update on DegreeWorks issues
by advising＠lists.sis.utsa.edu
As all of you are probably aware, we've had some issues with the availability and speed of the DegreeWorks server over the past couple of weeks. We've discussed these problems with people in OIT, and this is what we've learned. OIT is aware that the server cache has been getting full, leading to slow-downs or crashes of the server, so as an interim measure they've been scheduling server restarts approximately every five hours to clear the cache and speed up processing. Initially the scheduled restarts were further apart, but when we reported that the server was crashing in the afternoons, they increased the frequency of the restarts. This is just an interim measure to try to keep the server up and running fairly efficiently, and it only takes about two minutes to restart the server. OIT is working with both Ellucian (the company that makes DegreeWorks and Banner) and an IT consulting company called Strata to try to resolve the problems. So far the suggestions Ellucian and Strata have offered have not fixed the problems, so OIT is continuing to work with them to find a solution.
When we did the upgrade from DegreeWorks 4.1.4 to 4.1.6 a few weeks ago, OIT didn't include a local modification that allows advisors to see the audits of recently graduated undergrads who have been accepted into UTSA grad programs. At the moment, advisors can only view the audits of the graduate degree, not the undergrad degree. We only became aware of this issue when the grad school started updating Banner to put these students into their grad programs and advisors began doing grad audits on those students. OIT is working on fixing this issue. In the meantime, if you need to do a grad audit on a student who is now a grad student and the undergrad program isn't showing up in DegreeWorks, here's what you can do:
1. Click on What If
2. Select the catalog under which the student graduated
3. Select the program
4. Select the major
5. Select Concentration, Minor, etc., if applicable
6. Click either Process What-If or Save as PDF
That should return an accurate audit, including the exceptions. The only problem we've noticed with this procedure is that the student's GPA on the What If audit is incorrect, yielding an error message that says "Your GPA is below 2.0." This is because the What If is returning the grad GPA (currently 0.00 because the student hasn't taken any classes) rather than the undergrad GPA. We've reported this issue to OIT as well. If you need to check the student's GPA, it's in Banner in SHATERM.
These are all the universal issues I'm aware of in DegreeWorks, but if you have any questions, feel free to email the DegreeWorks(a)utsa.edu<mailto:DegreeWorks@utsa.edu> mailbox.
Jimmy
James R. Adair, Ph.D.
Associate Director of Advising Technology
Lecturer II, Department of Philosophy and Classics
One UTSA Circle
San Antonio, TX 78249
210-458-6216
