ontario university community is grateful to ONCAT and the Council of Ontario Universities for its support and ARUCC’s leadership with MyCreds™,” says Ray Darling, Chair, Ontario University Registrars’ Association (OURA); Registrar, University of Guelph. “The planned service improvements for mobile learners that MyCreds™ is bringing in collaboration with the colleges, universities and Indigenous Institutes remain important as is the engagement with our application centres. I’m pleased to also see that the Ontario Universities’ Application Centre is already a receiver on the MyCreds™ network for professional and graduate school support. We are excited to work with ONCAT and our universities to continue moving forward.”

About MyCreds™

MyCreds™ is a national, shared service and platform that provides students and graduates access to a secure, online, password protected learner credential wallet. This virtual wallet allows them to view and share their verified and official transcripts, credentials, and academic documents in a digitized format on a 24/7 basis – anytime, anywhere. It also enables sharing between organizations with the learner’s permission. Secure, cryptographically signed documents can be sent conveniently and require no further verification. MyCreds™ is the first and only national bilingual system of its kind in Canada. Visit www.mycreds.ca for more details or contact ARUCC’s Executive Lead, Joanne Duklas at info@aruccnationalnetwork.ca.

About ONCAT

Established in 2011, the Ontario Council on Articulation and Transfer (ONCAT) was created to enhance academic pathways and reduce barriers for students looking to transfer among Ontario’s public colleges and universities, and Indigenous Institutes. ONCAT’s work is to support the development of a transfer system that is easy to navigate and seamless for students. To achieve this, ONCAT focuses on different funding strategies to improve the system. ONCAT works directly with its many stakeholders to support not only research that improves transfer system planning, but also pathway development projects and institutional processes that meet the needs of students.

About ARUCC

The Association of Registrars of the Universities and Colleges of Canada (ARUCC) owns MyCreds™. ARUCC is a federally incorporated not-for-profit led by Canada’s colleges and universities. Ontario institutions formally serve on the ARUCC board through the Ontario University Registrars’ Association (OURA) and the Ontario College Committee of Registrars, Admissions and Liaison Officers (CRALO). ARUCC provides leadership in the post-secondary education field and service to its member institutions nationally and internationally, helping foster the advancement of registrarial practices and learner focused service delivery in Canada.

About COU

The Council of Ontario Universities (COU) provides a forum for Ontario’s universities to collaborate and advocate in support of their shared mission to the benefit and prosperity of students, communities and the province of Ontario.

About CRALO

The Committee of Registrars, Admissions and Liaison Officers (CRALO) is a provincial body dedicated to the development of guidelines and procedures common to all Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology relating to Admissions, Liaison, Recruitment, Registration, and Student Records. Organizationally, CRALO is an operational group that reports through the Coordinating Committee for Vice Presidents Students (CCVPS) part of the CAAT Co-ordinating Committee structure.

About OURA

The Ontario University Registrars’ Association (OURA) is an association of Ontario university registrars, admissions, records, computer systems, recruitment, financial aid, graduate studies and other university personnel involved in registrarial work. The OURA Constitution set out its primary purpose of providing professional development opportunities for its members through sharing information about effective practices in the conduct of the multi-faceted registrarial enterprise. The Association has continued to develop over the years, providing important leadership in a broad range of functions and activities that reflect the increasing complexity and challenges in providing support to higher education. OURA is an affiliate of the Council of Ontario Universities with strong ties with the Ontario Universities’ Application Centre, the Ontario Universities’ Council on Admissions, and with sister associations in other provinces and the Association of Registrars of Universities and Colleges of Canada (ARUCC) at a national level.

Media

MEDIA RELEASE – OCTOBER 18, 2021

For ONCAT funding inquiries: Ana Skinner, Manager, Funding Programs, ONCAT. E: askinner@oncat.ca

For MyCreds™ or onboarding inquiries: Joanne Duklas, Executive Lead, ARUCC. E: info@aruccnationalnetwork.ca