CWC FAQ

ExperienceBU

The Campus-Wide Co-Curriculum (CWC) is a guide that allows students to track their on and off campus experiences outside the classroom in order to receive co-curricular credit.

What it is and Where to Start

You can find the CWC in the Paths section of ExperienceBU. Each domain outlines experiences, known as items, to be completed. Review the details of each item for more information about how you can complete it and see any upcoming events that you can attend. If event organizers take attendance at the event, you will automatically receive credit. Don’t see anything listed or organizers didn’t take attendance? That’s OK! You can attend events and report your experience using the link below. Don’t forget to include validation!

To complete a domain, you will need to complete the specified number of required and elective items.

You can complete as many domains as you’d like; but we recommend you aim high and complete the entire CWC and be recognized at Convocation!

It is recommended to complete the Pre-Curriculum Reflection first. However, as every students’ goals and interests differ, where you decide to start tracking your experiences in the Campus-Wide Co-Curriculum (CWC) is entirely up to you.

If you don’t feel you will be able to finish all 10 domains and the items and reflections within them, start by working towards completing the Campus-Wide Co-Curriculum (CWC) domains that align with your goals and interests.

Go to experiencebu.brocku.ca and explore the Events and Organizations tabs. You can use the filters to narrow down your search for events and programming and can select the “CWC Experience” option under the “Categories” filter to see events and programming that connect with the CWC.

You can explore the CWC in the Paths section of ExperienceBU. Each domain outlines the experiences, known as items, to be completed and each item has detailed and more information about how you can complete it and any upcoming events that you can attend for credit.

In order to complete the entire CWC, you must complete all elective and required items within each of the 10 domains, as well as successfully complete all reflections.

The 10 domains which make up the CWC are:
Arts & Culture
Brock Spirit
Career Preparation
Community Engagement
Diversity & Inclusion
Global Awareness
Health & Wellness
Innovative & Creative Thinking
Leadership & Teamwork
Personal Growth

However, you don’t need to complete all 10 domains to earn your Certificate of Engagement. You will earn an insignia for each domain you successfully complete on your certificate

However, only those students who complete all 10 domains will be recognized at Convocation.

Completing the Campus Wide Co-Curriculum (CWC) will set you apart from your fellow Badgers and will round out your in-class experience at Brock University by exposing you to a wide variety of learning and skill development experiences outside the classroom.

In addition to the amazing experiences which come with completing the CWC, you will also receive a Certificate of Engagement which acknowledges your successful completion of all 10 co-curricular domains. Standing out from the crowd at graduation is also a perk of completing the CWC. You’ll receive special red cords which signify your dedication to co-curricular involvement.

Start tracking your involvement in the CWC once you begin your classes at Brock. This will allow you to connect with other students more easily within your program of study and cohort year, opening the door to building friendships through your involvement. If you’re interested in getting involved now, be sure to check out Brock’s Orientation Programs designed to support you as you transition to life at Brock.

Absolutely – graduate students are welcome to track their experiences in the CWC. If you completed undergraduate studies at Brock prior to graduate studies, you can report experiences from your undergraduate degree as well.

Alumni may participate in the CWC. A Certificate of Engagement can be awarded to any alumni that finishes the CWC. Alumni would not receive red cords for completing the CWC, as they have already graduated.

Staff and faculty may participate in the CWC. A Certificate of Engagement can be awarded to any staff or faculty member that finishes the CWC. If a staff or faculty member is also enrolled as a student and they successfully finish the CWC prior to the deadlines indicated here, they will receive red cords at their convocation ceremony.

Certificate of Engagement

The Certificate of Engagement recognizes your commitment to continuous learning and initiative to invest in holistic development and personal growth, as well as the learning and skill development that has been achieved through your co-curricular experiences. It is a great addition to your LinkedIn portfolio, the awards section of your CV or resume, or a complimentary document to include in graduate study applications you.

You will receive an insignia for each domain you complete on your certificate, and students who complete the entire Campus-Wide Co-Curriculum will be recognized with a red cord at Convocation.

 

No – you can complete as many or as few domains as you would like. If you complete 1 domain or more domains, you can request a Certificate of Engagement by e-mailing cwc@brocku.ca. The certificate will only contain the domain icons of the domains you have finished entirely. For example, if you complete the entire Campus-Wide Co-Curriculum (CWC), your Certificate of Engagement would have 10 domain icons, whereas if you complete 1 domain entirely, your Certificate of Engagement would have 1 domain icon.

Simply e-mail cwc@brocku.ca and request your Certificate of Engagement to be printed. You will receive an e-mail when it is available to be picked up.

Yes. May 15 is the deadline to report your experiences and reflections for approval for the June convocation ceremonies, and September 21 for the October convocation ceremony.

Tracking & Reporting Experiences

Some items are tracked for you – like certain events, being a member of a club or participating some University programs – all you need to do is get involved. Swipe your student card at many events and your participation will be tracked for you.

For the rest, you can Self-Report an experience by using the Report Experience link within the item. Be sure to fill in the required information and include information that can validate your experience – like a photo or copy of a certificate!

For most items, the description should explain what students need to do to receive credit. However, remember to always check the Details section of each curriculum item. This section provides an in-depth explanation of the item, including examples and details on how to track the item.

How to Self-Report Experiences in the Campus-Wide Co-Curriculum (CWC)

You can self-report your experiences into the Campus Wide Co-Curriculum (CWC) through logging in to ExperienceBU, selecting your initial in the right hand corner of the screen, clicking “Paths” and choosing the section of the CWC which fits your experience. For example, attending an athletics game falls under the Brock Spirit domain – if you click that domain, you will see this item within it.

Be sure to provide verification of your experiences when you are self reporting. A selfie, a ticket stub, a certificate, or a contact that can confirm you participated, attended or engaged in the activity – whatever it may be, proof is needed for your experiences to be approved.

Some experiences are reported to the CWC for you. Events and activities where attendance is taken often means you’ll receive co-curricular credit without having to self-report your experience. Be sure to ask event organizers, program planners or lead hands if they are tracking attendance for co-curricular credit.

No – we encourage students to seek out unique co-curricular activities and experiences to fulfill each item that forms the campus-wide co-curriculum. For more extensive engagement experiences, such as participating in volunteering abroad programs as an example, more than one co-curricular item can be fulfilled.

If you have attended an event or you have completed an experience or activity you believe fulfills an item, simply click on the Report Experience link on an item’s details page and complete the Experience (Self-Reported) form.

Make sure you have information that can validate the experience. If you do not submit enough information, your experience will not be validated.

Depending on the event or experience, accepted validation can include, but are not limited to:

  • Name and contact information of a faculty/staff/event organizer who can verify your experience (sorry, your friends and mom don’t count!)
  • Photo documentation of you participating in the event or experience
  • Photo or scan of a ticket stub or certificate of completion
  • Screenshot or photo of completion screen (online workshops, assessments, etc.)

Essentially, anything that can confirm that you completed the experience or attended the event!

If your experience was denied, read the comments left by the reviewer, as this usually outlines why the experience was denied. You can re-submit your experience again, and as many times as needed to earn the CWC credit.

In order to earn CWC credit automatically through attendance being taken, the event organizer must upload their attendance to ExperienceBU.

Sometimes, event organizers forget this step. Let us know and we can follow up with the event organizer to get the attendance!

We recommend always taking a screenshot, saving e-mails that confirm your attendance, and saving other items (e.g., ticket stubs, e-mail confirmations, certificates) so you can self-report your experience in the event that the event organizer does not upload it to ensure automatic CWC credit is granted.

The length of time it takes to complete the CWC depends on how involved you are outside the classroom. We recommend spacing out the completion of the CWC to occur over the course of your degree, so you can meaningfully engage in the experiences outside the classroom that fit your interests and goals, as opposed to rushing through it.  

General Information

ExperienceBU is the place to find out what’s happening on and off-campus, from activities and events, to volunteer opportunities and clubs.

The Campus-Wide Co-Curriculum (CWC) is a guide designed to help students identify co-curricular pathways and to take advantage of engagement opportunities to gain skills in a variety of areas.

The Student Experience Record (SER) is your platform for understanding, tracking and sharing your employment related experiences skills and competencies.  On the SER, you can capture the hours you contributed to each experience, which will roll up to a total number of accumulated years of experience. Your competencies and contributed hours are then displayed on the record and can be shared with employers.

Put simply, ExperienceBU is where you find out what’s happening at Brock; the CWC helps you get involved in a variety of meaningful engagement opportunities; and the Student Experience Record tracks your employment related experiences and produces a record you can provide to employers.

This report is a snapshot of students’ progress as they complete curriculum items in the CWC. Some on-campus departments, including Student Life and Community Experience, may ask to see progress reports when making hiring decisions for student jobs.

To view the progress report:

  1. Log in to ExperienceBU
  2. Click your name (or picture) in the top right
  3. Click on PATHS.
  4. Click the PRINT VIEW button to view and print the report.

Brock hosted: Any event or activity hosted by the University both on and off-campus.

Curriculum item: All items in the Campus-Wide Co-Curriculum in each of the ten domains.

Core items: These must be completed in order to successfully complete the domain. Core items are indicated as “Core: Required.”

Elective items: These are optional tasks to be completed. Keep in mind that all domains have a certain number of optional items that need to be completed in order to successfully complete the domain.

CWC: Short-form for the Campus-Wide Co-Curriculum

Details section: This section provides more information on how to track the completion of an item. Examples are also provided for many of the items.

Niagara Region: This encompasses 12 municipalities:

  • Fort Erie
  • Grimsby
  • Lincoln
  • Niagara Falls
  • Niagara-on-the-Lake
  • Pelham
  • Port Colborne
  • St. Catharines
  • Thorold
  • Wainfleet
  • Welland
  • West Lincoln

Questions? Tech Difficulties?

E-mail us at cwc@brocku.ca

If you are having technical difficulty, be sure to include screenshots of the error you are encountering.