Optimizing the Use of Degree Works at CUNY:
A Blueprint for Success
City University of New York
Office of Academic Affairs
April 2015
Optimizing the Use of Degree Works at CUNY:
A Blueprint for Success
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
I.
Background
1
II.
An Important Asset for Student Success
A. History of Degree Works Deployment at CUNY
B. Degree Works Features
C. Student Perceptions of Degree Works
1
III.
Issues and Challenges
A. Student, Faculty, and Staff Usage
B. Degree Works Staffing
C. Data Accuracy
D. System Maintenance and Business Practices
E. Training of Students, Faculty, and Staff
5
IV.
Solutions: A Blueprint for Success
A. Improve Data Integrity
B. Market and Promote Degree Works
C. Commit to Training: Students, Faculty, and Staff
D. Establish Clear Processes for Managing Curricula Updates
15
V.
Next Steps: Taking Action
A. Degree Works 4.1.4 Upgrade and Enhancements
B. Recommendations
26
APPENDICES
Appendix A: Steering Committee and Working Committee Members
Appendix B: Report on Degree Works Focus Groups
Appendix C: Summary of Degree Works Coordinators Survey
Appendix D: Degree Works Training by College
Appendix E: Proposed Organizational Chart for Degree Works Management
Appendix F: CUR New Course Form and Course Change Form
Appendix G: Lehman Support Center Escalation Protocol
Appendix H: Lehman e-SRP Training Document
Appendix I: BCC Degree Works Quick-use Reference Sheet
Appendix J: BMCC Degree Works Training Plan
Appendix K: Proposed CUNYfirst and Degree Works Curriculum Change Workflow Process
Appendix L: Queens College’s CUR Timetable and Template
Appendix M: CIS/IT Recommendations for Process Improvement of Advisement Technologies
Appendix N: Degree Works Administration and Staffing
Executive Summary
Completing degree requirements in a timely fashion is a crucial goal shared by students, faculty,
and staff at all CUNY colleges. Degree Works, CUNY’s centrally supported academic degree
audit system, is an online tool that tracks and displays the degree requirements students have
completed, have in progress, and still need to earn for their degree. The accuracy of Degree
Works directly affects students’ financial aid and certification to graduate. Ensuring that Degree
Works is completely accurate and is used to the fullest should be a priority for every CUNY
college.
An OAA Advisement Study Group was established in fall 2011 with cross-campus and crossdepartmental representation from academic affairs, student affairs, professional advisors, and
faculty. The study group was charged with developing a strategy to analyze current academic
advising services and resources and to make recommendations for improving academic advising
across CUNY.
In May 2013, CUNY’s Central Office of Academic Affairs (OAA) issued the Advisement Study
Group Report: Findings and Recommendations, which called for a plan to optimize the use of
Degree Works. In September 2013, the University Dean of Undergraduate Studies established a
Steering Committee and a Working Committee to develop and implement such a plan, which
included leadership from OAA, CUNY’s Central Computing and Information Services (CIS),
Office of the University Registrar, College Advisement Council, and Degree Works Council
(Appendix A) to develop a plan to help colleges increase Degree Works usage to improve access
to advisement and to ensure that Degree Works provides accurate audits of student progress.
The work plan focused on two areas: first, identifying key system functionalities and ensuring
that they are appropriately implemented on all campuses; and second, developing management,
workflow, and training protocols to maximize effective use of Degree Works. The deliverable
for the first year of work is this document, Optimizing the Use of Degree Works at CUNY: A
Blueprint for Success.
The biggest issues were found to be related to the complex system environment where
CUNYfirst, Degree Works, and FACTS must interact, with one system feeding and relying on
another. For example, an error in a data migration from CUNYfirst to Degree Works can quickly
result in errors in Degree Works, although the error may have originated with the migration, or
perhaps faulty data from CUNYfirst. The three primary areas in need of attention from both
CUNY Central and the campuses to ensure smooth operations are:



Accuracy and Data Integrity
Training
Marketing/Public Relations
Under the direction of the Central Office working group, an independent consultant conducted
student focus groups at BMCC, Hostos, John Jay, Lehman, and Queens to assess student
impressions about Degree Works. A total of 28 students participated across the five campuses.
Students find Degree Works to be a valuable and user-friendly resource for navigating their
academic careers. The consultant summarized students’ positive views: “Degree Works
empowers students by providing them with vital information about their degree progress and
options.”
Input on Degree Works was also solicited from the UFS Committee on Academic Affairs, which
independently identified the same three primary areas of concern and came up with the same
recommendations for improvement. The committee recommended that CUNY improve Degree
Works, rather than replace it, and specifically that the University should improve the
performance of the system, expand the features offered, and increase use by students and
advisors.
Students like Degree Works, are using it, and want to use it more. Advisors depend on it, and
financial aid certification relies on it. The University needs to work together across campuses,
units, and divisions in concert to ensure accuracy, promote use, and properly train constituent
users.
Recommendations
There are a number of concrete steps CUNY and the colleges can take to improve and enhance
their advisement technologies and increase usage of Degree Works by students, faculty, and
staff.

Each campus must have clear processes and workflows for reporting and correcting
errors and for routine maintenance. A system must be in place for Degree Works users to
report errors and receive timely responses.

Each campus should establish effective structures for ongoing communication,
collaboration, and facilitation between Degree Works and FACTS staff, advisors, and
staff responsible for curricular updates and the Chancellor’s University Report (CUR).

CUNY and the colleges should undertake a marketing campaign to correct
misperceptions of Degree Works, promote its benefits, and emphasize that CUNY has
made an institutional commitment to using and supporting Degree Works.

CUNY should implement Hobson’s Retain software University-wide. Retain will help
colleges coordinate all communications with students. It can be used to promote usage of
Degree Works and FACTS and related training materials.

Some colleges may need to hire or repurpose personnel, make changes in organizational
structure, or revise their timelines for campus curriculum approval and submission to the
Chancellor’s University Report to ensure new programs and courses are properly scribed.

CUNY Central should support the development of updated Degree Works training
materials and strategies for promoting Degree Works use among faculty, staff, advisors,
and students as needed. An annual CUNY-wide training program for campus trainers
should be provided on how to use Degree Works features that are underutilized or have
been updated, discuss best practices, and review case studies.

CUNY Central CIS/IT can improve functionality and increase usage by undertaking the
following: (Appendix M: CIS/IT Recommendations for Process Improvement of
Advisement Technologies and Service)
a. Upgrade Degree Works to 4.1.4 to improve current functionality and services.
b. Modify FACTS logic to resolve reported issues.
c. Hire full-time report/query writer/support staff member.
d. Implement Hobson’s Retain software CUNY-wide.
e. Contract with Ellucian for professional services to include:


Modification of the application to better meet CUNY’s needs (Appendix M).
Provision of training to help staff better understand the data schema for report
writing.
I.
Background
Completing degree requirements in a timely fashion is a crucial goal shared by students, faculty,
and staff at all CUNY colleges. Degree Works, CUNY’s centrally supported academic degree
audit system, is an online tool that tracks and displays the degree requirements students have
completed, have in progress, and still need to meet for their degree. It informs students about
pre-requisites, can help students determine which courses to register for, and allows students to
explore how their completed requirements could be used if they changed or added a major or
minor. Critically, Degree Works provides the data to certify students for New York State Tuition
Assistance Program (TAP) eligibility and for graduation. Thus, the accuracy of Degree Works
directly affects students’ financial aid and certification to graduate. Ensuring that Degree Works
is completely accurate and is used to the fullest should be a priority for every CUNY college.
In May 2013, CUNY’s Central Office of Academic Affairs (OAA) issued a report calling for a
plan to optimize the use of Degree Works, based on recommendations by a previous CUNYwide study group. In September 2013, the University Dean of Undergraduate Studies established
a Steering Committee and a Working Committee to develop and implement such a plan, which
included leadership from OAA, CUNY’s Central Computing and Information Services (CIS),
Office of the University Registrar, College Advisement Council, and Degree Works Council
(Appendix A) to develop a plan to help colleges increase Degree Works usage as a means to
improve access to advisement and to ensure that Degree Works provides accurate audits of
student progress.
The work plan focused on two areas: first, identifying key system functionalities and ensuring
that they are appropriately implemented on all campuses; and second, developing management,
workflow, and training protocols to maximize effective use of Degree Works. The deliverable
for the first year of work is this document, Optimizing the Use of Degree Works at CUNY: A
Blueprint for Success.
II.
An Important Asset for Student Success
Degree Works is a product of Ellucian and is its primary student engagement and retention
product. It is currently the degree audit system at over 745 United States colleges, including
University systems such as SUNY (27 colleges), University of South Carolina (8 colleges),
University of Nebraska (3 colleges), Texas A&M (7 colleges), and Kent State University (8
colleges).
A. History of Degree Works Deployment at CUNY
Degree Works is a powerful system that is deployed at every undergraduate CUNY college. To
date, significant resources have been invested by Central CIS and by each college to implement
1
and support the system and to program (called “scribe” in Degree Works lexicon) curricular
requirements. CIS recently funded the re-scribing of curricular requirements for all
undergraduate colleges to reflect changes necessitated by the Pathways initiative, which took
effect in fall 2013. Degree Works is integrated with other key web-based resources at CUNY
including the CUNY Portal, the CUNY Transfer Information and Program Planning System
(TIPPS), class schedules, the E-Permit system, and CUNY’s Financial Aid Certification
Tracking System (FACTS).
CUNY identified Degree Works as the optimal degree audit system after an extensive review of
several such systems led by Brooklyn College and LaGuardia Community College in 1998.
Degree Works was selected because it had the following attributes:






Ease of coding for all degree requirements at the undergraduate and graduate levels
User-friendly web-based interface
Real-time capability
Customizable and scalable for all colleges
Reporting capability
Contract included implementation services, scribed catalog requirements, extensive
training, ongoing vendor support, and upgrades
Between 2002 and 2004 Degree Works was implemented as a stand-alone system at Brooklyn,
LaGuardia, and Kingsborough. In 2004, as plans were underway to implement a system-wide
Enterprise Resource and Planning System now known as CUNYfirst, the University decided to
implement Degree Works as an Enterprise System to be deployed centrally and made available
to all colleges. By spring 2006 Degree Works had been implemented at Bronx, Hostos, John
Jay, and New York City College of Technology; by 2008 Baruch, Borough of Manhattan
Community College, Medgar Evers, Queens College, Hunter, and York had implemented
Degree Works; and by 2011, the remaining three colleges—College of Staten Island,
Queensborough, and Lehman—had implemented Degree Works. Finally,
SPS came up in 2012-2013 and Guttman went live in 2013-2014. By spring 2014 all
undergraduate colleges had migrated to CUNYfirst, and the Degree Works system was updated
and implemented across all these campuses.
B. Degree Works Features
Degree Works has a number of functions and modules. Some functions are widely used at
CUNY colleges, some are not planned for use, and some have not yet been programmed and
coded for CUNY-wide release. Some new functions are expected to become available in the next
upgrade (version 4.1.4), such as a “What-If Transfer Audit” that would allow students and
advisors to see how their courses would meet degree program requirements at other CUNY
2
colleges. The current functionality is robust, with the following functions now used by all CUNY
colleges:

Academic Advisement Audit/Worksheet – Processes students’ academic and course
history information against degree requirements in the college catalog. (After CUR
approval, Degree Works is updated, followed by the college catalog.)

What-If Audit/Worksheet – Simulates a change of degree, major, minor, or concentration
at a student’s current college. Courses are evaluated against new degree requirements by
catalog year. This feature was enhanced for evaluation of student opt-in/out decisions for
Pathways.

GPA Calculators – Graduation, term, and advice GPA may be viewed. Advice GPA
allows student to see the number of credits and grades needed to achieve the desired
GPA.

Exceptions/Substitutions – Selected users (authorized administrators) may process any
course exceptions or substitutions that have been approved for a student.

Notes – Advisors or registrars may post action items or recommendations on the audit.

Curriculum Planning Assistant (CPA) Reports – Degree Works coordinators, scribers,
and registrars may view aggregate data on student, advisor, and staff usage. It has been
noted that additional reports would be useful, such as reports that allow for analysis of
course demand based on the number of students who must fulfill particular requirements.
The FACTS financial aid audit, although not a
function of Degree Works, is used by all CUNY
colleges to determine students’ academic eligibility for
financial aid. Degree Works data is extracted and used
by the FACTS application to determine students’
financial aid eligibility each semester. Degree Works
is thus a critical component of CUNY’s financial aid
audit process, serving as the source of official data
detailing each student’s degree progress. An accurate
and reliable Degree Works system is critical to support
the financial aid certification process.
The FACTS financial aid audit,
although not a function of Degree
Works, is used by all CUNY colleges to
determine students’ academic
eligibility for financial aid. Degree
Works data is extracted and used by
the FACTS application to determine
eligibility each semester. Therefore,
Degree Works directly affects students’
financial aid.
Although available in the version of Degree Works currently in use at CUNY, the following
functions of Degree Works are not used widely across the University. This is mainly due to a
lack of confidence in the system based on lost data and errors. These represent potential areas
where colleges could make better use of the system without waiting for upgrades:
 Educational Planner – An electronic advisement form that displays a course plan for
future semesters. Several colleges lost large data sets during a migration a few years ago
3
and have lost confidence in this feature. They are hesitant to use it until the new version
is installed and the system upgraded.

Help – Provides links to other college resources such as college catalog, schedule of
classes, and campus resources. A “Report a Problem” tab is linked to the campus
Helpdesk service. This feature allows the college to develop a formal reporting system.
Colleges that offer these links are City, Hostos, Hunter, LaGuardia, Medgar Evers,
Queensborough, and York. Other reporting methods include email, walk-in services, and
reporting to advisors.

Look Ahead Audit – Students can view how planned courses would be applied to their
current worksheet.

Find – Search tools where select users can search for students’ audits by major, class,
year, degree, etc.
C. Student Perceptions of Degree Works
In spring 2014, under the direction of the Central Office working group, an independent
consultant conducted student focus groups at BMCC, Hostos, John Jay, Lehman, and Queens to
assess student feelings about Degree Works. A total of 28 students participated across the five
campuses. As described in the attached report (Appendix B), students find Degree Works to be a
valuable and user-friendly resource for navigating their academic careers. The consultant
summarized students’ positive views: “Degree Works empowers students by providing them
with vital information about their degree progress and options” (From, 2014). One focus group
participant said:
Basically it puts everything in one place – your general picture of what you have to take in order to
complete your degree. So it's something you could log into from CUNY portal anytime you want as a
student, and basically it's there for you to look at any time as a picture of where you are progresswise—how far you've come to completing your degree, your general requirements, and what's left.
Obviously there are certain things you want to confirm with your academic advisor as to when
you're… going to graduate to make sure you're all complete; but it's basically a guide that helps you
to track your progress.
The focus group students reported that they mainly use Degree Works to track their academic
progress and to view their GPAs. Other features were used less frequently, depending on the
training protocol and offerings of the college. They do have access to all of the features and can
use them if they are aware of them and have been trained. Students access the system in a variety
of ways (e.g., campus computer kiosks, laptops, tablets, and phones) in a variety of settings (on
campus, at home, on the go), and most students find the tool user-friendly.
4
III.
Issues and Challenges
Despite the appeal of Degree Works as evidenced by the student focus groups, there are issues
and challenges that limit Degree Works’ usefulness for students and colleges. OAA gathered
information about Degree Works usage in several ways:
 Student usage statistics were computed for each college.
 A survey was administered by the Degree Works Council of Degree Works coordinators
(Appendix C).
 The CUNY Advisement Council (Appendix D) collected and evaluated college training
plans and materials for Degree Works users.
A. Student, Faculty, and Staff Usage
Statistics on the percentage of degree-seeking students who used Degree Works at least once
during the spring 2014 semester show that colleges vary in their success in getting students to
use the technology for degree audits. Table 1 and Figure 1 display the total number of degreeseeking students compared to the number of unique students using Degree Works for each
college. At Brooklyn, Hunter, John Jay, LaGuardia, Medgar Evers, NYCCT, Queens, and York,
at least half of degree-seeking undergraduates use Degree Works. Several other colleges are
approaching 50 percent, including BMCC, City, Hostos, Queensborough, and Staten Island.
However, at some colleges only a small percentage of degree-seeking students use Degree
Works. For example, at Baruch only approximately 7 percent use the system. (Baruch reports
that its low usage is partly due to issues with its own server and with conversion problems to the
Central server.) Lehman also has low usage rates.
5
Table 1. Percentage of Spring 2014 Degree Students Using Degree Works for Degree
Audit at Least Once: Spring 2014
College
Enrollment*
N
Used Degree Works
N Audit*
%
Baruch
13,873
911
6.6
Brooklyn
12,119
7,279
60.1
City
11,352
4,787
42.2
Hunter
15,092
10,886
72.1
John Jay
12,136
9,429
77.7
Lehman
8,941
2,515
28.1
Queens
14,036
8,306
59.2
York
6,928
4,388
63.3
Medgar Evers
5,747
4,839
84.2
NYCCT
14,759
8,406
57.0
Staten Island
12,264
5,412
44.1
Senior College Total/Avg.
127,247
67,158
52.8
BMCC
22,606
11,208
49.6
Bronx
9,899
2,898
29.3
436
31
7.1
6,418
2,783
43.4
Kingsborough
13,281
4,578
34.5
LaGuardia
16,119
12,788
79.3
Queensborough
13,614
5,605
41.2
Community College Total/Avg.
82,373
39,891
48.4
CUNY Avg.
209,620
107,049
51.1
Guttman
Hostos
**DW Usage is computed as the percentage of undergraduate degree-seeking students (associate and
baccalaureate) enrolled in a given term who logged in to their college's Degree Works system to use the
audit function at least once during the term.
6
Usage statistics for advisors and registrars vary substantially across colleges, and usage relative
to the number of advisors and representatives from the campus registrar’s offices are difficult to
compute. Anecdotal evidence suggests that there is room for growth among these populations. A
majority of Degree Works coordinators reported a lack of buy-in from faculty and in some
instances from advisors who reported concerns about data integrity. Given that the usage data is
calculated on the number of degree-seeking students who logged in at least one time during the
term, it does not provide insight into whether users returned to the system. It should be noted that
if data integrity is an issue on the campus, users may not return for a second time.
B. Degree Works Staffing
A lack of adequate staff to support the Degree Works operation on campus was identified in the
survey of Degree Works coordinators as the greatest challenge related to system maintenance
and, as a result, data integrity and confidence in the system. There is great variation in Degree
Works staffing models across the campuses, in terms of which offices house Degree Works staff,
the number of full- and part-time Degree Works staff members per campus, and the percentage
of time each staff member dedicates to Degree Works tasks. Overall, most staff with Degree
Works responsibilities reside in the Registrar’s Office, but at a few campuses they are affiliated
with their college’s Information Technology, Enrollment Management, or Advisement offices.
7
All CUNY colleges (except Guttman Community College) have at minimum one full-time staff
member with some Degree Works responsibilities (see Table 2). Guttman has four part-time staff
members with Degree Works responsibilities. Most colleges have one other full- or part-time
person assisting with Degree Works tasks, and a few colleges have additional staff with some
responsibility for Degree Works, with total staff counts ranging from one to five.
Human Resources Dedicated to Managing, Scribing, and Maintaining
Degree Works
College
Baruch
Brooklyn
City
Hunter
John Jay
Lehman
Medgar Evers
NYCCT
Queens
School of Professional Studies
Staten Island
York
Senior College Avg.
BMCC
Bronx
Guttman
Hostos
Kingsborough
LaGuardia
Queensborough
Community College Avg.
University Average
Headcount
FT PT
3 0
1 0
1 1
3 1
3 0
2 0
2 0
2 0
1 1
3 0
2 0
1 0
2 0
5 0
1 0
0 4
1 0
2 1
4 0
2 0
2 1
2 0
Total
3
1
2
4
3
2
2
2
2
3
2
1
2
5
1
4
1
3
4
2
3
2
FTEs
0.30
1.00
1.00
2.20
0.70
1.70
0.75
0.40
1.10
0.90
0.50
0.75
0.94
0.90
0.20
0.04
0.35
1.00
1.80
0.25
0.65
0.83
Methodological note: FTEs were computed by summing the percentage of time dedicated to Degree
Works activities across all personnel with some Degree Works responsibility, as reported by colleges in
response to the 2013-14 survey of Degree Works coordinators. Where ranges were provided, the
maximum percentage was included in the sum resulting in a liberal estimate of the FTEs dedicated to
Degree Works.
Note: For this analysis, general degree audit responsibilities are not counted as Degree Works
responsibilities.
8
Very few Degree Works coordinators report having enough time to give Degree Works the focus
and attention it requires. At nearly every college, both full- and part-time Degree Works staff
members have significant non-Degree Works advising and registrar responsibilities as well.
(Brooklyn College had a full-time dedicated Degree Works coordinator, but that staff member
has since been assigned additional registrar responsibilities.) All others holding the title of
Degree Works coordinator dedicate a percentage of their time to Degree Works, and most other
full- and part-time staff members have 50 percent or less of their time dedicated to Degree
Works. For example, the five full-time staff members with Degree Works responsibilities at
BMCC each spend 25 percent or less of their time on Degree Works. Together, their estimated
dedicated time to Degree Works adds up to less than one full-time equivalent (FTE) staff
member.
Figure 2
2.5
FTE Staff Dedicated to Managing, Scribing, and Maintaining
Degree Works
2.0
College
1.5
University Average
1.0
0.5
0.0
When asked, “How many employees do you believe are necessary to support Degree Works
efforts in order to maintain updates, review issues, train users, and market the application?” the
Degree Works coordinators of all campuses recommended there be a minimum of three full-time
staff persons assigned 100 percent of their time, in addition to part-time support staff. Specific
responsibilities of these key staff positions are detailed in the Solutions: Blueprint, Data Integrity
section of this report.
9
C. Data Accuracy
As noted above, the accuracy of the data that underlies the system is of the utmost importance.
Degree Works must be continually scribed with up-to-date academic policies and curricular
requirements. Furthermore, the system depends on having accurate data that has been migrated
from other systems such as CUNYfirst and from the University Admissions Processing Center
(UAPC). In many cases, students receive waivers or substitutions that must be manually
recorded in the system. Most of the work related to maintaining the system takes place at the
campus level.
To provide context related to the scope of work needed for Degree Works maintenance, one
campus reported that over a period of three semesters (Fall 2013, Spring 2014, Fall 2014), there
were approximately 1,375 changes made to the scribed degree requirements based on student,
advisor, and faculty requests. Also at this campus over this time period, there were more than
3,000 exemptions, substitutions, and waivers processed in Degree Works and more than 1,000
updates to accommodate student opt-in and opt-out of Pathways. Another campus reported more
than 1,000 issues due to data conversion errors during migration to CUNYfirst over this time
period, as well as more than 4,500 actions taken to accommodate Pathways appeals, Pathways
opt-in, and Pathways opt-out. Certainly this was an active time period, as the colleges
transitioned both to the new Pathways curriculum and to CUNYfirst.
In some cases issues that arise related to Degree Works are referred by the campuses to CUNY’s
Central Computing and Information Services (CIS) department. Over a fourteen-month time
period (from August 2013 to November 2014), colleges submitted 674 tickets to the CIS
Helpdesk on Degree Works and FACTS issues. Only a few administrators from each campus are
able to submit a ticket to CIS. These tickets represent problems identified at the colleges that
were not easily resolvable at the campus level. Ten colleges submitted fewer than 25 tickets over
this time period, while some colleges submitted a larger number. For example, City College and
NYCCT submitted 117 and 89 tickets, respectively. Such tickets were frequently submitted due
to user access problems. Other issues identified by the campuses were global in nature, applying
to many students. For example, campuses submitted tickets when incorrect TAP rules were being
applied to a student population (e.g., TAP rules for bachelor’s students were applied to associate
students).
It is crucial that Degree Works contain accurate data due to the linkage between Degree Works
and FACTS. As indicated above, courses may show in a student’s Degree Works account as not
contributing toward the degree for many reasons, including:
 Courses are not coded as meeting degree requirements because they have not been
approved by the Board of Trustees. This situation frequently arises when the approved
degree program does not list prerequisite or corequisite courses that students must take.
10






Courses have recently been submitted for approval but have not yet been scribed as
meeting requirements in the system.
Courses that have been approved as experimental courses, but have not been submitted to
the Board of Trustees and have not been scribed.
Courses may be recommended by an advisor or department chair, but must be processed
as substitutes in Degree Works.
Lack of clarity about degree requirements. In some cases there are inconsistent
requirements listed in advisement worksheets, the catalog, and Degree Works.
Transfer courses may be incorrectly applied in the audit.
Basic skills placement has changed and is not correctly included in the audit. As a result
basic skills courses must be processed as meeting the skills requirements.
When student course taking does not match requirements as listed in Degree Works, the FACTS
application will flag the course as ineligible for financial aid. Campus staff must then enter a
manual correction in the student record (either in Degree Works or in FACTS) in order to ensure
TAP coverage. From August 2013 to November 2014 , there were 51,573 exemptions entered on
student records in Degree Works. Additionally, between January 2014 and November 2014 there
were 20,343 waivers processed in the FACTS application. There are several factors that
contribute to having exceptions, substitutions or waivers processed in Degree Works and
FACTS. These include the following:
 A course is not coded in the audit as meeting a requirement. It was not part of the degree
program approved by the Board of Trustees. A good example could be prerequisites or
corequisites that are not listed as meeting degree requirements. Students must take these
courses and may need to get processed as meeting a requirement if they receive State aid.
 Courses have been submitted for approval by the Board of Trustees but as are not
approved and not scribed. Sometimes, due to the large number of blocks that must get
updated, courses are pending to get scribed.
 A course is approved as an experimental course, but not submitted to the Board of
Trustees and not scribed.
 A course recommended by an advisor, needs to get processed as a substitute; this usually
occurs during review for graduation. Sometimes, there are different requirements coded
in advisement worksheets vs. the course catalog vs. Degree Works.
 A course that is required is not offered in a term, and it is the only requirement needed.
 A department chair approves a course for an individual student due to a special
circumstance. Sometimes advisors and department chairs agree on a substitute, and the
documentation is shared between them but is not shared with the registrar and the
scribers.
 A course has been scribed but for some reason the audit algorithm is not applying it
correctly.
 A transfer course that should meet the requirements is not getting applied correctly.
11





Basic skills placement has changed or was not coded correctly in Degree Works and
other developmental skills courses must get processed as meeting the skills
requirements.
A course is flagged as not eligible in FACTS and needs to get processed as a wavier in
FACTS because Degree Works is not applying the course to the requirement.
A course applied in Degree Works is not displaying as eligible in FACTS. This would
require a waiver processed in FACTS.
Complex requirements can be difficult or not possible to code in Degree Works.
The audit consistently displays data inaccurately especially with converted data from
SIMS or miscoded in CUNYfirst.
D. System Maintenance and Business Practices
College advisors and Degree Works coordinators report that there are not always clear
communication channels or procedures for reporting errors or operational malfunctions or
implementing systematic workflows to update data. Degree Works coordinators and advisors
report that users (faculty, staff, students) often do not let them know when there are problems,
although they need specific information about the problem in order to review, fix, and update the
issue. Users, however, report that they do try to report inaccuracies, but are often not responded
to or that problems take too long to get resolved. Inaccuracies and errors can be anything from
multiple records for one student, failures in
…the skill level and focused attention
transferring courses from one college to another,
required to maintain Degree Works
courses without proper degree requirement
are often misunderstood and
designations, or any of a wide variety of problems
underestimated. Curricular
that produce inaccurate records of student progress.
requirements are constantly evolving
This is frustrating for the student, the advisor, and
and can be quite complex. For
the faculty member trying to assist the student in
example, a single course change might
tracking progress toward degree completion.
impact general education
requirements, overlay requirements,
and major requirements. Prerequisite
rules, contingencies, and other
curricular complexities are common.
Further, the skill level and focused attention required
to maintain Degree Works are often underestimated.
Curricular requirements are constantly evolving and
can be quite complex. For example, a single course
change might impact general education requirements, overlay requirements, and major
requirements. Prerequisite rules, contingencies, and other curricular complexities are common.
Further, as noted by one Degree Works coordinator, “There are often four versions of a single
curriculum: the bulletin, website, academic program worksheets, and departmental brochures.”
When asked about the key issues impeding usage of Degree Works, ten college Degree Works
12
coordinators reported that the system is difficult to maintain due to lack of staff or to curricular
complexity.
The ongoing adaptation to CUNYfirst presents added complexity, as staff adjusts to new
financial, personnel, and course scheduling systems. Delays in the transfer evaluation process
may also impact the accuracy of Degree Works, and as a result of existing practices that
transcend Degree Works, transfer courses may not always display correctly on the
audit/worksheets. All transfer courses must get posted as their course equivalents. In cases where
transfer courses are posted as general electives, these courses must be set up as “repeatable” in
Degree Works in order to allow all of the courses to count for the degree. For example, if several
courses transfer as “History elective,” the system must be set up to ensure that all of these
courses may count toward the degree.
Without clear business practices for maintaining Degree Works and for identifying and
addressing problems, some data inaccuracies will exist and/or will be slow to be corrected. This
creates a vicious circle; if users are unwilling to rely on the system, there will be fewer users
reporting inaccuracies and needed updates, which
will in fact compromise the data quality.
… the Degree Works Council, the
Advisement Council and the TAP
Certification Task Force are all in
agreement that the marriage between
financial aid eligibility, academic
course requirements and Degree
Works needs attention from the top
down across CUNY. This is seen by all
parties as a big, and growing, issue
that needs immediate attention by
CUNY and campus executive
leadership.
As noted earlier, the FACTS system is completely
reliant on Degree Works and it is equally complex in
terms of maintenance challenges, requiring as much
time, attention, and staffing as does Degree Works.
Errors have a potentially damaging impact on
enrollment management, course compliance, and
scheduling as it relates to financial aid certification.
New federal regulations that began in fall 2013
require that financial aid must be disbursed and funds
awarded to students within ten days of the start of
classes. As a result of these new requirements,
CUNY had to change the close dates in its systems to the seventh business day after classes start
to align with the federal financial aid certification deadlines. While it is possible to make changes
to student financial aid certification files after these dates, it must be done through an appeal
process on a case-by-case basis. Students need to be able to enroll in the appropriate courses that
are financial aid eligible for their degree and have enough credits to qualify for financial aid.
These changes in the federal regulations have placed a burden on TAP certification officers and
the FACTS coordinators, especially with the new timeline and the move to the 7th from the 21st
day after classes begin to determine financial aid eligibility, submit files, and disburse funds to
students. Also under new and additional pressure are the academic advisement offices. Advisors
play a significant role in the TAP certification process, as it is the advisors who assess students to
13
ensure that they are registering for classes that are TAP eligible. Advisors also play a significant
role in the TAP waiver/appeal process. All of these processes depend on accurate, functioning,
and aligned Degree Works and FACTS systems.
It should be noted that there is a TAP Certification Task Force that is addressing these issues and
making recommendations for admission deadlines and the technical and staffing support needed
for these functions. It is important to note that the Degree Works Council, the Advisement
Council, and the TAP Certification Task Force are all in agreement that the marriage between
financial aid eligibility, academic course requirements, and Degree Works needs attention from
the top down across CUNY. This is seen by all parties as a big, and growing, issue that needs
immediate attention by CUNY and campus executive leadership.
E. Training of Students, Faculty, and Staff
Degree Works training plans and materials for students, faculty, and staff vary widely from
campus to campus, and not all campuses have a comprehensive training plan. In fact, three
campuses reported not having any training plan or training materials. Even some colleges that do
have training materials do not widely promote or use them.
The students in the focus groups had very different experiences in learning about Degree Works.
It seems some students do not realize it exists, and that exposure to Degree Works is uneven not
only across CUNY but also within colleges. This suggests that student advisement and
orientation structures could be more consistently developed to train students on Degree Works. It
was noted that in some cases advisors access students’ Degree Works accounts during in-person
advisement sessions, but advisors do not always tell students that they can also access the system
themselves. Students suggested there be repeated opportunities for students to be exposed to and
learn about Degree Works. In the section that follows, training and promotional programs in
campuses that have been successful in reaching students are presented. LaGuardia has had
remarkable success with promoting Degree Works and training students and faculty to use it, a
program that starts with strong support from the college president.
One student lamented the lack of awareness of Degree Works as a resource:
I would definitely like to use [Degree Works], and I wish that I would have known about it sooner. I
think that maybe this is something especially for incoming first semester students that it should be,
you know, promoted to more so that they know that they have this resource.
Another student suggested that training on Degree Works be mandatory:
I think it’s encouraged, but I think it also should be mandatory, like setting up an email account is
mandatory as a student. I think knowing how to go into Degree Works should be mandatory too,
because there are a lot of students who don’t know about their curriculum and what classes they’ll
14
have to take, and a lot of students try to change their major without knowing how it will affect their
current degree progress. They think everything will just transfer over. And I think if they had access
to Degree Works it will help them know more about what they’re doing in college.
IV.
Solutions: A Blueprint for Success
There is great potential for colleges to use Degree Works more effectively, if campus executive
leadership ensures adequate staffing and the development of effective business practices for
ongoing maintenance and updating.
The 2013/14 PMP goals and targets included a target to increase students’ usage of Degree
Works as a mechanism to improve access to advisement. The following describes the additional
key steps that campus leadership can take to optimize Degree Works: a) Improve data integrity,
b) Market and promote Degree Works and c) Commit to training.
A. Improve Data Integrity
Staffing and Training
As described above, colleges may have insufficient staffing levels of Degree Works
professionals. The work of Degree Works staff is complex and requires a sophisticated level of
skill and understanding of coding, curriculum, financial aid, admissions, and registration
processes on campus. A functional knowledge of CUNYfirst, FACTS, and the flow of data from
one system to another is a requisite skill set of Degree Works staff, as often issues that present as
an error or problem in Degree Works may originate in CUNYfirst or be related to a data
migration instance between any of the three systems. Staff must also keep current with changes
in Degree Works (new releases and updates), college curricular requirements, and college
procedures. Colleges need to offer consistent training and development for Degree Work staff,
both new and senior.
Based on a survey of the Degree Works Council and registrars, as well as follow-up discussions,
the following staff positions were identified for the colleges to adequately support the campus
Degree Works operation. Additional staff are also required at Central CIS to support these
applications and respond in a timely manner to issues and to correct defects, install upgrades
and new enhancements, and develop reports.
The division of labor and the breadth and depth of the responsibilities are presented in the appendix
for three key positions, or areas of responsibility, of a well-resourced advisement/Degree Works
operation that handles business workflow, training, scribing, systems alignment, and curriculum
changes and policy (Appendix N: Degree Works Administration and Staffing).
15
To clarify, scribing is the process and programming language used to code academic policies and
degree requirements. These rules are used in conjunction with data coded in the other Degree
Works applications—SureCode and Transit. The web audit algorithm uses data from these three
applications to display requirements in the web application.
Campus staff must be trained on this programming logic and on the interrelationship between
data from these three applications and CUNYfirst. They must translate the academic policies and
degree requirements into Degree Works and determine which scribe rules to code to have the
audit algorithm display requirements correctly in the web audit.
The scribing is first done on a test environment, and after the coded rules are tested with different
students’ cases, the scribed blocks and tables are migrated into the production instance.
The maintenance of Degree Works and FACTS also requires technical staff at Central CIS
responsible for developing and updating the extract programs, setting up and updating the PC
applications, maintaining the production environments, and training the colleges’ coordinators
and scribers on how to code their requirements. In addition, the production support staff reviews
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tickets and resolves issues. Currently, CIS has a
limited number of staff resources assigned to these duties, and these staff members have other
programs they are responsible for supporting and maintaining. The Central CIS unit responsible
for Degree Works implementation and maintenance proposes the following staffing
recommendations below. They currently have only four full-time staff to manage and address all
Degree Works and FACTS issues for the University. Five additional roles are recommended:
Recommended Additional Staffing for Central CIS
Application Development – System Analyst and Programmer DGW
Application Development Programmer - FACTS
Report Developer - DGW and FACTS
Application and Services Delivery Support- DGW and FACTS
1
1
1
2
Business Practices and Workflow for Maintenance
Campuses must have clear processes and workflows for reporting and correcting errors and for
routine maintenance. A system must be in place for Degree Works users to report errors and
receive timely responses. Campus advisement staff, as primary users, is often the staff that
identifies and reports errors. However, on some campuses students can also report errors when
they are uncovered, as is the case at Lehman.
16
It is also essential to establish effective structures for ongoing communication, collaboration, and
facilitation between Degree Works and FACTS staff—as well as with advisors and with staff
responsible for curricular updates and the Chancellor’s University Report (CUR). It is
recommended that management of the Degree Works application reside in the Registrar’s Office.
Updates first require approval through the CUR at the University level, and therefore clear
communication between Degree Works scribers and the campus staff that handle curricular
matters and the CUR is a critical component of a sound workflow and organizational structure
(Appendix E: Proposed Organizational Chart for Degree Works Management).
All program changes, new courses, and modifications to existing courses must be entered into
the CUR in order to be approved by the CUNY Board of Trustees. The CUR is also used by
various campus personnel to track changes in the curriculum. The CUR program modification
form has a side-by-side comparison of current versus new requirements. This makes it clear to
any reader (e.g., a New York State Department of Education program reviewer, a CUNY Central
Office administrator, a campus registrar, or a Degree Works scriber) what the changes are. For
new courses and modifications to existing courses there are template forms that capture course
details such as title, credits, description, etc. These forms have recently been modified to capture
all information required by a Degree Works scriber to make coding easier (Appendix F: CUR
New Course Form and CUR Course Change Form).
Recommended Approaches and Models: Lehman College
Lehman College is an example of a CUNY college that has developed clear processes and workflows.
Lehman College created a Degree Works/FACTS support center in 2012. The center, staffed by one
full-time staff member (TAP coordinator ) as well as three college assistants, is open Monday to Friday
9:30am to 5:00pm and two days a week until 6:30 PM. The deputy registrar and TAP certification
officer both assist daily with the escalation protocol—the process for reporting and fixing errors—but
are not permanently situated in the center as they have other registrar responsibilities.
The Degree Works/FACTS support center has an escalation protocol for addressing problems and
technical challenges identified by students, faculty, and staff. The five-level escalation protocol,
documented in writing (Appendix G: Lehman Support Center Escalation Protocol), is a clear step-bystep process for analyzing issues and finding solutions. Training for all staff includes understanding
Degree Works, FACTS, and HESC (Higher Education Services Corporation) data, and creating and
logging tickets.
Lehman also developed an Electronic Student Referral Process (e-SRP) service, which is a
customized referral and tracking system. Features include: issue tracking, time stamp, resolution
response time, case disposition, email notification to users, and reports on services. E-SRP was
piloted towards the end of the spring 2014 semester. Additional enhancements were added in late
17
summer, and the second phase of the pilot continues in fall 2014 (Appendix H: Lehman e-SRP
Training Document). Lehman chose to put their systems in place first before mounting major
training and marketing campaigns on campus, thus their current student usage data is low. However,
they recently completed their pilots on the spring and fall of 2014, so will be ready to engage in the
next step of student engagement with a strategic approach to promoting Degree Works and training
users
Lehman’s approach to Degree Works and FACTS management serves as a good model, as it brings
together the key elements needed to ensure data integrity: a well-organized operation under the
Registrar’s Office that is staffed with trained personnel; a clearly defined workflow and protocol for
reporting and correcting data errors and addressing the variety of issues that arise; a feedback and
tracking mechanism; and finally, a structure that allows for ongoing communication and
collaboration between the academic advisement advisors, admissions and transfer credit evaluators,
departmental faculty, and enrollment management staff to review and resolve issues.
Web-based Helpdesk Software System
The colleges have tried to develop mechanisms to track and resolve Degree Works issues. Most
use email and/or the campus Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system plus a
spreadsheet—which is labor intensive, time consuming, and does not provide data or status
reports in an efficient manner. Weak processes delay response and resolution and perpetuate lack
of trust in Degree Works data. A tracking system is needed across all campuses to store and
retrieve information and data on Degree Works and FACTS issues. While some colleges use an
Excel spreadsheet, it is not possible to extract data from these sheets. Data is not coded each term
in a standardized manner. Most of the colleges do not have a system to collect data other than
responding to a phone call or emails. Even for the few colleges that use the “Report A Problem”
form on Degree Works, there is no electronic process to extract or summarize data.
CUNYfirst colleges use their CRM/help desk system, but this system has limitations and does not
have the functionality needed to effectively manage Degree Works cases. Lehman College is the only
college that has implemented an integrated web-based referral system.
It is recommended that Central CIS implement an enterprise customer support system, beginning
with updating the CIS–CRM Helpdesk system, and implement this model across all campuses.
Currently, CIS is analyzing the requirements for an integrated system and has advised that the new
system include the functions listed below:
 User-friendly system accessible from a tab on the Audit, CUNY Portal, and CUNYfirst.
 Issues Tracking System with customized fields (e.g., issues, resolution, date stamped, submitter,
status, action triggers for notification, and a section to provide feedback on curricula changes
required in Degree Works or regulation updates required in FACTS).
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








Defined Escalation Protocol and Status.
Automated communication and notification—email, social media, letters, etc., on status of the
ticket and resolution or next steps.
Workflow automations.
Upload and generate reports.
Analytical tools and reporting.
Knowledge base with online help and training tutorials.
Set-up auto-responses to common questions with triggers.
Integration with other systems such as CRM, Track-It, CUNY Mobile App, etc.
Tools to measure quality of services—issues, response time, satisfaction survey, etc.
Campuses need not wait for a Central CIS CRM Helpdesk system to be rolled out. There are
steps a campus can take right away to improve local workflow and maintenance procedures.
Listed below are recommended interim solutions until an enterprise customer-support system
Web-based Helpdesk system can be implemented.
 Add to each campus Degree Works instance a Help Tab; post the Report a Problem Form.
This form can be linked to each campus’s existing IT Helpdesk system.
 Develop a document on escalation protocols.
 Implement Google Excel document for faculty, advisors, and administrators to report and
track issues and resolutions.
Under the leadership of the CIS IT service delivery director, a committee has been convened to
identify the requirements to improve the current CRM system and propose an enterprise
customer support system. The functions in the Lehman Helpdesk system will be incorporated in
this analysis. A preliminary review of the requirements identified by the committee are
comparable with the functions proposed that exist in the Lehman model. This work is in
progress, and this phase of the project will be completed by the end of 2014. To date, CIS is
currently reviewing different systems. They have met with several vendors, reviewed their
products, and are evaluating them to determine if these systems meet CIS requirements. This
review is underway but as of yet a system has not been selected.
B. Market and Promote Degree Works
Degree Works coordinators and advisors identified “campus perception of the product” as a
pressing issue that impedes use of Degree Works. Results of the student focus groups also
support this. Many students indicated that they wish they had known about Degree Works sooner
in their academic career. Further, students who do use Degree Works primarily use it to track
their degree progress and view their GPAs, but the majority was unaware of other features such
as the Educational Planner and the Look Ahead Audit/Worksheets.
19
Much of this could be reversed by educating faculty, students, and staff about Degree Works, in
tandem with improving data integrity, as described above. It is recommended that CUNY and the
colleges undertake a campaign to correct misperceptions of Degree Works, promote its benefits,
and emphasize that CUNY has made an institutional commitment to using and supporting
Degree Works.
CUNY can, and should, be making better use of Hobson’s Retain Software University-wide.
This web-based early alert and student retention CRM system can help colleges coordinate all
communications with students. It can be used to promote usage of Degree Works and FACTS
and its related training materials.
There are many straightforward ways to begin. Campuses could leverage resources
(promotional/educational materials) already developed at other CUNY colleges. Degree Works
information could be incorporated into faculty and student orientations and included in emails,
flyers, posters, newsletters, etc.
Ensuring that advisors and faculty are knowledgeable about Degree Works is very important too.
Student peer leaders can also serve as effective ambassadors and can show fellow students how
Degree Works can be used to track degree progress and clarify requirements.
Recommended Approaches and Models: LaGuardia Community College
Seventy-three percent of LaGuardia’s student body used Degree Works (known as Degree Audit
at LaGuardia) in spring 2014. This success is largely attributed to LaGuardia’s comprehensive
approach to promoting the system.
First, Degree Works at LaGuardia is built into the freshman orientation experience; new students
are introduced to Degree Works as part of their first contact with the college, upon acceptance.
First-time college enrollees learn about Degree Audit at new student advisement and registration
events. Students are encouraged to log in and familiarize themselves as soon as they register for
classes. See the LaGuardia online tutorials about Degree Audit: http://laguardia.edu/degreeaudit/.
Second, Degree Works hands-on training has been integrated into LaGuardia’s new freshman
seminar. Instructors introduce students to the audit (as part of the faculty hour), and peer mentors
teach students about specific functions (as part of the studio hour).
Third, advisors repeatedly emphasize that Degree Audit, in conjunction with the CUNYfirst
record, is the primary source of information about students’ degree progress. It is presented as a
20
tool of empowerment to track credits and monitor GPAs. The online publication Student News
regularly refers to Degree Works as a critical component of advisement and registration.
Fourth, LaGuardia makes Degree Works easily accessible in several ways, including via
LaGuardia’s Student portal “My LaGuardia.” Also, students are asked to review their Degree
Audit before meeting with an advisor, which they can do at the computers in the Student
Advising Services Office. Peer mentors are there to help too. Many students review Degree
Audit on their smartphones while waiting to see an advisor.
LaGuardia is also deliberate about educating faculty, new advisors, and student advising services
peer mentors about Degree Works. Student Affairs provides a hands-on workshop each semester
for advisors. Faculty and peer mentors responsible for conducting the new freshman seminar
participate in their own Degree Audit hands-on training in the New to College Seminar and Peer
Mentor Training.
C. Commit to Training: Students, Faculty, and Staff (Advisors, Scribers, Registrars)
Promoting Degree Works is inextricably linked to providing Degree Works training and
educating users. During the 2013-2014 academic year, the CUNY-wide Academic Advising
Council asked all colleges to provide information about their Degree Works training plans and
materials, in order to understand the landscape and share best practices. A password protected
webpage was developed to compile this information (please view the web link provided here:
http://advising.qc.cuny.edu/at Username: advising / Password: at2014).
Colleges that did not have training plans were asked to develop one. Of the twenty-one
colleges/programs that use Degree Works, seventeen provided training plans and materials that
ranged from one-page “how-to” handouts to comprehensive user guides.
Training for Students
Fourteen (82%) of the colleges that submitted training plans have current structures in place to
train students. Students are typically trained upon entry or during the first semester and then
encouraged to print/review their audit any time they seek advisement.
In most cases, the Academic Advising Office at each college is responsible for training students.
Training materials are available in print and electronic form at most colleges. Select user-friendly
materials are presented below.
 Bronx Community College’s quick-use reference (Appendix I: BCC Degree Works
Reference Sheet)
 LaGuardia’s Degree Works individual components self-service guides
http://www.laguardia.edu/degreeaudit/
21

College of Staten Island’s How-to Degree Works video
http://www.csi.cuny.edu/degreeworks/tutorial.html
Training for Faculty and Staff
All colleges that submitted a training plan have training available for staff (94%), and most have
training opportunities for faculty (76%). Training for new faculty is typically linked to the
faculty orientation program, whereas new staff members tend to be trained on an ongoing/ad-hoc
basis. Training is usually a collaborative effort among advising, the Registrar’s Office, and/or
Degree Works staff members. Two exemplary Degree Works training materials targeted to
faculty and staff members include:


Hunter College’s introductory slide show (http://hunter.cuny.edu/dig)
Lehman College’s user guide for faculty and staff
(http://advising.qc.cuny.edu/at/pdf/DegreeWorks%20User%20Guide.pdf)
Recommended Approaches and Models: John Jay College
John Jay’s plan has resulted in an increase in student use of Degree Works from 50% in fall 2013
to over 77% by spring 2014 (see below). Separately, BMCC’s training plan is also presented as a
model (Appendix J: BMCC Degree Works Training Plan).
Training Recommendations
A successful training plan includes identified goals, a timeline, a schedule that accommodates
various constituents, an outreach process, and training materials. The following are
recommended to improve training opportunities and programs across CUNY:

Introduce a yearly CUNY-wide training program for campus trainers on how to use
Degree Works features that are underutilized or have been updated; discuss best
practices; review case studies/issues. This training could also happen through various
monthly council meetings: Degree Works Council, Academic Advising Council,
Financial Aid, and Council of Registrars.

Each college should prepare an annual training plan and schedule that outlines which
offices and staff members are responsible for training various constituents.

CUNY Central should support the development of updated Degree Works training/use
strategies materials targeted for faculty, staff, advisors, and students as needed and make
accessible to the University community.
22
o A “how-to” Degree Works video that can be used across the University (current
materials are stagnant).
o Interactive online training modules to demonstrate each Degree Works
component, similar in content to LaGuardia’s modules of self-service guides that
break the process down into one-page instructional units
http://www.laguardia.edu/degreeaudit/).
23
John Jay Degree Works Training Plan
Goals for Degree Works Training
1. Familiarize college community with Degree Works tool and function.
o How to access and read the degree audit.
o How to use features of the degree audit such as: “What If”, “Look Ahead”,
“Educational Planner”, etc.
2. Provide Degree Works users with resources on who to contact for assistance with using
the tool and how to report concerns regarding the degree audit.
Fall 2014 and Spring 2015 Training Plan & Schedule
Students
The Academic Advisement Center and the Registrar’s office will collaborate on training and
reinforcing use of DGW among students based on their academic standing:
 Freshmen (0-29 crs) will attend group advising sessions (October - December 2014
and March – May 2015) where they will be required to access and print their
degree audit prior to attending the session and then be introduced to
understanding the components of the degree audit.
 Sophomores (30-59 crs) will receive an email communication (mid October 2014
and mid-March 2015) with a handout on how to access and use Degree Works
features and resources on how to re-declare, change or add a major/minor.
 Juniors (60-89 crd) will be invited to group academic planning sessions led by
Advisors and Registrar's Staff (last two weeks of September 2014 and last two
weeks of February 2015) to assess if they’re on-track for graduation.
Registrar’s staff will use Degree Works to show students what they look for in
certifying students for graduation. Advisors will discuss effective use of Degree
Works “Planner” tab to outline remaining requirements that will lead to
successful completion of degree requirements.
 Seniors (90-120 crds) will receive an email communication (mid October 2014
and mid-March 2015) with a handout on how to access and use Degree Works
features and provide link to complete the online “Apply for Graduation” form.
This communication will also include tips on how to ensure that all degree
requirements will be met by their intended graduation term.
Staff
The Registrar’s Staff will provide training for advisors and other staff who use Degree
Works to update them on current changes to the program. This training will take place
in September 2014 and the areas to be covered include: “Process New”, understanding
exceptions in Degree Works, change of catalog year, effective use of the Educational
Planner, and reporting issues with Degree Works.
Faculty
During faculty orientation (August 2014 and January 2015), Academic Advisement and
the Registrar’s Office will collaborate in training new faculty on accessing and
interpreting Degree Works, change of catalog year, and reporting issues with Degree
Works.
24
D. Establish Clear, Well-coordinated Processes for Managing Curricula Updates
Life Cycle of Curricular Changes – From Idea to Scribed Requirement
A college’s courses and academic programs are the manifestation of its intellectual life as well as
the source of its financial strength. They are dynamic and constantly changing. The curricular
change process involves many constituents from faculty members who make the decisions,
admissions officers who recruit new students, administrators who update catalog copy, the
Provost Office staff person who submits items to the Chancellor’s University Report, and the
registrar who does degree audits based upon criteria that scribers have updated in Degree
Works. The accurate recording of updates to the campus’s offerings requires constant crossdivisional cooperation and communication and the establishment of college-wide processes and
timelines that ensure the complete, expeditious, and accurate flow of curricular information to all
parties (Appendix K: Proposed CUNYfirst and Degree Works Curriculum Change Workflow
Process).
Colleges are advised to consider the timeline for all governance approvals, both local and central,
as well as regulatory approvals for new programs, revisions to existing programs, new courses,
and revisions to existing courses that are required prior to these actions being considered official
and prior to scribers being permitted to make changes in Degree Works.
In particular, new programs and substantial changes to existing programs, which require
approval of the New York State Department of Education, need a significant amount of lead time
before they may be scribed into Degree Works. While these approvals are outside the scope of
Degree Works, they play an important role in determining the effective date of registration and
changes, which is a key piece of data for the scribers. This will require faculty governance
groups and liaisons to the Central administration on matters related to new degree program
proposals and the Chancellor’s University Report to meet with Degree Works staff to develop a
realistic timeline for all the sequential approvals. Queens College recently created an excellent
internal template for such a timeline (Appendix L: Queens College’s CUR Timetable and
Template).
Here are some suggestions to improve campus communication and cooperation:


Degree Works senior managers should serve as a resource or become non-voting members of
the College-wide Curriculum Committee. They require current AND granular knowledge of
the curriculum and the intentions of the departments who present new courses and programs
for approval.
Campus Curriculum Committee chair or administrative staff should complete and submit a
Degree Works Update Form to the Degree Works coordinators and/or the master scriber.
There needs to be a mechanism for logging in any Degree Works change. All programmatic
25
Additional development of
Degree Works, particularly
implementation of the upgrade
which is now available, could
make an impact on student
success.
The “What-If Transfer Audit”
feature could be used to
analyze student eligibility for
reverse transfer. Current
efforts to do reverse transfer
are extremely time intensive
because the colleges must rely
on a manual review and
analysis of student records.
The “What-If Transfer Audit”
could help automate reverse
transfer, yielding additional
associate degrees awarded
and higher graduation rates
for the community colleges.
CUNY could also leverage the
reporting capabilities of the
software to more actively track
student progress toward the
degree.
changes need to be mapped out clearly and accurately with all
relevant information so they can be scribed correctly. A form is
one tool; an academic administrator could also be assigned to
track changes and provide accurate documentation to the Degree
Works coordinators.
 All new curricula changes coded in Degree Works should
be effective for the following academic year. Faculty often
assume once a course or program is approved it is available to be
offered immediately. It needs to be scribed, and the course catalog
in its many forms needs to be updated and processed across
systems. A campus timeline aligned with the CUR timeline is an
effective tool for managing this process.
 Colleges should develop an internal timeline and template
for the CUR process.
V.
Next Steps: Taking Action
With robust utilization, Degree Works can be a key academic
planning and career tool for student success by enhancing
academic advisement services. The system may also enhance
University-wide planning, particularly related to course
demand and availability. Administrative efficiency can be
greatly enhanced, as students are able to address basic
questions and self-advise through use of the system. Benefits
of implementing the upgraded version of the software, as well
as specific action steps, are presented below.
A. Degree Works 4.1.4 Upgrade and Enhancements
Additional development of Degree Works, particularly
implementation of the 4.1.4 upgrade that is now available,
could make an impact on student success. For example, the
next upgrade will include the “What-If Transfer Audit”
feature, which will allow students to see how their coursework would be applied toward degree
programs at other CUNY institutions. Currently the system only provides degree audits at the
student’s home institution. As student transfer is extremely common within the CUNY system,
this feature could be especially useful for students who want to plan for future transfer to another
CUNY college.
The “What-If Transfer Audit” feature could be used to analyze student eligibility for reverse
transfer. Reverse transfer is a process whereby students who transfer from a community college
26
without associate degrees, but who then meet the requirements for associate degrees while
working toward their baccalaureate degrees, will be awarded their associate degrees from the
home community college. Current efforts to do reverse transfer are extremely time intensive
because the colleges must rely on a manual review and analysis of student records. The “What-If
Transfer Audit” could help automate reverse transfer, yielding additional associate degrees
awarded and higher graduation rates for the community colleges.
Furthermore, CUNY could leverage the reporting capabilities of the software to more actively
track student progress toward the degree. With some frequency students enroll in courses that do
not progress them toward degree requirements. The Office of Academic Affairs has reviewed
transcripts where students have accumulated more than 100 credits at a community college. In
other cases, transcript review has shown that a student has completed all degree requirements,
but the degree has not been posted to the student record, perhaps because the student did not file
an “Intent To Graduate” form. With robust reporting from the Degree Works system, advisors
and other staff could more actively address these issues related to student progress toward the
degree.
B. Recommendations
There are a number of concrete steps CUNY and the colleges can take to improve and enhance
their advisement technologies and increase usage of Degree Works by students, faculty, and
staff.

Each campus must have clear processes and workflows for reporting and correcting
errors and for routine maintenance. A system must be in place for Degree Works users to
report errors and receive timely responses.

Each campus should establish effective structures for ongoing communication,
collaboration, and facilitation between Degree Works and FACTS staff, advisors, and
staff responsible for curricular updates and the Chancellor’s University Report (CUR).

CUNY and the colleges should undertake a marketing campaign to correct
misperceptions of Degree Works, promote its benefits, and emphasize that CUNY has
made an institutional commitment to using and supporting Degree Works.

CUNY should implement Hobson’s Retain software University-wide. Retain will help
colleges coordinate all communications with students.

Colleges may need to hire or repurpose personnel; make changes in organizational
structure and revise their campus curriculum approval timeline to the CUR process to
ensure new programs and courses are properly scribed.

CUNY Central should support the development of updated Degree Works training/use
strategies materials targeted for faculty, staff, advisors, and students as needed and should
27
make them accessible to the University community. An annual CUNY-wide training
program for campus trainers should be provided on how to use Degree Works features
that are underutilized or have been updated, discuss best practices, and review case
studies/issues.

CUNY Central CIS/IT can improve functionality and increase usage by undertaking the
following: (Appendix M: CIS/IT Recommendations for Process Improvement of
Advisement Technologies and Service)
a. Upgrade Degree Works to 4.1.4 to improve current functionality and services.
b. Modify FACTS logic to resolve reported issues.
c. Hire full-time report/query writer/support staff member.
d. Implement Hobson’s Retain software CUNY-wide.
e. Contract with Ellucian for professional services to include:


Modification of the application to better meet CUNY’s needs (Appendix M).
Provision of training to help staff better understand the data schema for report
writing.
28
Advisement Technology Steering Committee
Lucinda Zoe, University Dean of Undergraduate Studies
Annamarie Bianco, University Registrar
Olga Vega, CIS/Degree Works Project Manager
Erec Koch, Senior University Fellow
Deborah Hairston, CIS/Central Degree Works Coordinator
Sumaya Villanueva, Director of Advisement, John Jay
Jimmy Anastatio, IT/CIS (Advisory)
AT Implementation Team
Advisement Working Group
Zuleika Clarke, Co-Chair, Advisement Council, Director of Advisement, KBCC
Octavio Melindez, Director of Advisement, BCC
Laura Silverman, Director of Advisement Queens College
Maureen Sullivan, Director of Advisement, Hunter College
Scribers & Registrars Working Group
Takiyah Ali, Deputy Registrar, Lehman
Terrence Brown, Deputy Registrar, Hostos
Gale Cunningham, DGW Master Scriber, York
Lisa Freeland, Associate Registrar, Queensborough
Denise Lucena-Jerez, Senior Master Scriber, Hunter College
Thomas Sabia, DGW Master Scriber, City College
OAA staff assembled to assist the Working Committees
Andrea Baker, Executive Assistant to the Executive Vice Chancellor and University Provost
Erin Croke, Director of Undergraduate Educational Policy
Karen Kapp, Director of Administration and Grants
Cheryl Littman, University Associate Dean of Institutional Effectiveness
Ken Norz, University Academic Affairs Manager
29
Appendix A
Advisement Technologies Steering Committee and Working Committee
AT Steering Committee
Lucinda Zoe, University Dean, Central OAA
Annamarie Bianco, University Registrar
Olga Vega, CIS/Degree Works Project Manager
Erec Koch, University Fellow
Deborah Hairston, CIS/Central Degree Works Coordinator
Sumaya Villanueva, Director of Advisement, John Jay
Jimmy Anastatio, IT/CIS (Advisory)
AT Implementation Team
Advisement Working Group
Zuleika Clarke, Co-Chair, Advisement Council, Director of Advisement, KBCC
Octavio Melindez, Director of Advisement, BCC
Laura Silverman, Director of Advisement Queens College
Maureen Sullivan, Director of Advisement, Hunter College
Scribers & Registrars Working Group
Takiyah Ali, Deputy Registrar, Lehman
Terrence Brown, Deputy Registrar, Hostos
Gale Cunningham, DGW Master Scriber, York
Lisa Freeland, Associate Registrar, Queensborough
Denise Lucena-Jerez, Senior Master Scriber, Hunter College
Thomas Sabia, DGW Master Scriber, City College
A small group of OAA staff was assembled to assist the Working Committee and to collect
student impressions of Degree Works:
Andrea Baker, Executive Assistant to the Executive Vice Chancellor and University Provost
Erin Croke, Director of Undergraduate Educational Policy
Karen Kapp, Director of Administration and Grants
Cheryl Littman, University Dean of the Performance Management Process
Ken Norz, University Academic Affairs Manager
Appendix B
Report to CUNY Office of Academic Affairs: Themes from Degree Works Student Focus Groups
Prepared by Sarah B. From, Independent Consultant
Submitted June 2, 2014
INTRODUCTION
Context
CUNY’s Office of Academic Affairs is committed to improving access to and the quality of
academic advising across the university system. A component of this effort is increasing
utilization of Degree Works, the online degree audit system used by students, advisors and
faculty.
The Office of Academic Affairs (OAA) sought to gather and analyze student impressions and
experiences of the Degree Works system. To this end, OAA engaged Sarah From to facilitate
student focus groups across CUNY.
Methodology
Sarah From was engaged as a consultant to conduct the focus groups and analyze the data for
key themes. CUNY OAA managed recruitment and logistics for the focus groups. The question
guide for the focus groups was developed by CUNY OAA and reviewed by Sarah From.
Sarah From conducted four focus groups, and an additional focus group was conducted by OAA
staff. In total, 28 students participated in the focus groups across the five campuses.
College A
• Conducted March 26, 2014 by OAA staff
• 6 participants
College B
• Conducted April 30, 2014 by Sarah From
• 2 participants
College C
• Conducted May 1, 2014 by Sarah From
• 7 participants
College D
• Conducted May 2, 2014 by Sarah From
• 6 Participants
Degree Works Student Focus Groups Report – Spring 2014
1
College E
• Conducted May 2, 2014 by Sarah From
• 7 participants
Students were informed that participation in focus groups was voluntary. In return for their
participation, participants were given a MetroCard and lunch. Focus group participants
were informed that they would not be identified in this report to the CUNY, and that their
participation would have no impact upon their academic or professional lives at CUNY.
Audio was recorded at each focus group and a professional transcription service hired by
CUNY was utilized to produce transcripts for review and analysis.
Sarah From reviewed the approximately 200 pages of transcripts and coded them to track
key themes. Quotes illustrating key themes were selected for inclusion in this report.
Finally, the transcripts were reviewed again to cull ideas and suggestions students offered
for the improvement of Degree Works.
OVERVIEW OF CENTRAL FINDINGS AND KEY THEMES
Central Findings:
•
The central finding of this process is that Degree Works is experienced by students as a
valuable and user-friendly resource for navigating their academic careers. Degree
Works empowers students by providing them with vital information about their degree
progress and options.
•
A College C focus group participant described the usefulness of Degree Works:
“Basically it puts everything in one place – your general picture of what you have
to take in order to complete your degree. So it's something you could log into
from CUNY portal anytime you want as a student, and basically it's there for you
to look at any time as a picture of where you are progress-wise—how far you've
come to completing your degree, your general requirements, and what's left.
Obviously there are certain things you want to confirm with your academic
advisor as to when you're… going to graduate to make sure you're all complete;
but it's basically a guide that helps you to track your progress.”
•
However, exposure to and utilization of Degree Works varies widely between and within
the Colleges and could be improved. A focus on educating students about Degree
Works and its functionality is needed.
Degree Works Student Focus Groups Report – Spring 2014
2
•
Furthermore, students who use Degree Works encounter challenges due to slow
updates to the system. These issues need to be addressed to bolster student
confidence in the accuracy of Degree Works.
Key Themes:
1. EXPOSURE AND UNDERSTANDING: Degree Works is not uniformly used or understood
across colleges. Exposure to Degree Works reflects the diversity and quality of
advisement and orientation structures and practices at the different colleges.
2. REASON FOR USE: Students primarily use Degree Works to track degree progress and
view their GPAs; other features are less widely understood and used.
3. INACCURACIES: Inaccuracies in Degree Works, when experienced, most commonly
relate to transfer credits and the speed at which changes are reflected in the system.
4. WHERE USED: Students use Degree Works on a wide range of devices in a variety of
settings.
5. INTEGRATION WITH OTHER PLATFORMS: Some students argue that Degree Works
would be more useful to them if it were better integrated with CUNY First and the
course registration process.
6. USER EXPERIENCE: Students largely find the site to be user friendly, but some believe
the site could be streamlined to improve user experience.
KEY THEMES IN DETAIL
1. Degree Works is not uniformly used or understood across colleges. Exposure to Degree
Works reflects the diversity and quality of advisement and orientation structures and
practices at the different colleges.
•
At College C, 5 out of 7 students were unfamiliar with DegreeWorks. Upon further
discussion, it emerged that some students had seen advisors use it, but were unaware
that Degree Works was the program that the advisor was using at the time. When
shown Degree Works at the focus group, some participants recognized it as the program
their advisor used – and all participants felt that it would have been useful to them
Degree Works Student Focus Groups Report – Spring 2014
3
throughout their college careers if they had known about it.
I think it should be more out there because if it's this valuable of a resource, then it's
surprising how many of the don't know.
- College C Student
I would definitely like to use [Degree Works], and I wish that I would have known about
it sooner. I think that maybe this is something especially for incoming first semester
students that it should be, you know, promoted to more so that they know that they
have this resource.
- College C Student
I would like to possibly see like consistent training site workshops about it so that
students would be able to attend them and to get to know the system and see how it
should be used and stuff.
- College C Student
Maybe putting it in Financial Aid 'cause everybody visits financial aid at least once a
year.
- College C Student
•
At College E, students were universally familiar with Degree Works. The group
contained several Peer Ambassadors who work in Academic Advising with fellow
students. The Peer Ambassadors reported making regular use of Degree Works in their
consultations with students. At the same time, because of inaccuracies in Degree
Works, the peer advisors do not rely on Degree Works alone for information, and are
referring students to Academic Advisement for additional help.
A Peer Ambassador said,
Because we are trained on the material I know how to go on the College E website and
see what requirements and things like that, but 99% of the time I use refer them to
Academic Advisement, because they, themselves, know what classes can transfer to
some classes that would fulfill the requirements here. So 99% of the time I just refer
them there. I don't want to give them misinformation.
- College E student
Students face challenges trying to get information from Academic Advisement as well,
and thus must be resourceful in getting what they need:
Degree Works Student Focus Groups Report – Spring 2014
4
When I try to go to Academic Advisement they usually tell me that they can't because-they can help me but they usually help mostly the freshmen and sophomores. So what I
am dealt with is pretty much going back to my degree audit trying to fix it from there
and then I go back to bursars, just taking care of myself.
- a Junior at College E
•
At College B, the two students were familiar with Degree Works, but one was unclear
about its usefulness, and if it was even intended for students:
“I haven’t really fully understood what purpose it serves. Because as a checklist, it
doesn’t seem to be very useful. I actually looked at it, and though it was more
something that the school used than the students. I thought it was just an opportunity
for me to view how the school is seeing my degree progress, but I didn’t realize that — or
at least it wasn’t apparent to me — that this was a tool that I could use as a student.”
- College B student
•
At College A, students with experience of Degree Works spoke of how helpful it is, and
proposed the idea that its use be mandatory, not merely encouraged:
A friend of mine told me why don’t I apply for Degree Works. He said Degree Works is a
one page and you can find all your information over there so easily. So when I applied for
Degree Works and I picked up my GPA and the courses I took and every semester what
classes I am taking and my progress I can see everything so easy… everything is on one
page. And Degree Works, it was very, very helpful for me.
- College A Student
I think it’s encouraged, but I think it also should be mandatory, like setting up a College A
email is mandatory as a student. I think knowing how to go into Degree Works should be
mandatory too, because there are a lot of students who don’t know about their
curriculum and what classes they’ll have to take, and a lot of students try to change their
major without knowing how it will affect their current degree progress. They think
everything will just transfer over. And I think if they had access to Degree Works it will
help them know more about what they’re doing in college.
- College A Student
•
At College D, students’ familiarity with Degree Works depended on the faculty who
advised them. Several students reported that it was only because they changed majors
Degree Works Student Focus Groups Report – Spring 2014
5
(and therefore faculty advisors) that they were receiving advising that included Degree
Works.
I think the only way the information gets out depends on the department and then
depends on who’s advising you. And it shows whether the person that’s advising you is
taking that extra step to make sure to lead you in the right direction. I was nursing and I
transferred to aging and health. And if I wouldn’t have transferred to aging and health, I
probably would have been taking a lot of classes that I didn’t need to take.
- College D student
Other themes around exposure and understanding of Degree Works:
•
In some cases, advisors are using Degree Works in the presence of students, but not
sharing that fact with the student. As a result, the student may not know that Degree
Works is something that she can use on her own (a College C student attested to this).
•
In other cases, the advisor is coaching the student in how to use Degree Works during
the advisement session:
[A] good thing… is that [my advisor] had our audit up on her computer, so she had it
herself. But she wanted us to actually go into the audit to see what it’s about.
- College D Student
When I first came out the advisor that I met with she showed me how to use the Degree
Works, and when I got advised last week, it only took me about five minutes to get
advice with the advisor, because Degree Works helped me.
- College A Student
•
Students report using additional resources instead of or as a supplement to Degree
Works to get the information they need about their degree progress (most commonly,
meetings with advisors and department checklists). There is not a sense that Degree
Works is “one stop shopping,” but rather that students will need to verify and
supplement the information they find there.
Even though you could see what you may need [on DegreeWorks], you need to be
advised, because basically not every student uses DegreeWorks and even some who do
misread the information.
- College A Student
•
Some students report having learned about Degree Works in freshman orientation;
others who had an introduction to it during orientation do not remember hearing about
it. Several students pointed out the need for repetition in conveying information about
Degree Works Student Focus Groups Report – Spring 2014
6
Degree Works due to the enormous amount of information students receive.
2. Students primarily use Degree Works to track degree progress and view their GPAs; other
features are less widely understood and used.
•
Students’ primary uses of Degree Works are to track progress against degree
requirements and to check their GPAs.
•
Most students are logging on twice a semester: at the beginning and end of each
semester to track their degree progress and get information they need to select their
courses for the next semester.
•
A smaller minority of students report being frequent users of Degree Works (checking
upwards of 10 times per semester) to watch for updates to their degree audit and to
check their GPAs. (Interestingly, two such frequent users at two different colleges chose
the word “paranoid” to explain their frequent checking of Degree Works, indicating that
checking it helped to manage their anxiety about their academic performance.)
•
Students were less likely to use the other features available to them, such as the GPA
Calculator, What If, and Planner. As one College E student said:
I never found out about the GPA calc, the What-If, all those other features on the site of
the page until… the beginning of my sophomore year. When we first log into Degree
Works the degree progress report is the first thing that pops up, it looks nice, so I
immediately log on to that. But I never took the time to really go and see what other
features Degree Works has to offer and no one else actually told me, so I had to go and
click on it. I didn't know if I should click this, should I click this? Does it have any, like,
negative implications if I did?
- College E Student
3. Inaccuracies in Degree Works, when experienced, most commonly relate to transfer
credits and the speed at which changes are reflected in the system.
•
Among students who used Degree Works, the majority of students reported that
they found few or no inaccuracies in their use of the program (with the exception of
the College E students, as described below).
•
Students who had experienced inaccuracies attributed them to the speed at which
Degree Works Student Focus Groups Report – Spring 2014
7
updates were made to the system. In these students’ experiences, Degree Works
lagged behind changes made in courses and majors:
If it's a new major or recently made minor on campus… sometimes there is some of
the information is missing.
- College C student
College D student 1:
It just updates slowly.
College D student 2:
If you check it, I mean, that’s why I check every five minutes, but I think it’s like, I’m
not sure, there’s like a window period when it updates and you - - two weeks, I’m not
sure, but to me it just updated slowly.
College D student 3:
The same thing she’s saying. It’s just pretty much the slow update, but I think that
that goes with the department, I guess, because the same issue with her
also. Whereas the major, the change of major, it took about a whole semester for
my major to actually change on the audit to say this is right major.
•
College E students offered many more reports of inaccuracies in Degree Works than
their peers in the other focus groups. This may be because the College E group
included Peer Ambassadors, who in the course of their work as peer advisors
encounter many students who approach them with problems using Degree Works.
If it were more reliable, more updated, more consistent, I think a lot more people
would, you know, tell you to look at your degree audit a lot more. And I don’t think
that we need people to help us as much because it is pretty self-explanatory, it is
easily accessible.”
- College E student
•
The main sources of discrepancies and inaccuracies reported were:
o Transfer credits showing up with a delay:
Me being a transfer student, I can attest that there are quite a bit of
issues concerning transferring credits from one college to another. And
that’s from one CUNY to another. You can only imagine [when] someone
who is not from CUNY comes here.
Degree Works Student Focus Groups Report – Spring 2014
8
- College E Student
A lot of our students are transfer students so the degree audit is not
adaptable to that status of students. It is just strictly the old general
requirements. It just sticks to that and it isn’t adaptable according to the
status of the student.
- College E student
o Courses listed in DegreeWorks are not necessarily being offered at the
College:
Often some of the classes that students like me want to take aren't there,
it would be sort of nice to see some sort of schematic that would let the
Degree Audit show the classes of either this semester or next semester
are not available. For example, I remember this happening to me, I
wanted to a class called Utopian Thought, which would be Philosophy 340
and the Degree Audit on to it stated you can take 340 if you want to
complete this requirement. I said cool. I clicked it, it gave me a
description it gave me a supposed time that the class would be there, but
when I actually signed up for the class it was not there. And when I asked
the professor they said they don't know what I am talking about.
- College E student
o General Education requirements, in particular credits for AP and Regents, not
showing up properly:
In terms of the general education requirements part, there are some little
discrepancies there. For example, such as the life and sciences, I think,
the ones that require a lab, it says that I still need to take it, but according
to Academic Advisement, since I have taken about five scientific Regents…
I do not have to take that requirement. But Degree Works still says I have
to. And even when College E finally made the transition from E-SIMS to
CUNY First, I would think that the general education requirements would
reflect that.
- College E student
o Minors and certificate requirements are not shown.
Well, for starters, I would want it to be more, as we had mentioned
before, more accurate. And I want to include things like my minor, after a
degree I want. And also I don't know if they can, I am also taking a
certificate program. I'm a part of a certificate program. That being said I
Degree Works Student Focus Groups Report – Spring 2014
9
would want the requirements for that as well within the audit.
- College E Student
One thing that I noticed is that our audit doesn't show us the
requirements we have to take for a minor and that's something I really
wish we had because if I am going to declare a minor aside from my
major I also want to know what are the classes that I have to take or that
I still need to take for my minor.
- College E Student
o Degree Works is delayed in showing changes to major requirements.
And it also isn’t adaptable to any changes. Just as [another participant]
said, to the major itself. Like if the major has any updates regarding
requirements that they added courses that may fulfill requirements. It is
not updated with that. So those are some issues [that students come to
peer mentors with]. But personally, I haven’t had an issues. I came in as
a freshman and my major didn’t change.
- College E Student
4. Students use Degree Works on a wide range of devices in a variety of settings.
•
Students are accessing Degree Works in many different settings:
o At home
o At work
o With their advisors
o At school (alone and with friends)
•
Students are accessing Degree Works on a range of devices:
o Smartphones
o I-pads/tablets
o Laptops
o Desktop computers
•
Reflecting the sentiment expressed by many students, a College B participant said:
[I use Degree Works] wherever I happen to be at the moment that I’m interested
in looking at it. I could be on my laptop here in the school, within the school
network, or at the library, or from home. Wherever I happen to be with my
technology, whether it’s my laptop, my iPad.”
- College B student
5. Some students argue that Degree Works would be more useful to them if it were better
integrated with CUNY First and the course registration process.
Degree Works Student Focus Groups Report – Spring 2014
10
•
A College B student explained the issue as she see it, narrating her navigation of the site:
So under World Cultures and Issues, you have a list of different courses that, I’m
assuming, would meet the requirement for that. Okay? So here I am, I’m
thinking, okay, I still have to meet that requirement, which one of these do I want
to take? And I go to click on it, and it doesn’t tell you what it is, so now I have to
go to open up a new tab, go to CUNY First, go to their catalog. It’s several steps
just to find out what this [course] is… it’s so tedious and time-consuming. And
you know, maybe ‘cause I’m older and I don’t have a lot of patience, but kids
today who, everything is instant gratification, how in heaven’s name is this
possibly useful? They’re going to be like, pfft. You lost them, you know? If you
could click on that [course] and a little window would show up to tell you what
that is, then you could decide, okay, yes I want to take it, no I don’t want to take
it. It would be so much more useful.
Later, the same student added:
I see a huge potential for Degree Works if [it] could be integrated a little bit
better with the CUNY First registration process and the course catalog — ways to
make it more efficient so that you’re not, you know, taking all these different
steps.
- College B student
•
A College A student also argued for integration of CUNY First, Degree Works, and the
CUNY Portal:
[It would be] easier instead of having three different log-ins to do so many
different things that kind of in the end intertwine into one. If everything was just
put together in one thing I think it would be so much easier.
- College A student
6. Students largely find the site to be user-friendly, but some believe the interface could be
streamlined.
•
The vast majority of students find Degree Works to be easy to navigate for its core
functions (but as reported above, they may not be using its additional functions).
•
Those who do critique its usability find it to be cluttered, as in this exchange:
College D student:
Degree Works Student Focus Groups Report – Spring 2014
11
It’s easy for me to navigate through, I understand. But I just think when the actual
worksheet comes up it’s kind of like jammed pack, like it’s not, you understand it, but
you don’t at the same time. Like it’s clear, but it’s not clear. Like it’s, like they have the
blocks set up. It’s just all – sometimes it’s like really all over the place. When you look at
it. I mean, it has sections, but then it’s still like, that’s when you open it and you could
see the how it’s… to me it’s just like “Okay, hold on. Let me focus.”
Moderator: It’s cluttered?
College D student:
Yes, it’s cluttered basically.
•
One student described her vision of how the site could be streamlined:
I think if you complete the requirement, it should either say completed, or it should just
be crossed--like, there should be a line through it, like a checklist, or it should disappear,
and then only, you know, where you could view the whole list and what's done and
what's not, or you know, if you wanted to see what do you still have to do. Why are the
ones that are checked there viewable? It's like, it's just too much information for your
brain to process all right.
- College B student
STUDENT IDEAS FOR IMPROVING DEGREE WORKS
Degree Works Core Functions:
• Enable students to be able to register for courses through Degree Works (College A,
College B)
• Enable students to be able to apply for graduation through Degree Works (College A)
• Put clear information on the site about who to contact if you have a problem
(College E)
• Fix the confusing structure of “What If” (College E)
• Send alerts through Degree Works, for example if you are not taking the right classes
for your major (College D) or if you get a grade of “C” or below, an alert that you can
retake the class (College E)
• Enable Degree Works to show requirements for minors and certificate programs
(College E)
• Fix problems with AP, Regents and College Now credits not showing up (College E)
Training in Use of Degree Works:
• Train faculty advisors to tell students how to use Degree Works (College A, College
B)
• Hold trainings for students in how to use Degree Works (College D)
Degree Works Student Focus Groups Report – Spring 2014
12
•
Create an online tutorial to instruct students in how to use Degree Works (College B,
College D)
Marketing of Degree Works
• Feature Degree Works prominently on my college’s homepage (College C, College D)
• Introduce Degree Works to Freshmen as part of the advising process (College D)
• Offer incentives to sign onto Degree Works – as is done for students who fill out
financial aid forms early (College D)
• Change the name of Degree Works to something more descriptive and appealing to
students: Degree Checklist; Degree Now; Degree Check; Degree Progress (College C)
• Feature Degree Works information in the Financial Aid office, and in the cafeteria
(College C)
User Experience and Design of Degree Works
• Create one universal login for Degree Works, CUNY first and CUNY Portal (College A,
College B)
• Create a quick summary view so that students can see an overview without all the
detail (College D)
• Put core courses in a different color so they stand out (College B)
• Display both course acronyms and full course names (College C)
• Be able to hide completed courses to de-clutter the view (College B, College C)
• Make course names clickable to reveal course descriptions (College B)
• Make the interface more user friendly for mobile devices (College B)
• Enable the downloading and printing of PDFs from Degree Works (College E)
Degree Works Student Focus Groups Report – Spring 2014
13
Computing Information Services
Project Management Office
Appendix C
Summary of DGW Coordinators’ Response to Survey
Date: January 28, 2014
1. Describe your experiences at the roll-out stage of DegreeWorks include how the application was
received by the campus
College
*Implementation Year
Summary – Campus Initial Reaction to DegreeWorks
Baruch
2006 - 2007
Brooklyn
1998 - 1999
City
2007 – 2008
(Scribing started with
the 2005-2007 bulletin)
CSI
2008 - 2009
Hunter
2007 - 2008
 Before Pathways:
It was positive. The Center of Advisement had made it a policy
that students had to print out their DegreeWorks audits before
they could see an advisor. The Graduation Application from the
Registrar’s Office referred the students to DGW to do a final
check before applying for graduation. It is used by the
graduation auditors and the TAP Course Compliance unit.
 After Pathways:
The advisors are not happy with the audit and the Pathways
logic. They have not been using it. The student population has
not been using it yet.
Note: Baruch released DGW Instance supported on the Central
server as of November to advisors and staff, and released it to
students as of January 15, 2014.
 DGW hosted locally for many years and with the migration of
CUNYfirst required being hosted centrally which resulted in
changes to the campus business practices. Users adjusting to
this change.
 DGW rolled out in a phased approach first with the School of
Engineering and then the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical
Education. Sophie Davis embraced the use of DGW.
 Most academic programs do not use the audit significantly
and insist it’s not accurate. These programs generally do not
report issues on a regular basis.
 DGW when first released required rebranding.
After several marketing campaigns it’s now used with
incoming freshman and continuing students during
advisement by the advisement center and academic
departments.
 Students were receptive to using DGW from the onset.
Several campus events were offered to market and train users
and their response was positive.
 Academic Advisement and Degree Audit areas were receptive
and have always used the system.
 Faculty were reluctant at first but are using it and providing
feedback.
1
College
*Implementation Year
Summary – Campus Initial Reaction to DegreeWorks
John Jay
2005 - 2006
Lehman
2009 - 2010
 Initially when implemented DGW was viewed as positive but
within several semesters the system was not updated due to
limited resources causing advisors and staff to consider it
unreliable and inaccurate.
 From my understanding the implementation was not received
well. Academic Advisement staff perceived the tool as being
potentially good but not one that would necessarily work at
the Lehman campus b/c of varying Transfer Policy Rules. The
transfer rules were never accurately scribed and since Lehman
receives roughly (~60%) transfer students it was imperative
that the transfer audits were accurate for campus buy-in and
usage.
Ultimately, my understanding is that there was very little:
 Use of the Advisement tool
 Training for campus staff
 Reporting of issues by the Administrative or Academic
departments to the Office of the Registrar.
Medgar
2006 -2007
NYCCT
2005 - 2006
SPS
2012 - 2013
Queens
York
2006 - 2007
2007 - 2008
BMCC
2006 - 2007
 Scribe Marathon session was needed to assist with Scribe
updates due to losing the Scriber and also for CF-readiness
(Go-Live).
 Implementation of DGW was smooth. We held a DGW fair and
had giveaways for students.
 DGW was not received well by faculty and administrators as
many felt that the tool was not needed and had erroneous
information.
 Staff (no longer at the college) reported implementing DGW
was difficult due to limited staff resources.
 There was resistance from some areas to using the application
as the official advisement/degree audit tool.
 Once staffing access was set-up, roll out was very smooth.
 Students use it to ensure courses meet degree requirements.
 Staff uses it to quickly process degree applications.
 N/A – Did not answer the question.
 DGW was supported by the Acting Provost, Registrar and
staff. Registrar’s staff assisted with the initial testing but since
then, the sole responsibility for maintaining the system is the
DGW Coordinator.
 Students responded positively and continue to use it.
 During initial rollout, advisors continued to rely on their
legacy electronic advisement system which produced paper
advisement forms.
 Transition to CUNYfirst along with implementing Pathways
resulted in a myriad of systemic issues – DGW crashed several
times due to high demand of users causing system to timeout.
 Some students were not term activated, data not loaded into
DGW; an audit was not generated in DGW and FACTS.
2
College
*Implementation Year
BMCC (cont.)
Bronx CC
2005 -2006
GCC
2013 - 2014
Hostos CC
2005 - 2006
KCC
2002 - 2003
LaGuardia CC
2004 - 2005
QBCC
2008 - 2009
Summary – Campus Initial Reaction to DegreeWorks
 Test scores didn’t get loaded into DGW from SKAT; audit didn’t
display any or correct skills requirements. Note: Significant
issue when released for community and comprehensive
colleges.
 Adoption was limited at the beginning; campus used a homegrown system. Usage has increased as users realized DGW
was an improvement over the curriculum pattern sheets.
 Recently released and usage has been sporadic; advisors
beginning to use it.
 Used consistently by the Registrar for degree audit.
 Users were not receptive to using DGW; continued to rely on
academic advisement worksheets until the worksheets were
deemed a non-acceptance advisement tool by the academic
depts. DGW was proclaimed the system of record for
academic advisement by the Office of Academic Affairs and
this has contributed to an increase in usage.
 Originally hosted their own instance; with migration to CF and
the Central server, users concerned with the accuracy and
integrity of the audit.
 DGW was supported by the community because the College
transition from an automated home-grown system to an
updated application hosted on its own server.
 The biggest issue was the transition to CF; data conversion
impacted the accuracy of the audit. The campus has been
slowly recovering from this transition as issues get resolved.
 Advisors did not use the previous degree audit system which
had issues. It was assumed DGW would be identical. They
used DGW and the Educational Planner which they
considered valuable but after losing data twice due to two
upgrades, they’ve lost confidence and usage dropped.
 No advisors required to use two other systems-CF and Starfish
(request info.) and find using a third too cumbersome and
time consuming.
*Note: Some colleges coded prior years catalog after their release
date.
3
2. What method or process does your campus use to report DGW problems, other
than using the CF CRM or CIS Helpdesk?
College
Process Used to Report Issues
Baruch
 Students open up a Helpdesk ticket via a web process; phone call;
email or in-person visit to the IT center.
 The Helpdesk assesses what the issue is – access (refer to IT);
incorrect audit (Registrar); do not understand it (Advisement Office).
 Staff can submit a Helpdesk ticket via a web process; phone call;
email or in-person visit to the IT center.
 They can also call or email the Registrar.
 E-mail.
 Campus helpdesk.
 E-mail.
 Phone calls to DGW Coordinator.
 E-mail.
 Website and Web to All.
 Web Audit has a ticketing system for users, which is connected to
software called “Footprints.”
 These tickets are reviewed by HC ICIT and Central CIS.
 The Helpdesk assigns tickets to Advising reviewed by eAdvisor.
 Scribing or data errors sent to Registrar for resolution by the
Coordinator or Scriber.
 Advisement Tracking System using “Googledocs Excel Spreadsheet”
implemented for advisors to provide feedback. Similar strategy
planned for Degree Auditors.
 E-mail sent to Coordinator.
 Campus interested in using a tracking ticketing system but has not
selected one.
 DGW + FACTS Support Center
(Simple ticketing system, reporting NOT available).
 Walk-ins to > Graduation, Support, Deputy Offices
(SH, rm. 105, 108, 175).
 Dedicated support telephone line:
(718) 960.1111 (x4).
 Two (2) Dedicated email addresses:
DegreeWorks.Audit@Lehman.cuny.edu
FACTS.Audit@Lehman.cuny.edu.
Emails sent to Coordinator/Master
Scriber Takiyah.Ali@Lehman.cuny.edu.
 Email/Telephone to Lehman Campus Helpdesk.
 E-SRP, enhanced ticketing system w/reporting.
(Student Referral System, pilot to begin Spring 14).
Note: CF CRM and CIS Helpdesk are not used to report problems
from within the campus to Coordinator/Master Scriber.
 E-mail.
 CUNY- CRM Ticket (thru email correspondence).
 E-mail sent to myself or the scriber.
Brooklyn
City
CSI
Hunter
John Jay
Lehman
Medgar
NYCCT
4
College
Process Used to Report Issues
Queens











SPS
York
BMCC
Bronx CC
GCC
Hostos CC
KCC
LaGuardia CC
QBCC
Campus helpdesk (for internal college-wide issues).
E-mail.
Phone calls to DGW staff.
Walk-ins.
Campus CRM.
SharePoint Doc.
E-mail to local campus helpdesk.
E-mail link on the Helpful Link Tab on the DGW Audit header.
Walk-ins.
E-mail to local helpdesk on inquiries and report issues.
Campus CRM tickets.
 In-person, phone & e-mail to various individuals and/or departments
which is then escalated to the DGW Coordinator.
 E-mail or phone calls to the Registrar.
 In-person visit.
 Telephone calls.
 Campus e-mail.
 Campus helpdesk ticket.
 Campus CRM tickets.
 Log-in issues reported to Campus helpdesk.
 Audit issues reported to Registrar’s front desk.
 Degree audit issues reported from Advisement, Financial Aid and
other offices reported via e-mail to the Registrar’s Audit team.
 Campus e-mail via the helpdesk/Student Information Center.
 E-mail sent to Coordinator.
 Phone calls to Scriber or Grad. Audit staff.
5
3. What are the three most pressing issues that impede the usage of DegreeWorks on your campus?
College
Three Key Issues Impeding Usage of DGW
Baruch
 Pathways: the DGW system has not been
released with Pathways information to students.
 Staff dependency on a different advising system.
 Departments are only familiar with their
requirements or they do not see students.
 Scribe blocks were not maintained which
contributed to the perception “DGW is wrong &
not correct.”
 There are constant changes in requirements.
 Departmental advising recommends courses
prior to being approved.
 Most academic programs do not report issues
or make any effort to use the system.
Brooklyn
City
 Extensive staff resources are required to
maintain the system.
 Lack of clarity regarding academic requirements
for various degrees. There are often 4 versions
of a single curriculum, the bulletin, web,
academic program worksheets and
departmental brochures.
CSI
 Faculty buy–in.
 Educating the campus.
 Difficulties in programming complex degree
requirements.
 Audit consistently displaying data inaccurately
(especially with the conversion to CF data).
Hunter
Delay Resolving Issues:
 Issues reported to Central that require changes
to i951 this process take a long time to get
resolved.
 Campus not able to post message on Portal
alerting users issues getting addressed.
 Students don’t always report issues and give up.
DGW Coding of Complex Requirements:
 Users need to understand the structure of the
DGW audit and its limitation in coding HC
complex requirements.
Interventions or Recommendations
 Updating undergraduate
programs requirements (almost
complete) been a major priority
to ensure audits are accurate.
 There must be a Campus-wide
commitment to making DGW
“work.”
 Additional full-time staff is
required to maintain DGW for all
of the undergraduate and
graduate programs.
 Academic program
requirements must be accurate
and consistent.
 Data must be consistent on all
student information systems.
 Require i951 to get modified to
correctly display requirements
especially for internal transfers
from AA to BA programs.
Note: Updated program
schedule for release in
December.
 Central needs to resolve issues
on a more timely basis.
 Campus needs the ability to post
messages on the Portal alerting
users of issues and getting them
resolved.
 Continue to train faculty/staff on
the complexities of the audit.
6
Hunter (cont.)
John Jay
Lehman
 Using an advisement tool for multiple purposesdegree audit, advising and financial aid
eligibility increases its complexity.
Challenges Increasing DGW Usage:
 DGW inaccuracy with CF data and changes for
Pathways contributed to the negative
perception “DIG doesn’t work.”
 Lack of dedicated resources assigned full-time
to maintain the system.
 Require a campaign to change the negative
perception “DGW is inaccurate.”
 Need a dedicated trainer to work with the
various users and develop marketing materials.
 Scribe blocks were NOT maintained from
(implementation year - 2012). Required many
immediate and on-going updates to General
Education and Major blocks in order to “get
ready” for CF Go-Live (MAR 2012) which also
included the implementation of 3rd system known
as FACTS (for TAP eligible courses). Contributed
to perceptions that DGW is “wrong” or “does not
work”.
 At least three (3) additional fulltime staff required to re-scribe
and maintain DGW Scribe Blocks
for all of the UGRD, GRAD, and
other special programs (i.e. –
CUNY BA, etc.).
 Academic Advisement insists on using paper
“Advisement Sheets” which are not used in
conjunction with the audit tool. The paper sheet
is therefore not translated in the same manner
on the audit and often confuses the student and
staff attempting to review and resolve issues.
 Directive from Campus Leaders on
both Admin and Academic sides
that DGW is a CUNY issued
software that must be used (as is
the case w/CF).
 Transfer Evaluations are not completed in a
timely fashion. Furthermore, the Transfer
Evaluation process needs to be modified in order
for courses to appear correctly on the audit and
enable DGW to be a good advisement tool.
 Continue to train faculty/staff on
the complexities of the audit in its
current state.
 Explanation to end-users of any
limitations of the tool and
enhancements needed.
 Reconsider recommendations
proposed during our go-live year
(2012-2013). However, they were
met with heavy resistance from
the Admin Offices. This may be
due to lack of resources. Several
communications and request for
resolutions have occurred b/t
Project Management, Admissions,
Registrar and Central Offices on
this matter.
7
Lehman (cont.)
Medgar
NYCCT
 SIMS conversion data not always reflected in CF
and therefore may be missing altogether from
the Audit (i.e. – transfer credit, transfer course
articulation, testing data, prior degree data, etc.)
 Faster response time on decisions
from Central office for resolutions
requested (i.e. – Prior Degree
CEMLI) which is only now being
recognized in a C5 being put forth
by the TAP Council.
 Very small percent of academic departments
report issues or make efforts to use the system.
 Audit consistently displaying data inaccurately
(especially with the conversion to CF data).
 Lack of dedicated resources assigned full-time to
update and maintain the system.
 Increase trainings for Academic
depts. (due to outreach + training
sessions % has increased on depts.
Reporting issues).
 Complaints –Faculty and staff mix old curriculum
with Pathways requirements.
 Discrepancy between degree audits and various
published curriculum worksheets.
 Inaccurate information on the part of support
staff. Some have stated DGW is confusing and
they don’t understand how to read it.
 Lack of Buy-in from faculty and administrators
they do not fully embrace DGW.
 Advisors are wary of using DegreeWorks
because they fear the curriculum is not correct.
 Currently, do not have the resources to dedicate
to a complete overhaul of the scribe that needs
to take place because of the implementation of
Pathways.
 Discovered the interfaces between CUNYfirst,
DegreeWorks and FACTS are not always easy to
understand and prevent us from having
confidence that the system is working properly.
 All Deans, Associate Deans,
Chairpersons, Academic Advisors,
Departmental Advisors should
request that all degree program
requirements must be accurate in
the online bulletin and data
consistent regardless of the
medium used.
 Hire full-time DGW Coordinator
with high-level responsibilities
within the dept. responsible for
updating DGW & CF tables, testing
upgrades/fixes, communicating
with Central on reporting/
resolving issues.
 Master Scriber responsible for
updating scribe blocks, providing
training.
 An additional part-time staff who
reports to DGW Coord. to assist
with non-complex scribing and
other duties.
8
College
Three Key Issues Impeding Usage of DGW
Queens
 Some depts. do not believe in the accuracy of
the system.
 Overall low usage among students and advisors
 Coding issues – the ECA formula which impacts
FACTS (some students granted more or less
elective credits than they should if they get
waivers and transfer credits).
 Time to code new programs.
 Keeping existing majors current.
 Coding minors.
 Audit inaccuracy.
 Explaining to users DGW data issues does not
mean the audit is incorrect but the source data
is inaccurate (data converted or coded
incorrectly in CF).
 Informal comments from users “Audit is
incorrect.”
DGW & CF Compatibility:
 Same browser can’t be used to access each
system, users get logged out.
 Many faculty advisors refused to use the system
for advisement or remove service indicators on
CF to allow students to register.
SPS
York
BMCC
Confusion Accessing DegreeWorks:
 Link on Portal titled “Student Advisement /
Degree Audit” is different from the name used
in the campus materials-DegreeWorks often
overlooked.
 If they click on the link, the main page of DGW
displays CF in the top left corner.
Bronx CC
GCC
Savings Data in the Educational Planner:
 Advisors reported courses not saved in plans
because course number or credits entered
incorrectly.
 Message the plans been saved no longer
displays.
 College community lacks confidence in DGW.
 Inconvenience of logging into three systems –
BCC E-Advisement form, DGW and CF.
 DGW marketing campaign has not been strong
enough.
 As a new college there is no advisement center or
protocol.
 College lacks advisement staff.
 Some folks are apprehensive on the benefits of
the audit.
Interventions or Recommendations
 Promote the use IE browser for
one system and Fire Fox for the
other.
 Change the name on the Portal to
DegreeWorks.
 Change CF link to read “DGW.”
 Remove “CF Note” in the top left
corner of DGW page; there would
be less confusion and increased
usage.
 Ellucian should add ability to
display an error message.
 Display confirmation message
plan saved.
9
College
Three Key Issues Impeding Usage of DGW
Hostos CC
Advisors not understanding DGW coding with CF
data:
 Coding of repeated courses posted with zero
credits; courses with minimum grade point
average not applied in the major block.
Note: this is the way the audit works.
 Use of Allowable Elective formula required for
FACTS.
 Test scores and student group used to determine
placement (placement not used in CF only test
scores).
Interventions or Recommendations
Implementation of Pathways:
 Required restructuring the audit’s format.
KCC
Delays in timely updates of DGW:
 No Master Scriber to update/resolve systemic
issues.
 Scriber assigned to other duties.
 DGW tables not updated with CF values.
Advisement Area:
 Advisors need to understand the audit is coded
correctly according to the catalog year
requirements. At times there’s confusion on
which catalog year requirements to follow.
Limitation of the Degree Audit:
 Users need to understand how to use the audit
for second degree students, and the “shelf life”
of particular courses.
LaGuardia CC
QBCC
Lack of Positive Publicity:
 College needs to mount a public campaign to
market DGW and its benefits.
 Some advisors do not use the system.
 CF data been incorrect in a lot of cases as a result
of data conversion.
 Resistance by various constituencies who say “It
doesn’t work,” sometimes without ever having
seen it.
 DegreeWorks problems and limitations Audit
splits credits but not consistently Range of
credits rule only allows the minimum number to
get applied even when higher credit range is
required. (See list of issues submitted Dec. 2012issues to get reviewed with QBCC Coordinator).
10
4. Share with us your DegreeWorks “Best Practices.”
What has made DegreeWorks successful at your institution?
College
Best Practices Implementing DGW
Baruch
Brooklyn
City
CSI
Before Pathways:
 When the audit was clean and clear – the
advisors and everyone used it.
 The Center of Advisement required students had
to first print out their audit before seeing an
advisor.
After Pathways:
 DGW only being used by the graduation auditors
and the TAP Course Compliance unit.
 Advisors are not using it.
 Users who received training displayed greater
satisfaction using the system after their training
session.
 At the implementation stage extensive outreach
was conducted to promote DGW.
 Frequent training was provided to all campus
users.
 Feedback was requested on any concerns or
problems.
 Using usage data to market DGW and provide
training to the various depts.
 Collaborating with the Office of Academic
Advisement.
Hunter
John Jay
 Student usage increased when other features
are used such as Notes. They’re instructed to
log on to get information from this feature.
 Increase collaboration between Degree Audit
and Advising helped to keep DGW up-to-date
and improved their respective processes.
 Working with dept. chairs and the campus
curriculum committee to ensure data is coded
correctly.
 Obtaining support from the Office of Academic
Affairs and Academic Advisement.
Strategies Increase Success
 Continue to offer training on a
regular basis.
 College needs a vision of a truly
integrated academic advisement
and degree audit system.
 DGW should be used to its full
potential by enhancing the
advisement experience and
increasing the speed to
graduation, thereby impacting
graduation rates.
 President’s and Provost’s
Councils should be made aware
of the complexities of
maintaining the software and
the issues inherent with this
kind of software.
 Created a tutorial available on
the College’s website.
 DGW incorporated into the New
Student Orientation Program for
incoming freshman and transfer
students.
 Creation of a newsletter for
advisors informing them on
updates and use of DGW
contributed to staff usage and
improved dialogue.
11
College
Best Practices Implementing DGW
Lehman
 Creation of a Support Center (Hub for questions
and resolutions).
 Coordinator/Master Scriber created Training
Materials – “How To” for DGW.
 Coordinator/Master Scriber created Tri-fold
brochures for DGW and FACTS Applications for
use at Student Orientations, Workshops, and
Support Center.
 Coordinator/Master Scriber has trained part-time
staff (high turn-over) on how to read audits and
troubleshoot a few simple CF data issues (i.e. –
prior degree info or testing info missing, etc.) in
order to better assist students who visit our
Support Center.
 Coordinator/Master Scriber has trained one parttimer to be able to assist w/giving Workshops for
students or staff.
 Invitation to interested academic departments to
pilot features of the tool not currently being used.
 Special training session invited to dept. (such as
Adult Degree) where program and degree
requirements are significantly different from the
general student population.
 Feedback requested from Academic Advisement
staff on Gen. Ed requirement issues.
Medgar
 Offer DGW training sessions for Advisors, Chairs
and Administrators.
 Offer DGW fair - introduce and encourage
students to use DGW.
 Curriculum Worksheets are no longer distributed
to students and faculty. Exceptions
(substitutions, waivers, etc.) are added on an
almost daily basis so audits reflect as accurate as
possible.
 Use FACTS Lite to flag students for state aid
which increased the usage of DegreeWorks.
 Responsive to the end users and resolve
problems.
 Offer as much training as possible and constantly
advise the college community on the benefits of
DegreeWorks.
NYCCT
Strategies Increase Success
 Survey all campuses on
processes and procedures for
Transfer Policies and Transfer
Evaluations. Based on survey
attempt to standardize the
process for all campuses since
we are all mandated to use
DGW and FACTS.
 Program and Degree
requirements reported in the
Chancellor’s Report need to also
have an implementation term
attached for clarity.
 Reduction in the frequency of
changes that occur in Program
and Degree requirements.
 Communication Bulletins for
end-users informing them of
updates, limitations, and
request for ideas for
improvement.
 Require campus staff to use the
tool, report issues, and maintain
a positive outlook as reported
issues are resolved whether inhouse or at Central.
 Develop professional marketing
plan and materials that can be
used by all colleges.
 Dedicate staff required for
campus training programs.
 Remove all curriculum and
advisement work sheets and
force students to use
DegreeWorks.
12
College
Queens
SPS
York
BMCC
Best Practices Implementing DGW
 Good communications/relationship between
DGW staff, and the academic and administrative
offices.
 Knowledgeable staff (campus wide) on academic
policies.
 Academic advisors interface with students to
review their DGW. This aids in identifying errors
either on the audit or in SIMS.
 Audit explains the requirements in a student
friendly way.
 Scribe requirements as soon as CR is published
 Respond to all inquiries immediately; inform folks
if correction will take time.
 Encourage walk-ins and meet individually to
respond to issues.
 Host periodic workshops for entering freshman.
 Offer training workshops to new faculty each
semester.
 Train faculty/staff and students.
 DGW now maintained by the Advisement
Center staff which reflects advisors view (data
layout) rather than the Registrar’s.
Bronx CC
GCC
 Close collaboration between Testing, Registrar’s
and Bursar to correct issues.
 Incoming students provided with DGW training
through either an I.T. workshop or their
freshman OCD/first year experience class.
Strategies Increase Success
 Faculty/staff training offered
prior to start of advisement/
registration periods.
 Adv. Center offers “Advisement
Labs” students invited to learn
about their majors, and use of
DGW.
 Hands-on session students
complete exercises on
navigating DGW, understanding
their curriculum, create
academic plans and keep a
graduation checklist.
 The I.T. Helpdesk trained on assisting users on
accessing DGW as well as recognizing DGW
issues and escalating them to the DGW
Coordinator.
 As of date, have not established best practices
methods.
13
College
Best Practices Implementing DGW
Hostos CC
 On-campus collaboration and communication
among Registrar’s Office and Office of Academic
Advisement.
 Define roles and responsibilities on DGW
maintenance:
Registrar responsible for coding degree
requirements, configuring DGW and CF tables.
Academic Advisement responsible for training
users, marketing, detecting issues, and sending/
responding to students’ communications.
 Registrar’s DGW Team offered workshops to
individual academic depts. Demo the audit to
faculty/staff reviewed its features, discussed
issues and resolution strategies.
KCC
LaGuardia CC
QBCC
Strategies Increase Success
 Recently implemented “Ideas Sharing” Group, a
weekly meeting sponsored by the Office of
Academic Affairs includes representatives from
Registrar, Office of Academic Advisement,
Financial Aid, Academic Scheduling and Transfer
Office. Discuss interpretation of policies, new
policies, changes required in DGW and
Pathways updates.
 Respond and resolve issues as quickly as possible
by updating the scribe rules or correcting data in
CF.
 Work closely with College Curriculum Committee
on pending changes to identify any potential
issues before the new requirements are
approved.
 Collaborate with the various academic depts. and
advisors.
 Talking to every student who walks into Grad
Audit about viewing DGW.
 Being open to hearing about problems and
encouraging advisors/staff to report issues.
 Offering group demonstrations on new changes –
Pathways.
14
5. Indicate what’s needed to strengthen the DegreeWorks project.
Example: enhancements from Ellucian, greater integration with CUNYfirst, be specific.
College
Request for Future Enhancements
Baruch
 More use of the Curriculum Planner – never used before.
 The ability for the Ellucian logic to do certain things. i.e. Instead of being
waived out of the Required Core and the Flexible Core – it allow the courses
to flow in and still waive the block but show the courses and what they
fulfilled. There is real resistance from Advisors because the audit cannot do
that. Currently, courses fall to the bottom of the audit.
 To be able to update a course that can be counted as a Liberal Arts class for
a student or a block even though the course itself is a Non-Liberal Arts
courses.
 In CF - If students could use the Pre-registration function and have it feed
into DGW to determine seats and sections – Administrators would be
interested in that data for planning purposes.
 CIS should increase the number of historical audits advisors and registrar
access recommend a minimum of 10.
 CIS should have a full-time scriber at Central to assist the colleges with
complex scribing issues.
 Ability to print bulk audits.
 Ability to “partition” DegreeWorks so specific DGW managers may work
only on certain blocks within the system.
 Each college needs a team of DGW Specialists (similar to a One-Stop Shop
model) dedicated to solely handing DGW, CF and FACTS issues.
 The director of this area would have input on decision-making related to
these applications and processes.
 Need a way to communicate DGW issues to users or send reminders.
 CIS needs a better way to direct users to change their Profile when they’re
“active” at multiple institutions.
 FACTS application needs to get modified to allow for different types of
overrides when courses are deemed eligible but can’t get processed as
exceptions in DGW.
 Contract Ellucian to enhance ECA algorithm to use range of credits to
determine accurately the total number of allowable credits.
 Consult with Ellucian to create a dynamic integration with CF data to have
students’ view their registration on the audit.
 Obtain professional services to train new staff members on system updates
and scribing.
 Better communication from CIS when issues occur at Central which affects
campus instances of DGW.
 FACTS application needs to get modified to allow for different types of
overrides when courses are deemed eligible but can’t get processed as
exceptions in DGW.
 ECA Formula to allow credit ranges as Program requirements are not
always a set #.
 Real-time course data update from CF > DGW > FACTS.
 Increase # of Historical Audits (if not able consider storage of past audits).
Brooklyn
City
CSI
Hunter
John Jay
Lehman
15
Lehman (cont.)
Medgar
NYCCT
Queens
SPS
York
BMCC
Bronx CC
GCC
 On-campus Training Teams (3 dedicated groups for each College).
 CIS Master Scriber needed who works with campus Coordinators and
Ellucian on product issues and/or enhancements.
 Petitions implementation.
 Better GPA Calculators.
 Reports on Usage.
 More specific Reporting options (not just the canned reports).
 Joint Meetings needed before critical points on semester-base.
 Provide training on other features in DGW, i.e., how to implement Pre-req
blocks and how it impacts ECA formula for allowable electives for TAP.
 Enhancement for Ellucian—update petition component so that it can be
used more effectively.
 Campus administrator should be able to add new records and delete
duplicate records on DGW.
 The process of sending emails when a student cannot access their audit is
time consuming.
 A faster turnaround by Ellucian when tickets are posted.
 System should not be unavailable during registration.
 Encourage greater communication between the Central Office CUNYfirst
and DegreeWorks teams, because often times a change to CUNYfirst will
change the way DegreeWorks behaves and it’s not always anticipated.
 College access to DGW Production instance.
 More communications between CIS and colleges regarding changes to
scribe blocks.
 Quicker resolutions from CIS.
N/A- Did not answer the question.
 Consider a joint meeting each semester with the Registrar’s Council,
DGW Council and Academic Advisement to review University wide issues
and strategies.
 CIS should allow DGW Coordinator to submit tickets directly to the Ellucian
Helpdesk.
 Colleges migrating to CF need to confirm skills data loaded into SKAT and
bridged to DGW.
 More accessibility to DGW data such as a mechanism to schedule Crystal
Reports to export data to various formats through FTP to Tumbleweed.
 Greater integration with CF with real-time data.
 Consideration should be given to implementing the CF Academic
Advisement system to increase data integration and not depend on data
feed from a different system.
16
College
Request for Future Enhancements
Hostos CC
Contract Ellucian to customize the ECA formula:
 Display the total number of credits allowed prior to enrollment in major
requirements.
 Allow greater flexibility in the calculation of elective credits and sharing
these credits with other blocks.
 Display a check off box in the Elective Credits Allowed Area to inform users
when their credits are complete.
 Ellucian should code pre/co requisites checking feature in the audit.
Modification to the i951 Interface Program:
 Bridge additional data values to the web header of the audit for community
colleges.
KCC
Campus strategies:
 Assign dedicated staff to resolve DGW issues on a timelier manner.
 Review DGW advisors’ usage and continue to train them.
Link to Campus Course Catalog & Schedule:
 Change the link to access campus course catalog & schedule of classes
information directly rather than having to link to CF Course Search and then
search for your institution info.
Contract Ellucian to:
 To assist with integrating into DGW pre/co requisite course data and real
time update to the audit.
Modify the i951 Interface Program:
 CIS should allow unique data values – data required for senior vs.
community colleges to display on the web header similar to prior to
migration to CF.
 CIS should be flexible and accommodate individual college’s request to
bridge unique data values to DGW.
LaGuardia CC
Contract Ellucian to:
 Provide greater integration with CF data. Students expect to see their data
instantly updated in DGW.
 Obtain training to mine the database and create reports on courses needed
for the upcoming terms and more accurate usage data.
QBCC
 Contract Ellucian to update the DGW Algorithm to provide greater flexibility
in coding specific requirements (see list of scribe issues).
17
College
Other
Enhancements
discussed at DGW
Council meetings
Request for Future Enhancements
Contract Ellucian to:
 For the general education block, when these requirements are met based
on a prior degree, have the block completed (check off) and at the same
time transfer courses would get applied as course equivalencies and the
total credit value for the block would get adjusted and recalculated. The
extra credits would get assigned to the elective block.
Currently, the block can’t do this. The current option is: have the block rule
complete and courses fall to the elective block. Advisors and students find
this confusing. It would be best, if transfer credits get applied in this block,
and if an area is not met because there isn’t a course equivalency, the
credits get moved to the elective block. This can only be done through a
course to course manual update. If customized this feature would be
optional.
 Modify the Petition and Exception feature to allow for a workflow process
where multiple folks can submit petitions and different user-types can
process exceptions.





New Workflow:
Advisors submit petition for exception.
Request sent to Dept. Chair.
Dept. Chair approves course substitution(s).
Final approval sent to Registrar’s staff to process exceptions and/or have
multiple folk’s process exceptions.
 Process exceptions and/or pseudo courses in batch mode.
 Reviews the format of the audit consider modifying the advisement audit
format to make it student friendly.
 Consider having an audit view for advisors vs. current student’s view.
 DGW Link on Student’s Self-Service Page directly to the audit (by-pass the
Portal).
18
6. How many employees do you believe are necessary to support DegreeWorks efforts in order to maintain
updates, review issues, train users and market the application?
All campuses recommend full-time staff assigned 100% of their time to the DegreeWorks Project.
7. Explain what you envision their roles to be and how the organizational structure would be arranged.
The majority of staff support the current model implemented at the majority of colleges- continue reporting
to the Registrar’s Office.
Summary of Coordinators’ responses:
Roles
Functions - Responsibilities
DGW Coordinators
DGW Scribers
Support Staff
Senior Managers
 Coordinate, train and supervise staff.
 Senior Scriber- knowledgeable on
academic policies and curricula, code
complex requirements.
 Design training materials.
 Provide training to faculty/ advisors/
staff.
 Implement Tracking system for
issues/resolutions.
 Oversee issues & resolution
strategies.
 Liaison to CIS & Ellucian on reporting
issues and request updates.
 Collaborate with other Campus
Enrollment Management Areas.
 Collaborate with Campus Publications
or Communication Areas responsible
for developing marketing materials.
 Campus Lead with support from
Provost Office on strategic marketing
campaign to promote a positive
outlook and benefits of DGW and
expand usage of other DGW features.
 Scribe undergraduate programs for all
active catalog years (as of
implementation).
 Analyze & resolve issues.
 Assist with training.
 Scribe graduate programs for all
active programs.
 Analyze & resolve issues.
 Verify updates.
 Review tracking issues and resolve
them.
 Provide support services to
DGW/FACTS issues.
Number of
Resources
2
Institution Type
Senior or Community
Colleges with enrollment
15,000 or more
1
Community Colleges with
less than 15,000 enrollees
4
Senior or Community
Colleges with enrollment
15,000 or more
2
2
Community Colleges
Senior Colleges
3
Senior Colleges /CC (15,000)
2
Community Colleges
19
DGW Scriber &
Support Staff
Skills Requirements
 Knowledgeable on campus
curriculum, academic policies,
developmental skills and graduation
requirements.
 Need to be cross-trained on various
enrollment management services.
 Excellent communication and
interpersonal skills.
 Detail oriented.
20
DEGREE WORKS (DW) TRAINING PLAN BY COLLEGE/PROGRAM
Target Training Population
Students Faculty Staff
Training Materials
Handouts Powerpoint Video
Training Timeline
Fall Spring Summer
Trainers
Advisement Registrar IT/Tech DW team ✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
The City College of New York
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
College of Staten Island
*CUNY Baccalaureate for
Unique & Interdisciplinary Studies
CUNY School of Professional Studies
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
Baruch College
✔
BMCC
✔
Bronx Community College ✔
✔
✔
Brooklyn College
✔
✔
✔
✔
Hostos Community College
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
Hunter College
John Jay College
of Criminal Justice
Kingsborough
Community College
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
Laguardia Community College
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
Lehman College ✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
Macaulay Honors College
Medgar Evers College NYC College of Technology
Queens College
Queensborough Community College
Stella & Charles Guttman
Community College
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
York College ✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
* CUNY BA will not be using Degree Works. Information provided for Banner System.
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
Appendix E
Proposed Organizational Structure for DegreeWorks and FACTS
Registrar
DegreeWorks Application
DegreeWorks Senior Manager/ Curriculum Analyst
DegreeWorks Coordinator/Master Scriber
Scriber Undergraduate Programs
Scriber Graduate Programs
Support Staff
Support Staff
FACTS Application
CUNYfirst
FACTS Coordinator Senior TAP Certifying Officer
TAP Certifying Officer
Support Staff
APTS Coordinator
Support Staff
FACTS is a web based application that tracks student’s financial aid eligibility and certification as they progress through
their academic career.
 Generate a financial aid audit and evaluate student’s eligibility for the Tuition Assistance Program
(TAP), Aid for Part-Time Study (APTS) and selected HESC scholarships.
 Audit evaluate student’s eligibility for each semester.
 FACTS is used as an advisory tool in determining eligibility.
 Audit displays eligibility indicators that are easy to understand, such as a green checkmark.
 FACTS uses DegreeWorks data to determine course eligibility for aid.
 Transcript indicates courses eligible for aid and indicates repeatable courses for aid.
 Tracks course eligibility for aid as student’s academic program changes.
 Tracks financial policies that differ from academic policies.
 Eligibility indicator is sent to CUNYfirst and determine if an award should get posted to a student’s bill
Users’ log-on to CUNY Portal to access
•
DegreeWorks
•
FACTS – TAP Audit
•
CUNYfirst
1
1
i951 (DGW
Interface Prog.
Loads CF data
into DGW &
FACTS)
CUNY FIRST
Bill
8
5
2
DegreeWorks
Academic
Advisement
System
i1089
4
3
7
Financial Aid
eligibility status
6
FACTS
Financial Aid
Eligibility &
Certification
Tracking
System
Step 1 – Student registers in CUNYfirst
Step 2 – Student data is extracted from CUNYfirst thru the i951 process loaded into DegreeWorks
Step 3 – Student data is loaded into FACTS database from DegreeWorks
Step 4 – Student financial aid data is loaded into FACTS from i951 all other FA data loaded HESC payment roster
Step 5 - DegreeWorks college options requirement designation (i1089) loaded to CUNYfirst
Step 6 – DegreeWorks and FACTS database files are loaded into FACTS
Step 7 – Eligibility indicator sent to CUNYfirst
Step 8 – TAP award posted on student’s account
FORMAT FOR A NEW COURSE
Section AIV: New Courses
AIV.1
CUNYfirst Course ID
Department(s)
Career
Academic Level
Subject Area
Course Prefix
Course Number
Course Title
Catalogue Description
Pre/ Co Requisites
Credits
Contact Hours
Liberal Arts
Course Attribute (e.g. Writing
Intensive, Honors, etc)
Course Applicability
[ ] Undergraduate [] Graduate
[ ] Regular [ ] Compensatory [ ] Developmental [ ] Remedial
[ ] Yes [ ] No
____ Major
____ Gen Ed Required
____ English Composition
____ Mathematics
____ Science
___ Gen Ed - Flexible
_ ___ World Cultures
____ US Experience in its Diversity
____ Creative Expression
____Individual and Society
____Scientific World
Effective Term
Rationale: The graduate theatre program is lacking in coursework in American theatre. This course will help fill that void.
NOTE: At least one Title and IRP code of a program to which the new course is applicable, as per SED regulation.
___ Gen Ed - College Option
College Option Detail ______________________________
AV: 1 Changes to be offered in the XXX Department
CUNYFirst Course ID
FROM
Departments
TO
Course
Pre or co requisite
Hours
Credits
Description
Course
Prerequisite
Hours
Credits
Description
Requirement
Designation
Requirement
Designation
Liberal Arts
[ ] Yes [ ] No
Course Attribute (e.g.
Writing Intensive,
Honors, etc)
Course Applicability
Liberal Arts
[ ] Yes [ ] No
Course Attribute (e.g.
Writing Intensive,
Honors, etc)
____ Major
Course
Applicability
____ Major
____ Gen Ed Required
____ English Composition
____ Mathematics
____ Science
____Gen Ed Required
____ English Composition
____ Mathematics
____ Science
___Gen Ed Flexible
___ World Cultures
___ US Experience in its
Diversity
___ Creative Expression
___ Gen Ed Flexible
___ World Cultures
___ US Experience in its Diversity
___ Creative Expression
___ Individual and Society
___ Individual and Society
___ Scientific World
_____Gen Ed – College Option
College Option Detail
EffectiveTerm
Rationale:
___ Scientific World
OFFICE OF THE REGISTRAR @ LEHMAN COLLEGE | CUNY
DGW + FACTS Support Center
Escalation Protocol
250 Bedford Park Boulevard West
Shuster Hall • Room 108
Bronx, New York
Phone: 718.960.8526, 718.960.1111 (option 3)
DegreeWorks.Audit@Lehman.Cuny.Edu
FACTS.Audit@Lehman.Cuny.Edu
Introduction
The DegreeWorks and FACTS Support Center was established in the beginning months of
2012 right before Lehman’s CUNYfirst Go-Live (APR 2012). Staff members are currently
comprised of the following:


TAP Coordinator (1)
College Assistants (3)
There is daily assistance with the Escalation Protocol from the following who are not
permanently situated in the Center:
 Deputy Registrar/Master Scriber + Coordinator (1)
 TAP Certifying Officer (1)
AIM


To find efficient solutions for problems brought to our attention by (students, faculty, staff).
To make sure that all members are familiar with their responsibility for efficient
troubleshooting.
KEY Principles





Share information appropriately and often.
Seek to resolve issues quickly.
Liaise with other administrative and academic offices at the earliest opportunity.
Become familiar with the escalation routes for escalation and resolution.
Ensure tickets are resolved with notes on key decisions in relation to the resolution process.
ISSUES
1. Unable to Access DegreeWorks
 CUNY Portal information may need to be updated to reflect correct Primary College
(Herbert H. Lehman) and Role (Student).
2. Flagged Courses in DegreeWorks/FACTS
 ECA (elective-credits-allowed) calculation in the degree audit tool (takes into
consideration scribed GenEd/Major/Minor requirements) will determine whether or not a
course(s) is eligible towards the degree being sought given the scribed requirements.
This is independent from whether or not a student receives a TAP award.
*also resolve for advisement purposes.
3. TAP not appearing on CUNYfirst
 For cases where flagged course(s) causes a student’s total number of credits towards
the degree to fall below 12cr. a TAP award will not be issued.

For cases where the TAP Process (runbook) may not have completed running, etc.
4. Refund Check Not Yet Received
 For cases where the TAP Process (runbook) may not have completed running, etc.
2
Escalation Procedure
First level of analysis is performed by the front desk support > College Assistants. CAs
have been trained by the Deputy Registrar, TAP Certifying Officer, and/or TAP Coordinator
on how to determine exactly what a student’s issue may be and how to log and resolve all
walk-in and phone requests for assistance.
The training includes but is not limited to the understanding and use of CUNYfirst,
DegreeWorks, FACTS, and HESC data, Creating and Logging Tickets. This allows our CAs to
be able to move an issue along to the appropriate person(s) for resolution.

College Assistants (CA) 1. Performs root cause analysis (decide whether issue is DGW or FACTS based).
2. Logs ticket with all pertinent student information available.
3. Attempts to troubleshoot issue based on all training provided.
 If DGW (or) FACTS issue is resolved by CA action then escalation procedure is closed
by documenting the solution on ticket with relevant comments and notifying
student of the outcome.
 If DGW (or) FACTS issue is not resolved by CA action then escalate to second level
and notify student of escalation.
Second level of analysis is performed by the Assistant Scriber (position not filled) and/or
TAP Coordinator.
 If DGW (or) FACTS issue is resolved by Assistant Scriber (or) TAP Coordinator action
then escalation procedure is closed by documenting the solution with relevant
comments and notifying the CA to contact the student to relay the outcome.
 If DGW (or) FACTS issue is not resolved as a result of Assistant Scriber (or) TAP
Coordinator action then that person will be responsible for updating the student on
response time until a resolution can be achieved, document any efforts made or
additional information, and escalate to third level.
Third level of analysis is performed by Master Scriber and/or TAP Certification Officer.
 If DGW (or) FACTS issue is resolved by Master Scriber (or) TAP Certification Officer
action then escalation procedure is closed by documenting the solution with
relevant comments and notifying the CA to contact the student to relay the
outcome.
 If DGW (or) FACTS issue is not resolved as a result of Master Scriber (or) TAP
Certification Officer action then that person will be responsible for updating the
student on response time until a resolution can be achieved, document any efforts
made or additional information, and escalate to fourth level.
3
Fourth level of analysis is performed by CUNY CIS (Olga Vega, Alicia Colon, Deborah Hairston).
 DGW (or) FACTS issue is reported to CUNY CIS staff via CRM Ticket. If CIS staff
resolves the issue the CRM ticket will be documented with the solution, ticket will
be closed, and notification will be sent to the Master Scriber and or TAP Certifying
Officer. Notification will then be given to CA to contact student with outcome.
Escalation procedure ends here.
 If CIS staff is not able to resolve DGW issue then escalate to fifth level.
The fifth level of analysis is performed by ELLUCIAN Helpdesk.
 The DGW issue will be escalated to the Ellucian Helpdesk by CIS staff for final
analysis. DGW issue is resolved as a result of Vendor action. CIS will notify Master
Scriber. Notification will then be given to CA to contact student with outcome.
Escalation procedure ends here.
Contact Information:
Takiyah A. Ali
Deputy Registrar
DGW Coordinator + Master Scriber
Shuster Hall, Room 175
[P] 718.960.5105
[F] 718.960.7336
[E] Takiyah.Ali@Lehman.Cuny.Edu
4
e-SRP (electronic student referral system)
(DRAFT)Training Guide for Support Center
1. Log in to CUNYfirst and HESC accounts (Internet Explorer Browser, 2 tabs)
2. Log in to CUNY Portal and e-SRP accounts (Firefox browser, 2 tabs)
Lehman College, CUNY | Prepared By: Takiyah A. Ali
3. College Assistant will conduct intake dialogue, review student record in all systems as indicated
above, log student info into e-SRP Referral system.
4. Begin by entering student EMPLID. Options include entering information manually (or) allowing
system to populate a drop-down selection of up to ten (10) student names directly related to
the order of the first few typed digits.
2
Lehman College, CUNY | Prepared By: Takiyah A. Ali
5. Fields preceded by an asterisk (*) will be automatically populated when the desired student
name is selected.
“Referred To”: select office
area where student issue
will most likely be resolved.
“Add Reason”: a populated
drop-down of reasons for
why a student issue would
need to be referred to the
selected office area.
“Referral Notes”: allows for
free text entry in cases
where pre-populated
statements do not
represent the student issue
fully. More information
must be communicated to
selected office area.
CLICK SUBMIT
6. Verification check of student information is done by system and represented by green
checkmarks. A dialog box will appear, click “Continue”.
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Lehman College, CUNY | Prepared By: Takiyah A. Ali
7. Student Referral notification (e-ticket) is then sent via @Lehman.cuny.edu to identified Review
Group.
8. Review Group members receive email notification where reader is able to quickly identify if
they are the responsible party to “Claim Case” based on the “referral notes” on e-ticket.
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Lehman College, CUNY | Prepared By: Takiyah A. Ali
9. Review Group member claims the case in order to select a “disposition” and add “comments”.
Two (2) Dispositions
Two (2) Actions
Case Review On-going (PAUSE)
5
Lehman College, CUNY | Prepared By: Takiyah A. Ali
Case Review On-going (Re-ASSIGNMENT)
Case Closed
6
Lehman College, CUNY | Prepared By: Takiyah A. Ali
Case Information
 Process Map
 Messages History

Upload Documents
7
Lehman College, CUNY | Prepared By: Takiyah A. Ali
Getting Started For assistance with accessing CUNY Portal or DegreeWorks contact the Information Technology Helpdesk located in Colston Hall, Room 806. Phone: (718) 289‐5970 eMail: Helpdesk @bcc.cuny.edu  Access BCC Degree audit through the CUNY Portal at http://www.cuny.edu  Click on the Log‐in link on the lower left side You will now be on the CUNY Portal Log‐in page If you have not created a Portal account  Click on “Register Now” to create a Username and Password  Click on “Student”; then enter your Last Name, Social Security Number and Date of Birth.  Click on “Next”; then you will be given a Username and asked to create your own personalized Password. If you have already created a Portal account  Enter your Username and Password to Log‐in  Once you are logged into the Portal, you will be brought to “My Page”  Click on the link “CUNYfirst Student Advisement Degree Audit”  You will now be on the main navigation page for the BCC Degree audit application Once you begin a Degree Audit session, you will see the following tabs listing the various tools DegreeWorks offer: The Audit function maps your transcript onto your declared curriculum and catalog year The Planner function displays an academic planner that can be used to plan student’s courses and schedules Audit  Click the View Audit tab to see your degree audit.
 The audit report divides information into blocks:  General information: name, overall GPA, major, catalog year, placement, stops  Summary of general requirements for the degree: GPA, remedials, CPE, OCD, major  CUNY Skills requirements  Major requirements  Courses taken but not counted towards your degree  Courses without a passing grade  Courses in progress The What If function maps your transcript onto any curriculum at BCC What If Click the What If tab:  Select the desired degree, catalog year, and major from the drop‐down menu  A legend at the bottom of the audit screen provides explanation for the symbols used by DegreeWorks  Click Process Audit to see how the courses you have completed meet the new major requirements  If you decide to change from your currently declared plan, please download a Change of Plan (major) form and return it to the Registrar’s Office, Colston Hall, 513
 The Degree Audit tells you the courses you still need to take  The Degree Audit gives you a description of course content and co/prerequisites
Logging Out  Click on the Log Out icon in the top right corner  Do not forget to log out of the CUNY Portal separately The GPA Calc offers three types of GPA calculators GPA Calc From the drop‐down menu select the appropriate GPA Calculator and
click on “Load”  The Graduation Calculator determines the GPA average you will need to maintain to graduate  The Term Calculator may be used to determine how the expected grades for the current semester will affect your overall GPA  The Advice Calculator determines how many credits of a specific grade average you need to reach your desired GPA Appendix J
Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC)
Allana D. Burke (Senior Academic Advisor) &
Kristina Borowski (Senior Academic Advisor)
May 7, 2014
DegreeWorks Training Plan
Goals for DegreeWorks (DW) Training
1. Educate the entire college community about DegreeWorks (DW)
 How to access and read the worksheet
 How to utilize the “what-if” feature for students who want to change their major
 How to utilize the Planner, GPA calculator, etc.
2. Promote the usage of DegreeWorks as a tool not just for advisement degree auditing,
i.e. (Admissions, Financial Aid & Bursars Office functions)
3. Discrepancies/ Incorrect information in DegreeWorks
 How to spot them
 Who to contact
• DW scribers are housed in the Academic Advisement and Transfer
Center. This allows errors to be quickly identified & corrected
Fall 2014 & Spring 2015 Training Plan by Population
Students
Early academic advisement begins on March 20 in the spring semester and on October 20 in
the fall semester. All students advised in the AATC are prompted to log-in to their DW at the
conclusion of their advisement session.
A DegreeWorks (Student Advisement Degree Audit) flyer was created and will be available to
students in the Academic Advisement office, the BMCC information desk, in the academic
departments, in student services offices and on the AATC website. This flyer details to students
how to log-in and highlights features of DegreeWorks. Detailed instruction on modifying the
student profile was also created to assist students in accessing their portal accounts.
In the fall 2012 semester, the AATC created advisement labs. These labs allow students to
receive hands on training on their curriculum and the DegreeWorks system. As in the past, the
advisement labs will occur throughout the academic year.
All entering freshman and transfer students, for the fall 2014 and spring 2015 semesters, who
attend our Getting Prepared to Start (GPS) orientation program will be trained on the
DegreeWorks system and its functionality.
Staff
o
Academic Advisement Staff (includes advisors in AATC, ASAP, Freshman Learning
Academy- FLA and College Discovery- CD)
All academic advisement staff will continue to utilize DW on a daily basis. As in the past,
refreshers will be provided at least two weeks prior to the start of early advisement in
each semester as well as one week prior to regular registration in the summer and
winter. These refreshers include:
 Basic overview of all DW features
 Reminders about incorrect information in DW
• Conflicting catalog years
• No testing scores
• Student groups
 Updates to the system
 Curricular changes
DegreeWorks should not be viewed as just an advisement tool. Administrative offices are able
to utilize DW in order to assist them in various daily activities. We have begun training the
following offices on DW and hope to have refreshers in the fall 2014 and spring 2015
semesters:
o
Admissions Office
 Overview of DW
 Learning the curricula (Pathways & Pre-Pathways) in order to assist in the
evaluation of transcripts & determining transfer credits
 Look ahead for transfer credit evaluation
o
Financial Aid Office
 Overview of DW
 Utilizing the Notes feature especially in regards to Title IV appeals
 Viewing Title IV appeal plans
o
Testing Office
 Overview of DW
 How testing information is displayed in DW
 Utilizing the Notes feature
 General overview of the check-in process for Regular Registration
o
Registrar’s Office
 Overview of DW modifications
 Utilizing DW for graduation audits
 Creating Exceptions
Faculty
The Academic Advisement and Transfer Center is solely responsible for training faculty on DW.
Faculty are responsible for advising students in their major department during early advisement.
o
o
As in the past, refreshers will be provided at least two weeks prior to the start of early
advisement in each semester as well as one week prior to regular registration in the
summer and winter. These refreshers include:
 Basic overview of all DW features
 Reminders about incorrect information in DW
• Conflicting catalog years
• No testing scores
• Student groups
 Updates to the system
 Curricular changes
Supplemental guides are available on the AATC website. We are in the process of
creating additional “how- to” videos and modules for faculty & staff to reference during
advisement
Appendix K
CUNYfirst and Degree Works Curriculum Change Workflow Process
College Curriculum Committee
approves New
Degree/Program/Major/ Course
or Curricula Changes
DegreeWorks Update Form –
Department defines course
requirements needed to scribe
(See Sample Form)
College Senate approves
Curricula Changes
Chancellor’s Office
approves Curricula
Changes
SED
Academic Affairs informs
_________to implement
approved Curricula Changes
Catalog
Coordinator
PHASE I
Registrar
TIPPS
Coordinator
Campus
DegreeWorks Team
PHASE II
Registrar Updates CF
Provost Office/
Academic
Advisement
PHASE III
Updates to DegreeWorks
DW Test Only
Tables
COURSE CATALOG
MAJOR/MINOR –Academic Plan
CONCN – Academic Sub-Plan
CHRRS – Assignment Type
CRCCD – Class Notes
CDEPT – Academic Organization
CREPT- Info in Course Catalog
DISP – Academic Subset
OCRSE- Course Equivalency
DegreeWorks
Coordinator/Master Scriber
CUNYfirst DGW Set up Pages
Institution
Email
Catalog Year
Grade Flags Table
FACTS Waived Elective Credits
By-pass Enrollment Grade Basis
By-pass Class Component
By-pass Class
By-pass Zero Credit Labs
Student Group Options
Other Credit Type Options
Test Scores
Prior Degree Option
Revised May 27, 2014
User doc. file
Scribe Blocks
-- Updating rules when a new course key
approved
-- Modifying rules for changes in degree
requirements
UCX Tables
STU016 Term literals (updated regularly)
STU035 Catalog (updated regularly)
STU023 Major
STU024 Minor
AUD0 27 & 29 What-If Pick-lists
CFG070 Equivalence Records
STU307 Degree
STU563 Concentration
- After adding Codes and Description, it is
necessary to refresh the picklists.
To Refresh Picklist go to:
1. "Scribe" application then go to
2. "Host" and click
3. "Refresh Picklists"
4. Once the job finishes
5. Verify codes that were added or
modified are incorporated into their
respective Picklist.
Updates to DegreeWorks
Production
Once DegreeWorks is updated in
test, DGW Coordinators must
submit a CRM Ticket with the
following requests to CIS to update
production:
-- Copy UCX Tables
-- Copy Scribe Blocks
CRM tickets are also submitted for:
-- Updates to DGW Course Master
-- Issues with CF and/or DGW data
-- Create & Run Reports
June 2012
Queens College
Chancellor’s University Report – Part A: Academic Matters
PART A: ACADEMIC MATTERS June 25, 2012
AI.2. Committee Resolutions, approved Academic Senate 5/3/12
a. The following time table was approved to clarify how changes to general education, majors, minors
and courses will appear in the bulletin, DegreeWorks and CUNYFirst and be official requirements for
students.
Implementation Policies and Timetable
For any academic year Fall 20XX- Spring 20YY (YY = XX+1)
Changes to
Bulletin/DegreeWorks
Effective for
Activated in CUNYFirst
Students entering
FA 20XX – SP 20YY
Academic Year
General
Education
Changes approved by BoT
up to June 20XX
Fall 20XX
New
Majors/Minors
Changes approved by BoT
up to June 20XX
Fall 20XX
Changes to
Majors/Minors*
Changes approved by BoT
up to June 20XX
Fall 20XX
New courses
All new courses approved by Whenever they
Changes approved by
BoT up to June 20XX
can be scheduled. BoT up to Sept 20XX;
may be scheduled for
Spring 20YY
Changes to
Courses
Changes approved by BoT
up to June 20XX
Fall 20XX
Fall 20XX
Fall 20XX
* Students always have the option to follow newer requirements in their entirety when a major is
changed. It is incumbent on the department to explain that academic requirements as stated in
DegreeWorks and CUNYFirst will vary.
b. Grade Replacement
The grade replacement policy applies to courses that are an exact match. A writing-intensive course
is no different from a non-writing-intensive course for the purposes of grade replacement. Appeals
may be handled by the USSC.
c. P/NC for Minors.
Courses used to complete the requirements for a minor may not be taken P/NC.
The Academic Advising Center Kiely Hall 217 | 718.997.5599 | advising.qc.cuny.edu Change of Requirement Designation Form Student Name (Last, First) ________________________________________ CUNY ID ____________________ QC Email Address _______________________________ @ QC.CUNY.EDU Phone # ____________________ QC Matriculation Term  Fall  Spring Year ________________________________________________ Request to Elect Secondary Requirement Designation (RD) for Core Courses at Queens College Term Course (Dept. & Nbr.) CF Class Nbr. Primary RD Secondary RD Elected __________ __________________ __________________ ____________ ___________________ __________ __________________ __________________ ____________ ___________________ __________ __________________ __________________ ____________ ___________________ __________ __________________ __________________ ____________ ___________________ __________ __________________ __________________ ____________ ___________________ __________ __________________ __________________ ____________ ___________________ __________ __________________ __________________ ____________ ___________________ __________ __________________ __________________ ____________ ___________________ Request to Modify Requirement Designation (RD) for Coursework Transferred to Queens College (Note: This is completed to properly reflect RDs in CF and DGW. RD assigned by the sending CUNY institution may not be changed unless approval is granted by the Office of General Education; if GE substitution/waiver is warranted, it is handled by the Office of General Education.) School Incoming Course QC Equivalency RD Assigned Notes __________ __________________ __________________ ____________ ___________________ __________ __________________ __________________ ____________ ___________________ __________ __________________ __________________ ____________ ___________________ __________ __________________ __________________ ____________ ___________________ __________ __________________ __________________ ____________ ___________________ Name of Advisor _______________________ Advisor’s Signature ________________________________ Date _________________________________ Student’s Signature _______________________________ Rev 2/2014 ADV/ISL Appendix M: CIS/IT Recommendations for Process Improvement of Advisement Technologies & Services
1. Upgrade DegreeWorks to latest Version 4.1.3
DegreeWorks needs to get upgraded to its latest version which offers greater functionality to existing
features, new functions and correction to system defects.
Ellucian will not invest in updating the current version (4.09) even though they’ve continued to assist CUNY
with resolving issues.
Key Features of Version 4.1.3
A. Enhanced Educational Planner:
• Offers a Template Management module whereby model degree plans can get created and assigned to
student individually, or via batch mode. This can be useful when offering learning communities or
block programming and for customizing individualized audits which could be useful for CUNYBA
Students.
• Create an academic program of study for each term until graduation and include GPA requirements.
• Drag-and-drop functionality to add courses to the plan from the course catalog or the student’s own
degree audit.
• Plan management determine who can update or just view a saved plan.
• Improved display of courses listed as “place holders.”
• Plan tracking which evaluate whether a planned course been completed and students’ on-track to
complete degree requirements.
• Link to a degree requirement which displays course list that meets requirements.
• Warning display if course is added to the plan that’s already completed.
• Update Notes feature allows users to post notes in different parts of the plan.
• Predictive enrollment scheduling feature provides data useful for scheduling forecasting.
B. Printing Audits
Run, freeze and print batch audits (including What-If audits). Freezing audits will complement FACTS
frozen audit documenting compliance with state aid rules.
C. Enhanced Transfer Services – Generate a What-If Transfer Audit for Prospective Degree Program at
Another CUNY College
• Student’s current degree requirements applied to the degree requirements at another college within
CUNY.
• The What-If Transfer Audit displays courses met and list courses remaining at the other college.
• Student can add courses they planned to take and courses applied to the What-If Transfer Audit.
• Set-up a link to find courses required at the transfer institution that meets course equivalents at the
home college.
• Set-up links to contact an Advisor at the transfer institution, transfer application page and web
resources.
D. Modification to Scribe Rules and Additional Repeat Policy
1
Additional rules added to the current course key used to scribe policies and requirements.
E.
•
•
•
Fixes to Current Audit Issues
Elective Allowable formula processed more efficiently in the upgraded version.
Correct the incorrect term that displays for repeated courses in the In-Progress block.
Correct the font size in the printed version of the audit. Currently, the printed version at times is not
readable.
F. Improved performance
This updated version has improved the performance of the load and run time of the application.
2. Modifications to be implemented during DGW Upgrade to 4.1.3 Version
A.
•
•
•
•
•
DGW Web Customization
Fix PDF Audits to display same logo as regular audit.
Add a Tab to post the “Report a Problem Web-Form.”
Post a DGW and FACTS link on the Student’s Self-Service Page in CUNYfirst (by-pass the Portal log-in).
Set-up single sign-on for DGW and CUNYfirst.
Add additional data to the web-header for community colleges.
B. Set-up Dynamic Refresh Process
After students’ register, immediately process and display in the audit enrolled courses.
C. Pilot test the Ellucian Interface Program
Ellucian’s developed a PeopleSoft interface program which CUNY should test to evaluate the differences
between CUNY’s requirements and how they’ve coded students’ data. Using Ellucian interface will
expedite upgrades but may require customization to include all of CUNY’s requirements.
D. Promote Usage of Existing Features in DGW
Implementing the following functions in DGW require modifications to the i951. Users need to commit to
using these features.
• Advice Jump – hyper link to course list, schedule of classes or course catalog.
• Athletic Eligibility Audit.
• Military Service Member’s Opportunity Audit.
• Financial Aid Audit requires coding Federal Aid Rules.
• Reports to identify At-Risk Students, Honors, Dean’s List, etc.
3.
Modification Required in FACTS
A C-5 has been submitted from the Office of Financial Aid Services requesting modification to the FACTS
Application to resolve inaccuracy which negatively impact students’ eligibility.
2
4. Mobile App – DegreeWorks and FACTS
Consider implementing the Ellucian Mobile App System that can be customized and include access to
other systems such as CUNY Portal, CUNYfirst, FACTS, TIPPS, etc.
5. Enhancements required from Ellucian and CIS
Listed below are enhancements to DGW needed to correct defects and limitations as requested by DGW
Coordinators from the feedback advisors and students have provided.
Enhancement from Ellucian requires Contractual Services and Budget
a. Modify the Best Fit algorithm to display in an audit the “First Fit” algorithm. This audit would apply
courses to rules and these course would not get reassigned to another requirement unless it’s the only
course that meets the requirement. This option would get set through a table configuration.
b. Modify the ECA formula to use range of credits to determine accurately the total number of allowable
credits.
c. Modify the general education block to apply courses waived based on prior degree or transfer credits
and have the block completed. This requires using pseudo courses if there’s no course to course
equivalency and recalculating total number of credits for these pseudo courses which would get reassigned to the Elective Credits Block.
d. Code a prerequisites and corequisites feature to use CUNYfirst prerequisite/corequisite data and display
in the audit courses for which the pre/corequisite are met.
e. Provide an extract from the Educational Planner and register students in advised courses in CUNYfirst.
f.
Provide a warning message when course advised are not listed in the Course Catalog or offered that
semester.
g. Modify the Petition and Exception feature to allow for a workflow process where multiple folks can
submit petitions and different user-types can process exceptions.
New workflow to include:
• Advisors submit petition for exception-(s).
• Request sent to Dept. Chair.
• Dept. Chair approve course substitution-(s).
• Final approval sent to Registrar’s staff to process exceptions.
• Exception posted on DGW must get recorded in CUNYfirst.
• Notice sent to submitter exception-(s) have been processed.
h. Provide training on the table schema for colleges to extract data and customize reports. (refer to report
list required)
3
i.
Modify Notes feature on the Planner to only allow the originator of the notes to modify the text while
other users can view and add additional notes.
j.
Provide a function to process exceptions - native courses or pseudo courses in a batch mode.
k. Offer additional formats of the audit to simplify the display of requirements especially when colleges
have complicated requirements or long list of courses in blocks. Possibly create a hyper-link for long list
of courses.
l.
Release the “Goal Chaser” Audit where a message displays on the degree/major/minor student has
completed all of the requirements and eligible to apply for graduation.
4
Appendix N: Degree Works Administration and Staffing
Curriculum Analyst &Senior Manager
• Review Chancellor’s University Report to identify updates required in Degree Works;
assign coding changes to Degree Works coordinator and master scribers. Code complex
requirements.
• Maintain current knowledge of academic policies and curricula.
• Analyze academic structure of the audit/worksheet and scribe blocks* to increase
readability of the audit.
• Design training materials.
• Coordinate, train, and supervise Degree Works staff.
• Provide training to faculty, advisors, and staff.
• Prepare, analyze, and distribute Degree Works reports.
• Implement tracking system for issues/resolutions.
• Oversee issues and resolution strategies.
• Liaise with Ellucian and CUNY CIS on reporting issues and updates.
• Collaborate with senate, academic departments, and other campus enrollment
management areas.
• Collaborate with campus publications, etc. to develop marketing materials.
• Update Degree Works website.
Degree Works Coordinator
• Analyze catalog requirements and identify requirements not currently coded; scribe
these requirements.
• Review academic records for inconsistencies in coding.
• Modify current scribed blocks to add new logic coded by Ellucian.
• Update the Degree Works tables in CUNYfirst.
• Update the Degree Works tables in the Degree Works PC Application SureCode (a set of
tables used to process data in the application).
• Assist with training master scribers and offer campus-wide training.
• Conduct departmental outreach to clarify program modifications.
• Liaise with Registrar’s Office, scheduling officers, and others as needed regarding
coding needed in CUNYfirst to ensure accurate information in Degree Works.
Degree Works Master Scriber
• Scribe undergraduate programs for all active catalog years.
• Update for all catalog years’ courses that fulfill prerequisite/corequisite requirements,
courses approved as exceptions or substitutions for selected programs, minor and/or
concentration requirements.
• Modify scribe blocks to include new courses applicable to all curricula. Scribe
graduation requirements for all active programs.
• Review issues reported and resolutions with campus local Helpdesk.
• Analyze and resolve issues.
Degree Works Support Staff
• Verify updates in Degree Works test and production versions of the audit/worksheets.
• Process exceptions and substitutions.
• Review tracking issues, escalate issue to Degree Works coordinators or master scribers,
and notify submitter issues been resolved.
• Manage the system used to track issues resolution.
• Provide support services to Degree Works/FACTS issues.