Bear Tracks is public, but not easily discoverable. This means that anyone with whom you share the public link to your Bear Tracks can view it, but no one will be able to find your Bear Tracks by simply Googling for it. So, if you send the link to your adviser or a professor, for example, you are granting them access to view your Bear Tracks. Similarly, when you submit your Bear Tracks link to your class year’s Bear Tracks course on Canvas, you are making it available for a team of Ursinus-associated people – faculty and staff – to look at. Please see the Responsible Use Guidelines for Bear Tracks for more information.

The Bear Tracks Task Force does not grade nor evaluate your Bear Tracks in a way that directly affects you. Our evaluation process is designed to assess the effectiveness of the Ursinus Quest Core Curriculum and how well we, the institution, is supporting meaningful thought and discussion on the Open Questions. Examining how you, the students, are engaging with these questions on Bear Tracks is helpful in this process. However, your professors may require you to upload assignments to Bear Tracks and the grading/evaluation of that assignment is up to the professor. Please see the Responsible Use Guidelines for Bear Tracks for more information.

This is up to you! However, we recommend that you spend at least 10-15 minutes, 2-3 times per semester to post, reflect, or upload to your Bear Tracks. While you may be asked to post to Bear Tracks by a professor or staff member, you can also post to your Bear Tracks whenever you want! Check out this list of logical moments and milestones to reflect upon in your Bear Tracks for more information.

Bear Tracks uses the ePortfolio technology on Canvas, and it is a space where students can gather evidence and artifacts that reflect their growth, development, and achievement. However, unlike some ePortfolios, Bear Tracks is not necessarily designed to result in a finished product that students will send out with a resume. It is ultimately a space for the individual student to reflect authentically, without the pressure of performing for anyone else.

The content in your Bear Tracks can be very helpful when entering post-graduate life, whether that means writing cover letters/personal statements, filling out applications, or preparing for interviews. To make sure that you have access to everything on your Bear Tracks, make sure to download the contents as a zip file before your Ursinus Canvas log-in deactivates! For more questions, email sgioffre@ursinus.edu