DegreeWorks: A Degree Evaluation and Advising Tool for Georgia College & State University Information for Faculty a

1. DegreeWorks: A Degree Evaluation and Advising Tool for Georgia College & State UniversityInformation for Faculty and AdvisorsSpring 2008

2. What Is DegreeWorks? • DegreeWorks is a web-based tool that will provide a clear and convenient method for students and advisors to track degree progress, to prepare for registration, and to plan for graduation. • DegreeWorks is designed to aid and facilitate academic advising, but is not intended to replace face-to-face advising sessions.

3. Why GCSU Chose DegreeWorks • DegreeWorks provides information in a more user-friendly and readable format than our former program, CAPP. • After later phases of our DegreeWorks implementation are completed, students and advisors will have the ability to develop long-range degree completion plans through DegreeWorks and incorporate those plans in student audits. CAPP did not have this functionality. • DegreeWorks will help the University gather critical information to help with planning and reporting needs, which was also unavailable through CAPP.

4. Who can use DegreeWorks? • All currently-enrolled undergraduate students who: • first attended Georgia College after Fall 1998 • are using the 2004 catalog or a later catalog to fulfill their degree requirements • Faculty, advisors, deans, department chairs, and academic support staff will also have access to the DegreeWorks worksheets for these students

5. Accessing DegreeWorks Log into myCats. (If you’ve forgotten your password or your account is disabled, use the Forgot Your Password link under the log in fields to reset your password or to enable your account.)

6. Select the Faculty tab. Then click on DegreeWorks.

7. This screen will automatically open in a new window. Click the Find button to search for students. (We’ve asked DegreeWorks to add functionality that automatically loads your advising lists. We hope this is available soon.)

8. If you’re searching for a single student, type their name or GCID here. If you’d like to look for a group of students (seniors in your major), select the appropriate groups from these drop down boxes. After entering your search parameters, click the Search button.

9. The students who meet the criteria you entered will appear in the space at the bottom of the pop-up box. To access the audits of all the students in the list, click OK. If you only want to look at some of these students’ audits, use check all, uncheck all, and the check boxes by each student’s name to make your selection. Then click OK.

10. The students you selected will load to the drop-down box at the top of the screen. Select the student whose record you want to view from the drop down box. Then click on the worksheet tab. The processing time to pull up the student’s worksheet may take several seconds.

11. Reviewing a Student Worksheet The top part of the student’s record will contain basic information about the student’s degree program, GPA, class status, academic standing, etc. This section was designed to model our TranGuide.

12. The Degree Progress Bar shows a student an estimation of the student’s progress toward degree completion. This estimation is based on the number of requirements that have been “checked off”. For pre-majors or undeclared students, it will be based only on their first two years of coursework.

13. Scrolling down, the next part of a worksheet shows any unmet conditions for a degree. This area checks total hours (without wellness or orientation courses), upper-level hours, institutional gpa, and residency requirements. Once each of these requirements is complete, this advice will be removed from the student’s audit.

14. The next part of a worksheet shows the student’s core curriculum. Requirements that are completed are checked off in the boxes on the left. When a requirement has not been met, a list of acceptable courses appears. These courses are hyperlinked to catalog descriptions.

15. The next section checks a student’s Area F and major requirements. The catalog term that is being used for a student’s audit is listed on the right side of the blue bars that separate the parts of the audit. If you have any concerns about the way the curriculum has been programmed, or if you find any errors in degree requirements, please contact your department chair.

16. The next section checks a student’s degree requirements. Orientation courses are included here, as are most required tests. If the student has taken wellness courses, they will appear in this section and be marked as excluded. The First Year Academic Seminar will automatically be marked as waived for transfer students.

17. All of the student’s electives are recorded at the end of the audit. These courses are counted toward total hours, but are not needed to fulfill specific core or major requirements. If orientation or wellness courses are included in the electives area, please contact the Registrar’s Office. These courses need to be moved to another location so they can be excluded from the student’s total hours.

18. Students who have failed, repeated, or withdrawn from courses will have an insufficient section in which these courses will be listed. Remedial coursework will also appear in this section. These courses do not count toward a student’s total hours. Currently enrolled students will also have an In Progress area that lists courses in which they are registered.

19. Wellness and orientation courses that have been excluded from hour calculations are included in the “Not Counted” section. Please note that these hours still remain in a student’s earned hours, but they simply are not counted toward total hours required for graduation. Finally, any exceptions that have been entered will be summarized at the end of the audit.

20. When you’re ready to view another student’s audit, either pick another student from the drop down box and then click the worksheet tab, or use the Find button to search for new students.

21. Additional Features Click on the Class History link at the top of the page to view a student’s complete course list.

22. Click on the FAQ link for a list of questions to help you troubleshoot common problems and issues. Click on the Help link for information on how to report problems. (And PLEASE report any issues. We need your help to make this system perfect.)

23. Click on the What If tab to process a student’s audit using desired criteria. Pick a degree, major, and, if desired, a minor or concentration. You can also enter planned courses. Click the Process What If button on the top of the screen to generate the worksheet.

24. Why Use DegreeWorks? • DegreeWorks should allow you to focus less on the “nuts and bolts” of the curriculum during advising meetings, and more time on your advisees’ intellectual and professional needs. • Using DegreeWorks – and asking your advisees to do so before they meet with you – will help your advisees take a more active role in the advising process. • DegreeWorks will ultimately save you time. For instance, we hope we can use this program to alleviate the amount of time faculty and departments spend reviewing graduation applications.

25. If you have questions, concerns, or suggestions after using DegreeWorks, please email the Registrar’s Office at degreeworks@gcsu.eduWe will need the student’s name and a brief description of the problem to provide you with the best assistance. We will email you as soon as we have resolved the issue or recorded your suggestion. Help Us Make DegreeWorks Work Even Better