To help State University of New York (SUNY) students plan their college careers, an online and interactive degree-planning service will be made available starting fall 2016.
Degree Works is course-planning software that can be customized for different institutions, such as the SUNY campuses. Students can see their major and general education requirements and plan schedules in one place. Binghamton University has used the service since fall 2013.
The improved program is in the process of being implemented at all 64 SUNY campuses, and would help current students and transfers efficiently plan their degree requirements. This has the potential to increase graduate numbers from 93,000 to 150,000 annually by making degree-planning easier and more efficient, according to a news release by SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher.
The updated and system-wide Degree Works will also include a Transfer Finder, where students looking to transfer into the SUNY system will be able to search for degree programs at all SUNY schools and see how their credits would transfer from different institutions. Students will also be able to compare their potential progress at up to three SUNY institutions simultaneously to make the most-informed decision in terms of cost and time to graduate.
Amber Stallman, the associate director for student records at BU, said the Transfer Finder is great news for those looking to come to BU.
“The system wide implementation allows possible transfer students to gain a better understanding of how their transfer coursework will work towards degree requirements at Binghamton University,” Stallman wrote in an email. “This will allow students to have a clear understanding on the amount of courses needed to complete a degree at Binghamton University.”
Having the Transfer Finder tool would have made the transfer process less stressful, said Ana Zagurskaya, a junior majoring in psychology who transferred to BU from Lehman College.
“If I was introduced to Degree Works before coming to [BU] it would have made the transition much easier,” she said. “I would also have been able to see which credits wouldn’t be transferred over. I lost like 14 credits, so almost a whole semester.”
According to Casey Vattimo, the director of public relations for SUNY, there is a lot of planning and work required to bring the software to a university system as large as SUNY.
“Our 64 campuses are in the process of coding their courses into the Degree Works program so that they can be read and audited both on-campus and ultimately, on campuses across SUNY,” Vattimo wrote in an email. “It is a significant process for our Information Technology divisions, to say the least.”
Stallman said the student and adviser response at BU has been positive, and she plans to expand the program.
“Degree requirements are more easily understood in Degree Works and the system offers us the flexibility to add clarification where degree requirements may be unclear,” Stallman wrote. “As we move forward, we will continue to introduce new functionality, focusing on the creation of electronic degree plans, allowing students to map out their course selection for future semesters.”