COMING SOON! An upcoming upgrade means Degree Works will soon have a new look. The updates are expected to be in place by the end of Thanksgiving break. For a refresher about what Degree Works offers, review the information below. For a sneak peek at the new look, click here.
Degree Works is an advising tool that can assist students and their advisors with understanding program requirements, creating a plan to complete a program in a timely manner, and tracking progress toward degree completion.
A student’s USI courses and any transfer credits are included in the audit, and the audit indicates whether requirements are complete, complete with in progress coursework, or not complete. Unmet requirements list the acceptable courses from which to select. Each course ID is an active link that provides course information such as the course description, any prerequisites, and sections being offered in upcoming term(s).
Requirements for all credentials formally awarded by the University are found in Degree Works, including microcredentials, certificates, post-baccalaureate certificates, and post-master’s certificates, plus associate, baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral degrees.
The Registrar’s Office uses Degree Works during the graduation review process to confirm that a student has met all degree requirements and is eligible to be awarded a degree/credential.
Review the following sections to learn more about the features available in Degree Works.
Q: Who is eligible to use Degree Works?
A: Admitted undergraduate students are eligible to use Degree Works if their first term at USI was Summer 2006 or later. Admitted graduate students are eligible to use Degree Works if their first graduate term at USI was Summer 2013 or later. Students who started before these terms will work their academic advisor to track their progress toward degree completion.
Q: Does Degree Works include my transfer credit, or PLA credit such as AP or CLEP?
A: Yes. Once an official transcript has been evaluated by the Registrar's Office, the resulting credit is posted to the student’s transcript and will be viewable in the student’s audit the next business day. Likewise, once an official AP or CLEP score report is received from College Board and has been evaluated, any credit is granted is added to the student’s transcript and will appear in their audit. Refer to the Transfer Credit Policy.
Q: Can I see a list of all of the classes I've taken?
A: Yes. On the Worksheets tab, click the Class History link at the top for a list of courses taken at USI as well as transfer courses. The list is for informational purposes only and is not a transcript.
Q: How current is my information in Degree Works?
A: The information in Degree Works is refreshed each weeknight. Any changes made today (e.g., classes added/dropped, change of academic program, etc.) will be seen in Degree Works the next business day.
Q: Is my information confidential?
A: Yes. Like other processes accessed through myUSI/Self Service, Degree Works is accessed through your secure login. Remember that your advisor, faculty, and authorized staff will be able to view the information included in Degree Works.
Q: Can I save or print my audit?
A: Yes. The 'Save as PDF' button will generate a PDF version of your audit that can be printed or saved. When doing so, please be aware of FERPA regulations.
Q: Are my grades visible in Degree Works?
A: Yes. Once grades are official at the end of each semester, they are viewable in Degree Works the next business day.
Q: Can I register for classes in Degree Works?
A: No. Registration, including prerequisite checking, will continue to be handled through Self Service. Courses from an approved/locked Plan can be pulled into Schedule Planner to assist with building your class schedule.
Academic audit - A student’s currently declared academic program is used to create their degree audit. If a student is seeking more than one degree program, such as an associate degree and a bachelor’s degree, the Degree drop-down allows the user to switch between audits.
What-If audit - If a student is considering changing their academic program (changing their major, adding a second major or a minor, changing from a BS to a BA, etc.), running a What-If audit allows the student or advisor to see how their coursework would be applied toward the new program.
Both the academic audit and a what-if audit are divided into sections (blocks), including:
Other blocks may be included, based on the student’s academic records:
Registration Checklist – Change the audit format from Student View to Registration Checklist to view only what is not complete (still needed to finish the program).
Graduation Checklist – Change the audit format from Student View to Graduation Checklist to view a summary of the student’s progress (complete requirements show courses used, not complete requirements only show labels/no course list).
Class History – a chronological list of the student's courses taken at USI and any transfer credit. The list is for informational purposes only and is not a transcript.
GPA Calculators – allows students to calculate their anticipated GPA at the end of the term based on grades they expect to receive. Or enter a desired GPA at graduation to see the grades they'd need to earn to achieve that goal. The calculators do not factor in excluded grades from repeated classes.
Save as PDF – generate a PDF version of the audit that can be printed or saved.
Degree Works Plans allow either a student or their academic advisor to develop a semester-by-semester sequence of courses to complete all requirements in the student’s declared program. Creating a Plan helps ensure the student completes any pre-requisite coursework needed to enroll in subsequent coursework, will meet all requirements for Core 39 and their major, minor, etc., and can complete the program in a timely manner.
Creating a Plan
A Plan can either be started from a template (created by the college of the program) or from scratch.
Courses and other requirements can be added to a Plan multiple ways.
After creating a Plan, clicking the Audit button will run an audit (Plan Audit) using the coursework outlined in the Plan. This allows the student/advisor to validate that successfully completing the coursework in the Plan will lead to completion of the program.
Multiple Plans can be created (ex: one with a minor, one without, etc.), but only one Plan can be marked as Active and locked (approved) by the student’s advisor.
After grades are official at the end of each semester, the Tracking Status will be updated for locked Plans. The tracking status of both the overall Plan and individual terms in the Plan will show whether the student is On Track, Off Track, or has a Warning (terms in the future may be Not Evaluated).
Schedule Planner
Once a Plan has been approved and locked by an advisor, the student can then pull the list of courses from a term into Schedule Planner to assist with building their class schedule.