Sponsored by Stellic
It’s well known that students persist in their education at a higher rate if they can visualize a clear, adaptive plan to completion. But if those plans don’t interact accurately with the degree audit, then there’s a risk students will not graduate in a timely manner, let alone finish at all.
In order to minimize such risks and maximize student support, today’s institutions must consider the following key areas around degree audit and planning.
Unifying degree audit and planning
Only around 43% of undergraduate-serving institutions and 30% of graduate-serving institutions use an education-planning solution. Without a degree planner, students may become dependent on their advisors to chart their courses, or simply try to make do on their own. And without a reliable connection to the degree audit, it’s difficult for students to be certain they’ll hit the requirements needed to graduate on time.
When a degree planner and audit are truly connected with each other, students have guardrails when building their academic path. The connected audit and planner make them aware of any missing requirements, or courses that may not count toward their credits. At the same time, the Registrar’s Office can better track and process substitutions, waivers, and exceptions, while advisors can oversee student plans more easily, catching and resolving any issues far before they can impact time to graduation.
Focusing on ease of use
Today’s students already live in a connected world and have grown accustomed to modern technology. When a similar user experience is reflected through degree audit and planning solutions, the need for extensive student and staff training decreases. Students can seamlessly engage in future academic planning with transparency and confidence that the decisions they make will drive them toward their goals and timely graduation.
Harnessing the data
When students are equipped and empowered to plan out future terms, the Registrar’s Office unlocks a host of data which they can act upon. They gain a direct line of sight into course and faculty demand, allowing them to better understand and plan around student needs, and share key insights with other departments on campus.
Join our upcoming webinar to learn how The University of Wisconsin-Stout is exploring new ways to bridge some of the common gaps between degree audit and planning on Wednesday, April 26th at 2 pm ET.