S. L. FULLER
News Editor
The Office of the Registrar has released a new application just in time to register for classes for the Spring semester. Called “Degree Works,” this tool is designed to help students easily see what their required classes are, what classes they’ve already taken and what classes they still need to take in order to get their degree. Students can also test different “what-if” scenarios through Degree Works to find out what would happen if they were to either change their major, add a major or add a minor.
“It is a new online degree audit for student use that came out of a SUNY initiative,” said Scott Saunders, Registrar. “All SUNY campuses are moving to Degree Works as a part of their Seamless Transfer initiative.”
Before Degree Works, there was a system called the “Curriculum Advising and Program Planning Audit.” Now, only students who came to Fredonia prior to 2011 can still use it. Everyone else must use the new Degree Works.
“It’s much better,” said Saunders, comparing Degree works to the old system. “It’s got a more robust — they call it the “engine” — that runs the audit … Faculty can [now] be creative in how students are supposed to meet requirements. And the logic behind the old system just … didn’t allow as much flexibility as Degree Works does.”
Students can access Degree Works through “Your Connection,” and professors can also access their advisee’s Degree Works page to help them plan for registration. However, some might say this new application has gotten off to a rather rocky start.
“At first glance, [Degree Works] seemed to be sort of erratic,” said a Fredonia professor and student advisor who asked for anonymity. “Some of the requirements for different majors seem to be popping up in one situation and not another. And some of the program requirements don’t appear to have been updated to what they currently are in the [advising] folders. They seem to be using some of the old program requirements.”
Degree Works is still in its early stages. Saunders says there’s a lot more this program will be able to help students with.
“What’s going to be coming in the future are additional features … such as a planner. You’ll be able to plan your future semesters and look at how you’re going to complete your degree requirements and then those plans will become useful for planning purposes for the institution,” said Saunders. “When we see that so many students are planning on taking course A in the semester, we can plan accordingly for that using plan information.”