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Academic Affairs

Office of the Registrar

DegreeWorks Help

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DegreeWorks is easy to navigate using this simple legend to track degree requirements:

  • Indicates the requirement has not been completed, and is not In Progress.
  • Indicates the requirement is complete.
  • Indicates the requirement is In Progress.

DegreeWorks is designed to pull real-time information directly from Western’s student database on demand. That being said, DegreeWorks is only as accurate as the information in the system. If you notice any of the following issues, they can easily be resolved by contacting the Office of the Registrar in Taylor Hall 300.

The Office of the Registrar may not have received your Substitution form. If you have not already done so, meet with your academic advisor to complete a Substitution/Exemption/Catalog Extension form. This form must be approved by both your advisor and Department Chair prior to submission. Once received please allow a couple days for the form to be processed.

Once the substitution is entered into DegreeWorks, it will immediately appear on your audit.

If your substitution applies to a General Education course, please allow more time as these must also be approved by the Registrar.

Transfer courses are applied in DegreeWorks based on Western equivalencies and/or your signed and submitted Transfer Pre-Approval form. If you believe that a course did not transfer in properly, please contact the Transfer Evaluator, Carrie Reinecke, in the Office of the Registrar.

DegreeWorks is driven by the information in Western’s student database. Therefore, if your information is incorrect in the system, your audit will not display properly.

Check the catalog year and area of study listed in the top left of your audit.

If the catalog year, major, or minor listed is incorrect, contact the Office of the Registrar to update your information. Please keep in mind that curriculum is always changing. If your program has recently experienced a significant change, your program is NOT automatically updated. If you opt to follow the new curriculum you must submit a Change of Major, Minor, Catalog form.

*Note that you cannot change to a catalog year that is before your admission term or during a time you were not attending Western.

For questions not answered here, check the Frequently Asked Questions.

Beyond these Help pages, your first point of contact should be your academic advisor. If your advisor is unable to resolve your questions, they may refer you to the appropriate contact in the Office of the Registrar.

You may also submit email questions to reg_advise@western.edu, although many times an in person visit will allow us to assist you better.

Planner is a tool that helps you map out future semesters.

Both you and your advisor can create academic plans. You may find it useful to create a plan for your next semester prior to your advising appointment. Some departments have large or sequential course requirements, and you may want to plan multiple semesters. Planner also allows you to enter reminders in the Notes area of Planner.

By utilizing a split screen, Planner allows you to drag and drop courses from your audit into future semester plans. You can also type courses directly into the planner boxes. You must enter the course as it is labeled in the catalog (e.g., GEOG 110, not Geography 110).

No. Courses entered into Planner will not affect your actual audit.

You can, however, see how the courses you have entered into Planner will apply by checking the box(es) next to each semester that you wish to include, then click “Process New”.

On the left-hand side of Planner you will see how your anticipated courses apply to various requirements. Note that you cannot save Planner audit. You may also apply a What If scenario to your Planner audit. This is especially useful if you have not formally updated your major, etc.

No. You can use Planner now to map out your General Education requirements and make sure you are on track to complete them in your first two years.

You can also use the What If option in the Planner to map out possible plans to completing various majors.

Yes. Your advisor can see your plan(s) and assist you in the planning process. You can utilize the Notes feature to track advising sessions and save reminders.

Your advisor may lock a developed plan. Once your plan is locked, you will need to return to your advisor to make any additional changes.

No. The Planner is for projection purposes, only. Course registration will remain the same through your MyWestern account.

You should always review your plan with your advisor, as they will be your best resource for knowing when particular courses in their discipline are offered. Final course schedules are available to students online shortly before registration.

If you discover that a course you planned for is not being offered, you should identify an alternate course and adjust your plan accordingly.

Yes, there is a print link on the top left of Planner.

Faculty and staff who advise you may periodically make notes regarding registration, transfer courses, future term plans, etc. This information is meant to be helpful to you and to others you may be working with academically. Anyone who has access to your record in DegreeWorks can view the notes displayed here.

Notes should be retained as part of the permanent record, but if a Note was made in error the faculty or staff member who entered the Note should contact the Office of the Registrar for assistance in removing it.

What kinds of GPA calculations can DegreeWorks perform?

The GPA Calc tab provides 3 GPA calculators to help students and their advisors determine the grades the student needs in order to obtain a desired or required GPA.

There are three calculators to use:

Graduation Calculator Term Calculator Advice Calculator

How can I achieve a certain GPA by graduation?

The Graduation Calculator helps to determine how to earn a desired GPA over the course of the entire degree program.

Your current cumulative GPA will display. Enter your required remaining credits, total credits needed to graduate, then your desired GPA. Click calculate.

The calculator will recommend how to obtain your goal, if possible.

How do I project what my GPA will be at the end of the semester? If I added a late term course, how might that affect my GPA?

The Term Calculator shows what earning specific grades in the current classes will do to the overall GPA.

Your cumulative GPA and completed credits will display. Simply enter your expected grades from the pick-list next to each course you’ve registered for. If you anticipate adding an additional course, you may manually enter it as well. Click Calculate.

A summary of what was selected will be presented along with your anticipated GPA.

How many A’s, B’s, C’s, etc do I need to earn to achieve a certain GPA by graduation?

The advice calculator shows how many hours need to be taken and what grades would need to be earned to obtain a desired GPA.

Your Cumulative GPA and Credits Earned will display. Enter your desired GPA and click Calculate.

Recommendations on how to achieve your desired GPA will display.

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