Quick Guide on Counting Free Electives
by advising@lists.it.utsa.edu
Hello all,
I've attached a quick guide regarding the removal of the free electives blocks. I will be working on something specifically for students that you can send to them when/if they have questions.
I will send a spreadsheet that calculates the electives number for you in my next email for anyone that is interested in that.
A few things to keep in mind:
* The 39 upper-division and 120 hour requirement counts at the top of DegreeWorks in the degree block. These will be your jumping off point when figuring out elective counts. When you meet with your students, please make a point of reviewing the requirements in the degree block.
* All courses that don't have a place to "go" within the audit will fall to Additional Courses. This includes electives. The exception to this are courses from a community college. Since the community college block is a place for them to "go" they will hang out there.
* I took a look at exceptions made within a one year period. Within the top 20 requirements that had the most exceptions, about half of all exceptions were in the electives blocks. (3,365 to be exact.)
* The counts for 120 and 39 are dynamic. They automatically update each time you pull up a student's audit. You will not have to worry about adjusting based on double-dips, because those will already be accounted for by DegreeWorks.
* These changes affect students starting Fall 2019 forward.
* If the student meets the 120 hour or 39 upper-division hour requirements but they are missing something for their major or core, that requirement will be in red. That will be the indicator that they are still missing something. Conversely, if everything in core and major are in yellow/green, but the requirement for 120 or 39 are in red, then you know they are missing electives.
* PLANNER: the Still Needed menu in the planner will now not show requirements for electives. However, when you go to your Still Needed menu, and select the Refresh button, rather than getting a notice that all requirements have been met or added to the plan, you will see the "Degree in _____" still hanging out with no courses listed under the menu. This will be your indication that they need electives (or are missing some other degree requirement.) You can go to the Audit View to see how many hours are needed to reach the 120 or 39 minimums.
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If you have any questions or notice any issues please email DegreeWorks(a)utsa.edu<mailto:DegreeWorks@utsa.edu>. Or feel free to shoot me an email directly at Amanda.Garcia(a)utsa.edu<mailto:Amanda.Garcia@utsa.edu>. I am more than happy to meet with you (solo or groups) if you want to go over anything.
Regards,
Amanda Garcia
Program Coordinator
Advising Administration
University of Texas at San Antonio
210-458-6519