Enhancements have been implemented in Degree Planner, which has resolved several course-sharing issues previously reported by students and academic advisors.
With the launch of Degree Planner 2.0, SMU did not have the option to adjust when course sharing was evaluated. This led most students, especially newer students with several remaining requirements, to see their Common Curriculum requirements grouped together upon opening their plan. In addition, Degree Planner auto-selects courses that it determines would benefit students, particularly those that fulfill multiple Common Curriculum requirements.
With this enhancement, Degree Planner will no longer constantly evaluate course sharing and will only evaluate it once a student selects a course. Requirements will default to appearing individually unless a student specifically selects a course that fulfills multiple. This means the tool operates regarding course sharing in much the same way as Degree Planner 1.0 but with all the speed and improvements of 2.0.
It is possible that Degree Planner may still auto-select courses for individual requirements, but the SMU in Four team has not encountered anything as extreme as what it was doing prior to this enhancement. We also have a continuing issue open with our vendor: reducing the number of times Degree Planner auto-selects courses.
Overall, this is a significant enhancement and has resolved the issue we have received most frequently with the tool.
Thanks go to several team members in the Registrar’s Office and the Office of Information Technology for implementing these enhancements. As a reminder, undergraduate students will be required to submit an updated Degree Plan by Saturday, March 1, according to the Academic Calendar.