A Smarter Way to Showcase Student Growth

At Lindenwood University, the goal isn’t just to graduate students—it’s to prepare them to thrive in a competitive, skills-driven world. That means helping students understand what they’ve gained beyond grades, and giving them the tools to communicate it with confidence.

With a Comprehensive Learner Record (CLR), Lindenwood is connecting the dots between learning and career readiness. Their approach maps academic and co-curricular experiences to key graduate attributes, so students can track their growth, tell their story, and show employers exactly what they bring to the table.

As part of our CLR Conversations series, we’re highlighting a discussion with Christie Rodgers, currently the Interim Associate Provost who walks us through Lindenwood’s CLR journey—from early strategy and faculty buy-in to making the record an integral part of the student experience from day one.

Tell us about your role at Lindenwood University:

Currently, I’m the Interim Associate Provost. Previously, I was the Manager for Alternative Credentials and the Associate Vice President for Student Academic Support Services, meaning I was responsible for student retention, which is what brought me to the Comprehensive Learner Record (CLR) conversation originally.

That’s a great segue. How did you get started on your CLR journey?

When I was the Associate Vice President for Student Academic Support Services my job was to learn more about what students need and why they need it. At the time, we were very reactive to student needs and I wanted us to be more proactive. We were looking at other opportunities for students and our Office of Academic Effectiveness was starting to implement our Graduate Attributes. Our Graduate Attributes are connected to the NACE Career Readiness Competencies, which are essentially the competencies that employers are looking for. We wanted to give employers an assurance that our students have these competencies when they graduate.

We started thinking about how we would demonstrate those competencies. Essentially, how do we prove that? How can we provide evidence of the development of those competencies? We began exploring how we combine the Graduate Attributes, along with this credentialing process, to give the students the talking points they needed when they engage with employers. That was really the “why” behind our partnership with Parchment and our exploration of the CLR.

Who did you work with to get “buy-in” at Lindenwood University?

As far as the process and buy-in, we worked with the Provost’s Office. We also worked with our faculty and college administrators, which I think is critical. You have to get buy-in from the faculty to build out the right pathways for academic programs and that’s what we’ve started to do with our Graduate Attributes.  Additionally, we are building out pathways for our gen-ed work. We’ll be able to credential and show attribute progression through the CLR. Students will be able to then speak to certain attributes and how they achieved them and at what level based on the CLR itself.

How are you communicating the value of a CLR to students?

First, we are sharing information with our administrative offices, like our Office of Career Services, so they can share it out and be knowledgeable about how students can speak about their earned attributes. We’re also doing a big marketing campaign for our students. We are starting with our freshmen students and will make it a part of their orientation so they know that it exists from the moment they step on campus. They know that the CLR is something to strive for through the graduate attributes by seeing an example of the pathways for them to follow.

🎥 Want the Full Story? Watch the Webinar
Hear even more from Christie in Why (and How) Two Institutions Pursued Comprehensive Learner Records — a recorded webinar that dives deeper into the strategy behind Lindenwood’s CLR journey.

Now Live: See Lindenwood’s CLR

Lindenwood’s Comprehensive Learner Record isn’t just a concept — it’s officially live.

From day one, learners can see how their academic and co-curricular experiences map to career-ready competencies, and they’re gaining the language and evidence to back it up.

Take a look at a real example of Lindenwood’s CLR below.

Make the Student Journey Count

Lindenwood’s story is a powerful reminder: when institutions connect the dots between classroom learning, skill development, and career goals, students walk away with more than a transcript — they leave with a roadmap.

Whether you’re just beginning to explore CLRs or actively building a model of your own, Lindenwood’s journey offers practical insights, campus-wide strategies, and a clear “why” behind the work.

Learn more about our CLR Services or reach out to start your own CLR conversation with us today.

There’s always more to learn.