CSULB: Resource Planning Process

Identify Activity That Will Require
Augmentation in FY 2001-02

PROGRESS TO DEGREE (Degree Audit Updates)

The on-line degree audit has become an invaluable tool to academic advisors as they work with their students on timely degree completion. The accuracy and effectiveness of the current degree audit is diminished by two practices. First, there has historically been a backlog of supplemental credit evaluations. This represents courses taken by our continuing students concurrently, during leaves, or during breaks at other institutions. Enrollment Services has never been staffed to handle these evaluations as the transcripts were received. The backlog has grown to about 3,000 currently. Secondly, transfer credit evaluations and other graduation criteria need to be reviewed and adjusted each time a student changes majors. The student system does not accurately adjust for all campus policy situations when the degree objective is changed. We estimate that there are approximately 5,000 prior major changes that should be adjusted as well as 6,500 additional major changes a year.

Without these changes, the degree audit can be incomplete or inaccurate causing the advisor and student to spend valuable time trying to figure out the correct information. Or worse, the student takes extra, unnecessary units or misses a requirement only to learn about it when they file for graduation. These are essential processes that need to be implemented now to assist our advisors and students. Further, they must be in place by the time degree audits are available to our students on the internet with the implementation of a new student system. This must be accomplished while continuing to provide timely graduation audits and degree clearances which are growing as the larger entering classes are now approaching graduation. This funding request will provide the following new services: