The degree audits of incoming LSU students will have a new format beginning this fall. The Office of Academic Affairs recently unveiled the “Recommended Path,” a new academic assistance tool that will serve as the new degree audit for all incoming LSU students in the class of 2010 and beyond. The “Recommended Path” is the first step in a complete overhaul of the University’s academic assistance program, a change that won’t affect current students but will become LSU’s main degree audit by 2007. Vice Provost of Academic Affairs Frank Cartledge said the changes are needed to provide LSU students with more simplified academic planning tools. “The new degree audit came about as a result of complaints Academic Affairs received from students regarding the cumbersome, outdated nature of the registration system, the difficulty associated with registering for classes and the lack of a course wait-listing system,” Cartledge said. “We’re in the process of making all those changes, but the first step in doing that was to make sure all the degree audits were in order.” Like its predecessors, the new degree audit is computer-based, found as a sub-category in the classes and scheduling tools found on the LSU Academics home page. Modeled after the flow-chart system currently used in the College of Engineering, the “Recommended Path” uses the college, graduation year and major of each student to generate a semester-by-semester breakdown of personal graduation requirements. Classes needed for graduation requirements are bolded, while elective courses, college admission requirements, academic performance minimums and other information found in the current degree audit are also listed in the one-page chart. Despite the similarities, Cartledge said the key difference between the two audits is the concise, simplified format of the “Recommended Path.” “The new audit will help students determine their classes based on their intended majors, rather than the more general system currently used in degree audits,” Cartledge said. “Now they’ll have a clear, specific list of what classes they need at a particular point in their academic careers.” To acclimate incoming LSU students to the “Recommended Path,” advisors have begun using it during the freshman orientation, advising and preregistration sessions currently underway on campus. Student Government President Chris Odinet, who worked with Academic Affairs to plan the project, said the new degree audit is one of many changes that will bring a more modern feel to the University’s academic advising system. “It’s a much more user-friendly system,” Odinet said. “Students will have an up-to-date registration system that will provide the same online tools used at other universities.” In addition to “Recommended Path,” changes will be made to the entire academic advising program, including the creation of a course waiting-list system that will be available to all students by 2007. It’s a tool that Cartledge said will help sophomores and juniors, many of whom have complained to Academic Affairs about the registration system’s lack of fairness during the class sign-up process. The changes will also include a semester-by-semester flowchart that allows students to interactively map out and edit a four-year plan as well as the option for students to register for all their courses at once rather than individually. Many of these tools, which are used at Tulane University and the University of New Orleans, will apply to all LSU students, although Cartledge said expanding the new degree audit to the entire student body is an unrealistic goal. “It’s been and continues to be a massive undertaking, but the system is currently in use, without any problems,” Cartledge said. “That having been said, it would be nearly impossible to go back and retroactively change the degree audits of thousands of LSU students. But the majority of these plans will apply to everyone, which will put all LSU students and the University on the same page.” Many incoming students, like freshman English major Dan Maturi, say the new degree audit is a useful tool in planning their academic careers. “I like the format of the new system,” Maturi said. “It’s easy to see what classes I need so I can make a four-year plan.” But others, like freshman Spanish major Danielle Baubin, don’t see the need for a new degree audit that contains the same information as its predecessor. “I’m not sure the new degree audit is necessary,” Baubin said. “It has the same information as before, just in a new format. I didn’t think the older audit was that difficult to read or use.” Cartledge said the changes are needed to bring LSU’s registration system up to speed with its regional and national counterparts through the creation of tools like the course waiting-list. Through these changes, Cartledge said he hopes students will encounter a simple, self-explanatory system that will guide them through their academic careers. “The idea is to give students a clearer form of guidance during their critical decision-making processes,” Cartledge said. “The new degree audit is the first step in that, and I believe the students will benefit from these changes.”
_____Contact Joe Ehrich at [email protected]