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Degree Plans

The Degree Plan is the tool students use alongside their Degree Evaluation to plan their personal pathay to graduation. See the recourses below for instructions and tips on how to best use this resource!

The Degree Plan is a tool in Degree Works (home of the Degree Evaluation and available through your Faculty Advisor Banner portal) that creates a custom academic map for every student.

This document is a collection of resources designed to guide you in learning to use Degree Plans with your advisees.  This year (AY24-25) we will be launching Degree Plans with our first-year, F24 students.  Goals for this launch year include:

  • Piloting training for students on using Degree Plans.
  • Integrating the use of Degree Plans into the first-year advising model.
  • Training faculty to use Degree Plans with their first-year students in the spring of 2025.

Or to put things more simply....we want everyone to get into the tool, start to learn to use it, and see all the cool things it can do!

Although only F24 students have Degree Plan templates loaded and only first-year students will receive targeted training on using the tool, all students do have access to Degree Plans.  As you become familiar with the tool, please feel free to start using it with all students.

If you have questions or would like additional training, please reach out to Meredith Sinclair, Faculty Director of Academic Advising (sinclairm4@southernct.edu).

Basic Information

To access a student’s Degree Plan, click the Degree Plan tab at the top of the Degree Evaluation.

There are two ways a student can build a plan:

  • Use a Degree Plan template:  Templates are academic maps created by programs that reflect the curriculum for a given catalog term. 
    • You can search for templates by program name; make sure to attend to the catalog term information in the template title.
    • Currently, we only have templates for the F24 catalog; these were automatically loaded for students in the F24 catalog.
    • Updated templates will be created each year.  Past catalog term templates will not be available; however, students can use the F24 template and adjust as needed OR create a blank plan.
  • Use the Blank Plan option:  Blank plans allow you to drag and drop and/or manually add all required courses to a plan.  These work exactly like the templates; they just don’t come pre-loaded with courses and placeholders.

 

Students will edit their own plans!

  • Starting in F24, first-year students will receive guidance on using the Degree Plan tool.  The expectation is that students will use the tool to plan their upcoming registration prior to their advising appointment.
  • The goal is to support students in taking responsibility for their path to graduation by improving their understanding of how the requirements on the Degree Evaluation translate to their semesters of study.  Many students currently think only about their next semester; we want them to start thinking about their entire path to graduation so that they are more likely to successfully complete their degree AND more likely to take advantage of the many opportunities available to them.

 

Advisors have an important role to play!

  • Advisors will be responsible for checking students’ Degree Plans during their advising appointment.  This is the same conversation that we always have with students; now instead of simply verbally confirming course selection or writing a note, we can confirm course selection in the Degree Plan tool.
  • Once advisors have confirmed course selection for upcoming terms with a student and made any necessary adjustments to the plan, advisors will lock the Degree Plan.  This will:
    • Prevent the student from further edits until the plan is unlocked at the start of the next semester.
    • Enable tracking features including warning alert emails to advisors when students incorrectly register or fail to register, withdrawal from a course, or fail to pass a course or meet a required grade minimum.
    • Allow planned courses to auto-populate in a student’s Schedule Planner cart, further simplifying the registration process.

 

Other advising benefits include:

  • Easier integration of requirements for minors, second majors, accelerated pathways, and experiences such as internships and study abroad:
    • Because students can map out their personal academic map in the Degree Plan tool, they can make better use of their time at Southern.  Many students are interested in these opportunities, but often can’t make them happen because they didn’t plan far enough ahead.
    • Students interested in these opportunities can see how and where to fit them in their program of study since they can plan out every term in advance.
  • Facilitation of advising conversations:
    • Because Degree Plans are an interactive tool that lives alongside the Degree Evaluation, it can guide conversation about a student’s future plans at Southern.  While the Degree Evaluation remains the definitive checklist of graduation requirements, Degree Plans allow students to better understand HOW their program works – where they have choices, what sequences matter and why, and so on.
  • A clearer way to account for the impact of shares between the LEP and major/cognate:
    • Credit heavy majors often struggle with calculating the number of free electives students need because the Degree Evaluation doesn’t account for shares until they happen.  The Degree Plan DOES account for those shares once they are planned – meaning students and advisors can get a more accurate count of needed free-electives earlier in the student’s program, thus preventing final semester “oh no, I’m short 2 credits!” moments.

 

Of interest to chairs, coordinators, and other big-picture planners:

  • Argos reports will be available to chairs to provide data on students who are off-track.
  • Argos reports will be available to chairs to provide information about what courses students have planned for future terms.  Once all students are using plans, this will provide us additional data to build our course schedules.

 

In short, Degree Plans give students a better way to be proactive about their program of study AND they allow advisors to have better information and alerts to provide early intervention when students need it.

Learning To Use Degree Plans

Please consider joining the SCSU Faculty Advising Hub in Teams  This space will host resources but is also intended as a place to ask questions and learn how colleagues are making Degree Plans work.  This space is open to all SCSU Advising Faculty.

The Degree Plan Advising Guide provides a general walk-through of Degree Plan functions and includes a timeline of how Degree Plans fit into our academic year cycle. 

The following videos provide more in-depth guidance on various aspects of Degree Plans:

 

 

  • Degree Plan Audits: https://media.southernct.edu/media/Degree+Plan+Audits/1_rbxf774y
    • Demonstrates how to use the audit feature in the tool.  Audits provide another way to visualize student’s progress towards degree completion that take into account all planned courses.
    • Audits are an easy way to check for remaining free-electives (taking shares into account BEFORE they happen), remaining W-courses, and potential issues with excess credits in future terms.

 

Overview

Before you attend your registration advising appointment in October, you will need to use your Degree Plan to select the courses you would like to take in the spring.

Your Degree Plan is the tool you will use alongside your Degree Evaluation to plan your personal pathway to graduation.

This document will link you to resources you can use to teach yourself how to use the tool to plan your courses.  You will also have the option to attend a virtual training session (via Teams) if you prefer a live walk through.

You should plan all remaining LEP courses and set your first-choice courses for Spring 25 before attending your registration advising appointment.

Using the Degree Plan tool is one of the best ways you can take ownership of your path to graduation and maximize how you use your time at Southern.  The earlier you start planning, the more likely you will be to reach your academic goals!

For Support

If you need technical support with the Degree Plan tool, you can reach out to degreeplans@southernct.edu.

If you have questions about your academic program, you should schedule an appointment with your primary advisor or make an appointment with the Academic Advising Center.

Virtual Training Sessions

If you prefer to learn via a live virtual (via Teams) training session, you can sign up to attend one of the sessions below.   The same content will be covered at each training session.

You should register in advance for the session you plan to attend by clicking the registration link.  You do need to log in to your Southern account to register and to attend.

Contact degreeplans@southernct.edu if you have difficulty registering. 

Available Training Sessions

 

Preparing for a Training Session

If you register for a training session, make sure you do the following before the training session begins:

  • Watch the Degree Evaluation How-To video.  If you would like additional information about how to understand your Degree Evaluation, check out this PDF guide
  • Have your degree plan open on a computer when the session begins.

You do not need a microphone or camera to participate in the training session.  You should ideally be in a quiet space and on a computer so you can fully see and hear the session.

 

Setting Up Your Degree Plan

In your INQ class you will receive a link to a jotform to complete prior to your advising appointment.  This will walk you through the video tutorials to set up your Degree Plan.

These video tutorials are also linked here for easy reference.  Remember that you can attend one of the above training sessions if you would like additional guidance getting started with your Degree Plan.

Registering For Classes

Once you’ve made your choices for the upcoming semester, it’s time to meet with your academic advisor!

After you meet with your advisor, your Degree Plan will be locked.  This will allow you to import in one click the courses you have on your Degree Plan into Schedule Planner.

See this video for more information: 

Adding Your Planned Courses to Schedule Planner

Degree Plans are an interactive academic map that you can use along side your Degree Evaluation to plan your remaining courses and chart your path to graduation.

For general assistance with Degree Plans, you can reach out to degreeplans@southernct.edu. 

To Access Your Degree Plan: Click the “Degree Plan” tab at the top of your Degree Evaluation Page.

Basic Features of Degree Plans

Overview

To learn about the basic features of Degree Plans, watch this short video tutorial

 

Integration with Schedule Planner

Once you’ve built your Degree Plan, you will meet with your advisor to confirm that you’ve created a doable and accurate plan.

After you meet with your advisor, your Degree Plan will be locked.  This will allow you to import in one click the courses you have on your Degree Plan into Schedule Planner to register for your upcoming terms.

See this video for more information: 

Adding Your Planned Courses to Schedule Planner

 

Starting Your Degree Plan

There are two ways you can start a degree plan:

 

 

Consult with your advisor about the best method for you.  Your advisor can add a plan for you, or you can contact degreeplans@southernct.edu to request that a plan be loaded.