DegreeWorks program to replace ECAPP auditing

By Tina Nazerian     3/20/13 7:00pm

 

Next November, Rice University students will have a new way of keeping track of the academic requirements for their degrees, thanks to DegreeWorks, a new tool to be implemented on campus. 

DegreeWorks is a Web-based program that will perform degree audits for students. DegreeWorks will cover both university graduation requirements and major requirements, Registrar David Tenney said. 

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DegreeWorks, which will replace the current system, ECAPP, will perform degree audits by evaluating past coursework and checking progress toward certain curriculum requirements, Tenney said. 

Currently, ECAPP is clunky and tracking major requirements is a slow process because it is done manually on paper, Tenney said. 

"With DegreeWorks implemented, the process will be more efficient and environmentally friendly, while functioning as a helpful, supplemental tool to the adviser/student relationship," Tenney said. 

Like ECAPP, DegreeWorks will be interfaced with ESTHER, Tenney said. Tenney said he thinks this program will help both students and advisers, particularly major advisers. 

"From the student perspective, they can go to the adviser with more specific questions," Tenney said. "From the adviser perspective, it will be easier for them to properly advise a student." 

Students will be able to see the initial version of DegreeWorks on Nov. 1, according to Tenney. This initial version will evaluate only university graduation requirements: Major requirements will come later because not every academic department will use DegreeWorks immediately. 

"As the Office of the Registrar prepares for DegreeWorks to go live in November, we are working closely with several departments on campus to verify their curriculum," Tenney said. "The first round of degrees available for audits in DegreeWorks will represent a diverse sampling of the curriculum offered to Rice undergraduates. We will continue to meet with departments and scribe their curriculum until all [undergraduate degrees] have been completed." 

By June 1, ten academic departments will be processed to work with DegreeWorks, Tenney said. 

"We're going to be starting with some of the major departments, including economics, biochemistry and cell biology, architecture, and civil and environmental engineering," Tenney said. "We have intentionally selected departments from the range of the campus .... Every year, when the catalog or the general announcements is updated, we'll do an update .... It's going to take us a couple of years to get through the entire curriculum." 

Tenney said the program will take a look at graduate programs after all undergraduate programs are completed. 

The 10 initial departments were first selected from departments that volunteered, and then with regard to prevalence of major, Tenney said. 

"The first thing we did was we made it voluntary ... we wanted to have willing participants," Tenney said. "But then we went after the biggest departments as well, the biggest majors." 

Schools across the nation, including many of Rice's peer institutions, already use DegreeWorks, Tenney said. 

The new tool will feature a "what-if" audit, meaning students will be able to see how prior coursework could be used toward a change in major, minor or concentration, Tenney said. 

Brown College junior Waseem Ahmad, a computer science major, said he thinks DegreeWorks could be effective. 

"I would find it tremendously useful," Ahmad said. "My academic advisor and I would be able to make better use of our time together speaking about things that matter as opposed to making sure I'm on track with graduation." 

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