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Table of Contents maxLevel 3
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Logging on to EASI
To get to the GCD, go to the URL https://utdirect.utexas.edu/easi. You will be required to type in your UT EID and password. Once you are in EASI, you should see the following services in the "Launch a Process" list.
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Please email (or have the appropriate person in your office email) the Graduate School authorizers to request authorization. Be sure to specify what kind of role you need -- Graduate Coordinator, Graduate Advisor, etc. -- and the major codes you need to work with. Be aware that there may be some formal requirements for getting your authorization granted.
DRAFT The Graduate Coordinator Desktop: Step-by Step
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Step 1. Setting Up Concentrations
In the context of the GCD, a concentration is a track, focus, or area of study that helps to uniquely identify a degree plan.
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Tip: Set up concentrations BEFORE creating degree plans if you need the concentration to be part of that degree plan definition. Note: If your program is undergoing a field of study change, please wait to set up concentrations until the new field of study is ready. The field of study will be available on the "Select a Degree..." pulldown if it is ready for use. Please contact the Graduate School if you need help accessing the new field of study. |
Concentrations: Getting Started
Click on "GCD Concentration Maintenance" in the EASI Launch a Process list.
Adding a Concentration
At the bottom of the Concentration Maintenance page, after the list of current concentrations, you'll see a form Add a New Concentration.
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Click the "Add New Concentration" button to finish. The new concentration should appear in the list at the top of the page.
Updating a Concentration
Click on the "Update" link on the far right in the concentration list. NOTE that you can't change the degree associated or the two-character concentration abbreviation. You can change the official/department-tracked designation, the short description, the long description, or make the concentration inactive. Please click on the "Update Concentration" button to save your changes.
Inactivating a Concentration
Click on the "Update" link on the far right in the concentration list. On the next screen, at the bottom, there's a checkbox you can mark to make the concentration inactive. Please click on the "UpdateConcentration" button to save your changes.
Viewing and Reactivating an Inactive Concentration
You can view inactive concentrations by clicking on the "Show inactive concentrations" link at the bottom of the concentrations list. Once the inactive list is displayed, you can click the "Update" link on the far right and uncheck the box to reactivate it. Please click on the "Update Concentration" button to save your changes.
DRAFT The Graduate Coordinator Desktop: Step-by Step
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Step 2. Setting Up Degree Plans
In the context of the GCD, a degree plan is a set of general requirements that a student must fulfill to get a degree. The requirements might include specific required core courses for the degree, courses of the student's choice in a specific area (i.e., major), or courses of the student's choice in a non-specific area (i.e., minors and electives).
| Warning |
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| Note: If your program is undergoing a field of study change, please wait to set up degree plans until the new field of study is ready. The field of study will be available on the "Select a Degree..." pulldown if it is ready for use. Please contact the Graduate School if you need help accessing the new field of study. |
Degree Plans: Getting Started
Click on "GCD Degree Plan Maintenance" in the EASI Launch a Process list.
If there are already degree plans for your department, you'll see a list of them. If not, you'll see "There are no degree plans currently listed for your department."
Adding a Degree Plan
To add a new degree plan, click the "Add a New Degree Plan" link located at the bottom of the page under the list.
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When you have successfully added your degree plan, click on the "View/Add Categories" link at the bottom of the page to go on to the next step.
A Note about Dual Degrees
Most dual-degree students will have up to 2 official degree plans—one for each degree that falls under OGS purview.
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In all other cases, each Graduate Coordinator must set up and maintain a Program of Work representing their portion of the dual-degree. Each Graduate Coordinator must assign their Program of Work to the dual-degree student, and each Program of Work will be routed for approvals from the appropriate Graduate Coordinator and Graduate Adviser when the Master's Graduation Application is submitted (limited pilot launch of online dual degree applications begins Summer 2022).
DRAFT The Graduate Coordinator Desktop: Step-by Step
Adding Categories to Your Degree Plan
The GCD enables you to organize your degree requirements by category. Examples of categories you might include are things like Required Core Courses, Major Electives, Minor/Supporting Coursework, and Thesis/Report.
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| Tip: It's a good idea to sketch out what categories and subcategories you will need BEFORE you start entering them in the GCD. |
DRAFT The Graduate Coordinator Desktop: Step-by Step
Setting Up a Category
On the Category List/Add page, you will see a display that says "Add New Category". For an existing degreee plan, this will link to a form that is at the bottom of the page after your list of current categories.
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Repeat the above procedure for all categories you wish to add to the degree plan.
DRAFT The Graduate Coordinator Desktop: Step-by Step
Modifying and Deleting Categories
If you want to modify the category information or delete the category, click on the "Update" link next to that category in the list. On the Modify Category page, you can change the category name, description, minimum GPA, and hours information for that category. Click on the "Update Category" button to save your changes.
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When you have successfully entered all your categories, it's time to add details to each category. On the first category in your list, click on the "Update Details" link to go on to the next step.
Adding Category Details to a Category
The category details represent the degree requirements -- i.e., courses your students must take or other requirements they must fulfill. Although each detail represents a single requirement, some requirements may be more specific than others. The GCD enables you to make each requirement as specific or general as you need to.
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Let's look at each of the three ways.
Option 1. Entering a Course Department and Course Number
Use this option if the requirement is a specific course the student is required to take. In the Course ID column on the Maintain Category Details page, type the course department or field of study in the first box and the complete course number in the second box (i.e., ADV 380J.)
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| Tip: In some browsers, the topics window closes and the page refreshes automatically when you choose a topic. If this does not happen, please close the topics window manually and click on the "Refresh Browser" link at the top of the page to refresh it. You will see the topic title you selected, as well as the topic key. |
Option 2. Entering a Course Department
Use this option if the student is required to take a course within a specific field of study, but has some choice in what courses they take. (For example, a "Major Electives" category might allow the student to choose any course in their major field of study).
In the Course ID column on the Maintain Category Details page, type the course department or field of study in the first box and leave the second box blank. You do not need to fill in the description. The system will make up a title for you, such as "ADV COURSE 1," and put it in the description field. If you don't wish to use these titles, you can type over them and click "Save Category Details" to save your changes.
Option 3. Entering a Description Only
Use this option if the student can take a course from any field of study and the courses can vary (i.e., minor and elective courses). Since each student's choices will be different, these category details must be kept general. Please fill in just the description, being sure to distinguish between each detail with descriptions like "MINOR COURSE 1" and "MINOR COURSE 2" or "ELECTIVE COURSE 1" and "ELECTIVE COURSE 2."
Entering a Minimum Grade
If the student is required to make a minimum grade in the class in order for it to count, you can type the grade in the "Min Grade" column next to the category detail. If the minimum grade is "C" or "CR" for credit, you need not specify a minimum grade.
Don't Automatch
Clicking the "Don't Automatch" box next to the category detail tells the Auto-match program to skip this particular requirement when it attempt to match a student's coursework with the degree plan requirements automatically. This is available for you to use when Auto-match is likely not to have enough information to accurately match the course. It's best to try Auto-match on several students before you decide whether to opt a particular requirement out of the matching routine.
When you are done entering details for a category, be sure to click the "Save Category Details" button to save your changes. Then click on "Return to Category List/Add" to return to your category list.
Adding details for "Other"-type Categories
For categories of type "Other", you just enter the description for each requirement and click "Save Category Details" to save your changes.
Repeat the above procedure until you have added details for each of your categories. Every category should have at least one detail. When we set up student profile in the next step, we will match the category details to the student's coursework.
Copying Categories and Details from One Degree Plan to Another
It is common for a department to offer several degree plans that share many requirements in common. Rather than making you set up the identical categories and details more than once, the GCD gives you the option of to copy categories and details from one degree plan to another.
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The categories you have marked, along with all their associated details, will be copied to Degree Plan #2. You can then change them as needed, without affecting Degree Plan #1.
Viewing a Degree Plan
When you have finished adding category details, you can view the finished degree plan by clicking on the "View Degree Plan" link at the top of the Maintain Category Details page or the Category List/Add page, or by clicking on the "View" link next to the degree plan name in degree plan list that comes up when you first enter the Degree Plan Maintenance system.
Activating a Degree Plan
When you are satisfied with the degree plan, the last step is to activate it so you can set up student profiles assigning particular students to that degree plan. To activate the plan, go back to the Degree Plan Maintenance home page by clicking on "GCD DEGREE PLAN MAINTENANCE - Home" in the left-hand navigation bar. All your degree plans will be listed. Click on the "Update" link next to the degree plan name you want to activate. Near the bottom of the page, you will see Status pull-down menu. Change the selection from "In process/inactive" to "Active." Click "Update Degree Plan" to save your changes.
Viewing a List of Students Associated with a Degree Plan
You can view a list of students who have GCD profiles associate with the degree plan by clicking on the "Students" link to the far right of each degree plan in the GCD Degree Plan Maintenance home page, or other links throughout the Degree Plan maintenance system that say "List Students with this Profile."
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Step 3. Creating Student Profiles and Matching Coursework
All the work you put into setting up your degree plan can now be put to use. The GCD Grad School Progress application enables you to associate each of your students with a particular degree plan. You can then compare their coursework with the degree requirements and get an idea of the student's progress toward their degree.
Student Profiles: Getting Started
Click on "GCD Grad School Progress" in the EASI Launch a Process list.
You will be prompted to enter the UT EID or the name of the student you wish to work with. To begin, please enter the UT EID and click the "Go to record" button, or enter the student's name and click "Search."
GCD Grad School Progress Tabs: An Overview
The GCD Grad School Progress application consists of a number of tabs. This table summarizes what you can see or do on each tab.
| Tab Name | Function | ||
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| Student info | Displays basic information such as name, UT EID, birthdate, major, residency status, first and last semester entered, etc. | ||
| Progress | Displays information from GS10 (Doctoral checklist) and GS30 (Masters checklist) screens in the *GSADM mainframe system. Includes deadlines met, report, thesis, or dissertation title, notes made by OGS staff, and a list of student's committee members. Click on a committee member's name to get a pop-up list of students that professor has supervised.
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| Courses | Lists all the student's graduate courses and courses taken while in graduate status. | ||
| Set profile | Used to associate a student with a degree plan. | ||
| Course reqs | Used to match the student's courses to individual degree requirements. | ||
| Other reqs | Used to record completion of any non-course requirements you have set up in categories of type "Other." | ||
| Waivers | Used to record a waiver of a particular degree requirement. | ||
| Req summary | Displays a breakdown by category of hours counted toward that category, other requirements fulfilled, waivers, and warnings associated with the student's degree plan. | ||
| Schedule | Displays the student's current course schedule. | ||
| Degrees | Displays other colleges attended, as well as any UT degrees awarded. | ||
| Notepad | Used to enter free-form notes about the student's progress. | ||
| Funding | Displays information on the student's funding sources: employment at the University; exemptions, waivers, and third-party billing; and scholarships and fellowships. | ||
| Photo | Displays the student's photo. |
Setting a Student's Profile
NOTE on terminology: You may hear the phrases "student profile", "student degree plan", and "student's program of work" all used. These mean the same thing -- the degree plan assigned to a student and any course or requirements matching done with it.
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Note: a student may have more than one degree plan assigned. If your access is restricted by major, you will be able to view (but not update) any profiles the student has in other majors. If this is a problem, contact the Graduate School. Also note that if a student has used a degree plan to graduate, that degree plan will be marked as such and you won't have the option to update it.
A Note About Dual-Degree Majors
Starting Fall 2022, students in dual-degree majors should have one profile assigned for each OGS-administered degree. So depending on the degrees represented in the dual-degree, the student is required to have either one or two profiles assigned.
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For every other programs, GCs should assign a Program of Work. GCs who share a dual-degree student will be able to assign and update profiles for their portion of the degree, and view profiles for their partner department's portion of the degree, except, again, in cases where the partner department is in another college that does not make use of the EASI GCD Program of Work.
Setting Student Profiles in Bulk
In EASI GCD, click on the Degree Plans link in the left nav. From there, you should see a "List Students by Major/Assign Student Profiles" link at the bottom of the page. Clicking this will bring up a page where you can select a major, see a list of students in that major, and assign degree plans in bulk.
Be aware if a degree plan is already assigned to a student for your degree area, you won't be able to re-assign a different plan here. You'll need to assign a different degree plan via the Set Profile tab
Switch Program of Work Attached to a Master's Graduation App
- Be sure that the profile you'd like to associate with the Master's Graduation Application is already associated with the student. (See "Setting a Student's Profile" above.)
- Once that's complete, either
- Go to the course reqs tab and select the degree plan that is attached to the graduation app. The section header will tell you this and will give you a link to the student's application.
- go to the Doctoral Candidacy and Master's Graduation Applications site and open the student's master's graduation app by clicking on their name.
- At the bottom of the application view, there's a section for "Program of Work". You should see a "switch profile" button that will open a window and let you change the program of work.
If you return to the EASI course reqs tab from an update, be sure to refresh the page to see the new degree plan-to-master's graduation application information.
Deleting a Student's Profile
If a profile is no longer relevant for a student, you may contact the Graduate School to delete it.
If the degree plan was used by a student to graduate with a degree, a Milestones Agreement Application is presently routing, or there is a saved, pending or approved Master's Graduation Application attached to the degree, it will be labeled accordingly and deletions will be prevented.
Inactivating a Student's Profile
If a profile is no longer active for a student, you may contact the Graduate School Director to inactivate or delete it.
If the degree plan was used by a student to graduate with a degree or a Milestones Agreement Application is presently routing, the profile may not be inactivated.
Matching Course Requirements
Course matching is done on the Course Reqs tab.
Some items on this tab.
You'll notice at the top of the tab display that there's a link to the student's Graduate Degree Planner. That lets you see the student's site which has a display of the program of work -- you can see what the student sees. Note that the student's view is also used as the view of the Program of Work used on the Master's Graduation app and Program of Work Approval routing page.
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For dual-degrees, coursework cannot be used in both degree Programs of Work. Dual-degree GCs should stay in communication as they assign coursework, particularly any classes that might match requirements for either degree.
Manual course matching
You'll see a display of the student's graduate courses and other courses taken while in graduate status. Next to each course, you'll see a pull-down menu that displays all the degree requirements you have set up in the assigned degree plan.
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You can match courses to requirements manually by pulling down the menu next to each course and selecting the requirement that it fulfills. You will notice that the category names are in blue -- be sure to select a category detail requirement (in black). Click on the "Save Matches" button to save your selections.
Automated course matching
NOTE: Auto-match is currently disabled for dual-degree majors.
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| Tip: Auto-match only matches a course with a requirement when it has a high probability of making a correct match. It is not a substitute for your expertise about your degree plan and this individual student's program of work. Always review the results of auto-match and make manual corrections if necessary. |
Sorting by requirement
By default, the Course Reqs screen lists the student's coursework by semester. It is sometimes easier to see what's going on by listing the coursework in order of the degree requirements the courses fulfill. To do this, click on the "Sort by Requirement" link at the top of the page. The display will group the courses by requirement, so you can easily see which courses have been matched for a particular category.
Clearing a Profile
To erase all the requirements matches and start over, please click on the "Clear Profile" tab.
Flags, Warnings, and Errors
At times, the GCD may display notices on the Course Reqs tab to bring certain information to your attention. These notices are grouped into Graduate School Rule flags, Warnings, and Errors.
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- make a note on a course (see instructions below),
- make a note on the Notepad tab,
- override the error (see instructions below),
- waive a course requirement (see instructions below),
- consult with the Graduate School's degree evaluators, or
- adjust the degree plan requirements (remember this will affect other students who have been assigned this degree plan).
Graduate School Rule Flags
Graduate School Rule flags are displayed in blue in a box at the top of the page. These are reminders that the student has courses on their record that require permission from the graduate dean to be counted, or that some courses may have been counted towards a previous degree.
Warnings
Warnings are displayed in red in a box at the top of the page. Warnings let you know when you exceed an hours limit in a particular category through your course matches, when a student's GPA does not meet the minimum GPA specified for a category, and when the student has been in candidacy more than 3 years.
Errors
Errors are red messages that are displayed at the top of the page. Errors let you know that something is wrong with one of the course-requirement matches you are attempting to make. Error messages include a link you can click to "Go to error." This will move the page display directly to the course that is causing the problem. After you correct it, please click"Save Course Matches" to make sure all matches were completed.
Overriding an error
If the GCD gives you an error on a course match but it is really what you want to do, you can override the error. Go down to the course that is displaying the error and click on the link that says "Click to Override." This will override the error message and let you match the course.
Making a note on a course
You can make a note on a matched course by clicking on the "Add" link in the"Note" column on the far right of the page. This will bring up a notes window to enter a brief note. Click "Submit Updates" to save your note. Click the "close window" link to close the notes window.
The next time the page is refreshed, the notes column will display "View" for classes that have notes attached.
Marking "Other" Requirements as Complete
Click on the "Other Reqs" tab to see a list of any requirements you have set up in categories of type "Other." Click on the checkbox next to the completed requirement and click on the "Submit Updates" button to save your changes. The GCD will automatically display the date the requirement was marked as complete.
DRAFT The Graduate Coordinator Desktop: Step-by Step
Waiving a Course Requirement
To waive a course requirement, go to the "Waivers" tab. Pull down the menu and select the requirement you want to waive. Enter a brief explanatory note of why the requirement is being waived for this student.
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Note: The GCD will not let you waive a requirement that is currently matched to a course.
Viewing the Requirements Summary
The requirements summary gives you a quick view of what requirements have been completed for this student. It displays a results summary of all your course matches, in category order, giving you the total number of hours required, total number of hours counted, and a breakdown of hours counted by major, non-major, upper division, credit-no-credit, and conference course hours. Categories in which all the requirements have been matched, either by course matches or by waivers, will have a checkmark symbol next to them.
The requirements summary lists all of the "Other" requirements and their completion status. It also displays any waivers and warnings for this student's profile.
Saving Student Notes
To save general notes about this student's profile, go to the "Notepad" tab. Type your notes on the lines provided and click the "Submit Updates" button to save your notes.
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| Tip: Please keep in mind that the notes are subject to FERPA rules and open records requests. Do not record anything you would not want the student or other outside parties to see. |
Viewing Student Address and Other Information
From the GCD Grad School Progress Application, you can switch over to the EASI Student Information application to see more information about the student, including their address, admissions information, and more. To get to the Student Information application, click on the "View Student Record" link in the left-hand navigation bar.
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