With the launch of a new online degree audit system on Jan. 19, West Virginia University undergraduate students can access information on their progress towards graduation directly from their home computer.
Click below to listen to University Registrar Steve Robinson discuss some of the advantages of DegreeWorks:
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Click to listen ]
DegreeWorks is a web-based tool to help students and advisors monitor a student’s progress toward graduation. The system brings WVU’s degree requirements and the student’s completed coursework together to give students a complete view of where they stand.
With DegreeWorks, students have the ability to run their own degree audits, view the progress towards their degree, see how current courses apply to their graduation requirements, plan their four-year schedules ahead of time and determine how changing their major can affect their graduation date.
The program lists the students’ information including completed courses, courses in-progress, transfer credits, incomplete requirements and more. Once the following semester’s course schedule is released, the course listings on DegreeWorks will also link to the university’s schedule to make it easier for students to plan their schedules.
WVU Registrar Steve Robinson said the program has been under construction since the summer of 2009, and he is hoping the students and faculty will make use of the program.
“With a few exceptions, this is almost entirely a pencil-paper process at the moment, so DegreeWorks gives us the ability to automate much of that,” Robinson said. “I’m excited, since I think it will be a great program for the students to take advantage of. The students and academic advisors have given us some great, positive feedback so far.”
The system, Robinson said, is designed to aid and facilitate academic advising, but is not intended to replace face-to-face advising sessions.
“There is a human dimension that, as good as DegreeWorks is, it could never provide,” Robinson said. “We look at DegreeWorks as a supplement to the academic advising process as it is today.”
Click below to hear about some of the work behind DegreeWorks:
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Click to listen ]
In addition to easy access to degree requirements, DegreeWorks also features a GPA advice calculator, as well as a “What If?” section where general education students or those looking to change their major can compare different majors’ requirements to the courses they have already taken. Students can choose a degree and the semester they will be making the change, and it will show how much longer that student will need to be in school to complete the requirements.
At this time, DegreeWorks, which also helps meet recommendations from the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, is limited to undergraduate degrees. It is up to the individual graduate and professional programs to determine whether to adopt the DegreeWorks system, Robinson said.
“The University wanted to build this tool for students and advisors to make sure people were able to progress quickly,” Robinson said. “Degree requirements are complex and we are in an environment where students want to review this information at any time of the night or day. This automated tool puts information in the student’s hands when they want it.
“It doesn’t get much more important in higher education than getting a student ready to graduate.”
Students can access their DegreeWorks accounts by logging onto http://mix.wvu.edu and clicking the “STAR” tab.
For more information on DegreeWorks, contact the Office of University Registrar at 304-293-5355 or Registrar@mail.wvu.edu . Tutorials are available at http://registrar.wvu.edu/dw .
-WVU-
mm/01/12/11
CONTACT: Steve Robinson, University Registrar
304-293-0169, steve.robinson@mail.wvu.edu
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