The Graduate Coordinator Desktop (GCD) is a set of services within the EASI web application. EASI stands for Electronic Access to Student Information. EASI serves as a framework for a variety of tools for UT staff, including the GCD.
To get to the GCD, go to https://utdirect.utexas.edu/easi. You will be required to type in your UT EID and password. Once logged in, you should see the following services (among others) in the "Launch a Process" list.
If you don't see the GCD services listed or you can enter the services but then get a message saying you are not authorized, you are missing a role authorization.
Email (or have the appropriate person in your office email) the Graduate School authorizers to request authorization. Be sure to specify your role in the department -- Graduate Coordinator, Graduate Advisor, etc. -- and the major codes you need to work with. Be aware that some roles (GA) have more formal requirements and may require additional paperwork.
In the context of the GCD, a concentration is a track, focus, or area of study that helps to uniquely identify a degree plan.
For example, the Geological Sciences Department offers an M.A. degree with two different concentrations: Hydrogeology or Petroleum Geology. Similarly, the Department of Art and Art History offers an M.A. in Art Education, with a focus on School, Community-Based Art, or Museum Education.
We have both "official" and "department tracked" versions of concentrations.
An "official" concentration is part of the degree awarded -- it is a designation that might show up on the person's record.
An unofficial or "department tracked" concentration is just used inside the department for various purposes. A "department tracked" concentration may be used as a kind of "tie breaker" between similar-but-not-identical degree plans.
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. |
Click on "GCD Concentration Maintenance" in the EASI Launch a Process list.
At the bottom of the Concentration Maintenance page, after the list of current concentrations, you'll see a form Add a New Concentration.
Select a degree for this concentration:
The pulldown-menu should already be loaded with degrees offered by your department. Select the degree to which you want to attach the concentration.
Is the concentration official (affects the degree awarded) or department tracked?
As discussed above, some concentrations are "official," meaning they actually affect the degree the student receives, and others are tracked only within the department and do not affect the awarded degree. Please pull down the menu and choose an option to mark your concentration as "official" or "department-tracked."
Enter a two-character abbreviation code:
Choose any two-character combination. The two-character abbreviation code must be unique for every concentration attached to a particular degree. Avoid special characters, but letters and numbers can be used.
Enter a short description(up to 25 characters):
Enter a short description for your concentration, up to 25 characters. This will be the name you see displayed most often.
Enter a long description(up to 60 characters):
You may enter a longer description here.
Click the "Add New Concentration" button to finish. The new concentration should appear in the list at the top of the page.
Click on the "Update" link 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.
Click on the "Update" link in the concentration list. On the next screen, at the bottom, there's an option to change the concentration status to "Inactive." Be sure to click on the "Update Concentration" button to save your changes.
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 and change the concentration status. Be sure to click on the "Update Concentration" button to save your changes.
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).
| 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. |
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."
To add a new degree plan, click the "Add a New Degree Plan" link.
| NOTE that the degree, catalog years, thesis/dissertation, and concentration (if desired) fields are part of the unique "key" -- the degree plan ID -- that identifies this degree plan, and they can't be changed after the degree plan is created. |
Select a degree:
The pull-down menu should contain the degrees offered by your department. Select the degree to which you want to attach the degree plan.
Beginning with catalog years:
The catalog year pull-down menu defaults to the current catalog year range. You can set up degree plans for previous catalog year range if you wish. NOTE that you are NOT REQUIRED to create a new degree plan for each catalog year range. The catalog year range is interpreted as meaning "beginning with" and we presume that it remains in effect until you mark it inactive.
Thesis/Dissertation Option:
Select an option from the pull-down menu for this degree plan. The available options are Thesis, Report, No Thesis/No Report, Dual Degree, and Dissertation. (For Music degrees, the Treatise and Non-Treatise options are also available).
Concentration (optional):
If you have concentrations defined in GCD Concentration Maintenance, they will be listed in the pull-down menu and you have the option of attaching a concentration to this degree plan. If you don't see the concentration you want, you need to FIRST create it or re-activate it using the GCD Concentration Maintenance function.
Total Hours Required for this Degree:
Enter the total minimum hours you require a student to take to get this degree.
Upper Division Undergraduate Hours Allowed:
Enter the total upper division undergraduate hours you allow a student to take to get this degree.
Credit-No Credit Hours Allowed:
Enter the total hours you allow a student to take on a credit-no credit basis (not including the report/thesis/dissertation hours) to get this degree.
Enter a name for this degree plan (up to 65 characters).
Enter a descriptive name for the degree plan. This name should be understandable to both you and your students. (Your students will see the name of the degree plan(s) assigned to them in their graduation applications.) Some examples of good names are:
Optional: Enter a description for this degree plan.
If you wish, you can enter a more detailed description of this degree plan. If you choose not to enter a description now, you can come back and add it at any time.
Degree Plan Status:
The status pull-down menu defaults to "In process/inactive". While you are working on the degree plan, leave it as "In process/inactive". When you are all done setting up the categories and requirements, come back and select "Active". When you are no longer using this degree plan for students, select "Expired." Expired degree plans are retained but will no longer show up in lists of plans to assign to students.
Click the "Add New Degree Plan" button to save your degree plan.
When you have successfully added your degree plan, click on the "List/Add Categories" link at the top of the page to go on to the next step.
Most dual-degree students will have up to 2 official degree plans—one for each degree that falls under OGS purview.
Law and McCombs have separate processes and procedures for handling their degrees. In cases where one degree within a dual-degree falls under one of these schools, only the OGS Graduate Coordinator must assign a Program of Work to the student. Law and Business Graduate Coordinators are exempted. The student in this case will have one official Program of Work degree plan accessible in the GCD.
Dell Medical School shadow coursework is not compatible with course definition rules and assumptions in the GCD. Any students in Dell Medical school dual-degrees should continue to use and submit paper graduation applications and Programs of Work.
Dual-degrees ending in a doctoral degree should also continue to use and submit paper graduation applications and Programs of Work.
The 684601 Public Affairs/Engineering (mulitiple specializations) major should continue to use and submit paper graduation applications and Programs of Work.
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).
When students sign off on Milestones, their Graduate Degree Planner (GDP) sign-off page contains:
The PDF link is created automatically when the web page takes the Degree Plan assigned in EASI and transforms the Degree Plan ID into a link. As an example, a doctoral student assigned the degree plan ELP990++D20212 would be linked to a document titled ELP990--D20212.pdf. For this reason, the PDF title must correspond to the ID of the profile assigned to the student for the link to work properly. If a department sets up new doctoral degree plans in EASI, they should review and update their publicly available Milestones profiles to ensure they correspond to the IDs of any new degree plans assigned to students.
Contact Julie Meyer to create, remove, or update degree plan PDFs.
Review your currently active degree plans:
https://gradschool.utexas.edu/navigating/phd/milestones
The GCD enables you to organize your degree requirements by category. Examples of categories you might include: Required Core Courses, Major Electives, Minor/Supporting Coursework, and Thesis/Report.
(NOTE that for doctoral degree plans, a category for Milestones will automatically be created for you.)
Later, we will enter the specific degree requirements as details under each category.
How do I know what categories to include?
What categories you decide to include depends on how you want to organize the requirements for your degree plan. Most degree plans will need no more than four or five categories. The GCD allows you to create up to fourteen different categories per degree plan (thirteen for doctoral).
Can I create subcategories?
Yes. When you set up a new category, the GCD enables you to make either a "top-level" category or a subcategory of an existing category.
| Tip: It's a good idea to sketch out what categories and subcategories you will need BEFORE you start entering them in the GCD. |
On the Category List/Add page, you will see a display that says "Add New Category". For an existing degree plan, this will link to a form that is at the bottom of the page, after your list of current categories.
Category Name:
Enter a descriptive name for the category.
This category is a: (top level category or subcategory)
The first category you enter will always be a "Top-Level Category". After the first category is entered, you can make each subsequent category either a Top-Level Category or a Subcategory of an existing category by choosing it on the pull-down menu.
Category Type:
You can have two types of categories in the Desktop: "Coursework" and "Other." "Coursework"-type categories are for organizing course requirements. "Other"-type categories are for keeping track of general non-course, such as forms, proposals, or exams the student must complete to get their degree.
It is recommended that you enter all your "Coursework" type categories first, then set up your "Other" categories.
Minimum GPA in this Category
If, under your program rules, a student must maintain a particular GPA in this category (say, a 3.5 or better in the required core coursework), enter that GPA here. If not, leave this blank.
| NOTE about maximum and minimum hours. The GCD system will try to audit classes a student has taken against the minimum and maximum hours you set here. These minimums and maximums, and their resulting warnings, are to help you monitor student progress rather than dictate to you, and may need to be adjusted accordingly. If in doubt, check with the Grad School's degree evaluators for their requirements if a problem arises. |
Minimum Hours Required
Enter the minimum number of hours a student must complete in this category.
Maximum Hours Allowed
Enter the maximum number of hours a student is allowed to take in this category. Often, this will be the same as the minimum hours required. If a student must take a certain number of hours from the category but may take more than the required hours, the Maximum Hours Allowed may be greater than Minimum Hours Required.
| NOTE about in major and out of major hours. When a degree plan is assigned to a student, whether or not a student's hours taken are matched to their major is determined by the three-letter course abbreviation associated with a student's school-major code. Normally this does not cause a problem. However, if multiple course abbreviations fall under the same school-major, the course abbreviations not officially associated with the school-major code will not be understood by the GCD system as being "in major". So "in major" and "out of major" hours should be adjusted accordingly. If necessary, the "notes" tab in the GCD Grad School Progress function can be used to record how hours are counted for a particular student. |
Hours Allowed in Major
Enter the number of hours a student can take in their major for this category. If this category consists entirely of courses in the major, the Hours Allowed in Major should be the same as Minimum Hours Required for this category. If the category is for minor coursework, the Hours Allowed in Major should be 0.
Hours Allowed Out of Major
Enter the number of hours a student can take outside their major for this category. If this category consists entirely of minor coursework, the Hours Allowed Out of Major should be the same as Minimum Hours Required for this category. If the category is for major coursework, the Hours Allowed Out of Major should be 0.
| Tip: If the category consists of elective courses that can be taken either in or out of major, the Hours Allowed in Major and Hours Allowed Out of Major can both be filled in. |
Maximum UG Upper Division Hours Allowed
Enter the maximum number of upper-division undergraduate hours that can be accepted for credit in this category.
Maximum Credit-No-Credit Hours Allowed
Enter the maximum number of hours taken on a credit/no-credit basis that can be accepted in this category.
Maximum Conference Course Hours Allowed
Enter the maximum number of conference course hours that can be accepted in this category.
Optional: Enter a description for this categtory.
If you wish, you can enter a more detailed description of this category. If you choose not to enter a description now, you can come back and add it at any time.
Click the "Add New Category" button to save your category.
The category will now appear in the category list at the top of the page. You will notice that each category you add will have a link to "Update/Delete Category" and "Update Coursework Details." If your category type is not coursework, but "Other", then you'll simply see an "Update details" link.
Repeat the above procedure for all categories you wish to add to the degree plan.
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 Category Update 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.
Note: You CANNOT change a category from type "Coursework" to type "Other." This is part of the category key and cannot be altered.
As long as the degree plan is not attached to student profiles that were used to, or are approved to, graduate (with one exception noted below), OR no coursework or other detail matches have been made, you can delete a category. If the category is delete-able, you will see a "Delete Category" button. Deleting the category will permanently remove it. If the category is part of a degree plan has already been attached to students, you may see a message that the category was removed from student profiles as well.
If there are student profiles attached to the degree plan, all coursework or other details must be removed from the category before the category can be removed. You will not be allowed to remove coursework details that have already been matched to graduated/approved student degree plans. But if all details are deletable, you can clean out the category in preparation to delete it. This ensures that you can remove a category that was, for instance, accidentally added or copied to the wrong degree plan. But you cannot remove a category that has been actively used and is part of a student's degree record.
| Tip: When you finish your degree plan and are ready to set up student profiles and match coursework, it's a good idea to test with one or two students first. That way, you can easily inactivate the student profiles and go back and delete categories if necessary. |
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 coursework details" or "Update details" link to go on to the next step.
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.
You can set up category details in several ways:
Let's look at each of the three ways.
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.)
You do not need to fill in the description. When you save the details, the system will pull the title from the course inventory on the mainframe and fill it in for you.
Choosing a Topic
Some courses are topics courses, meaning the same Course ID can encompass many different classes in different subject matters. These different classes are distinguished by a topic title and a unique key.
You might enter a course ID that is a topics course, intending for the student to take a particular topic to meet that requirement. After you click on "Save Category Details" to save the course, you will see an "Add Topic" link next to the Course ID for that category. Click on the "Add Topic" link to bring up a window that lists all the topic titles for that course. Click on the title you want. The GCD will stamp the topic key on that category detail and fill in the topic title for you.
| Note: The number at the end of the topic key may bear little to no resemblance to the topic number as you think of it and have it listed in your course catalog. Since topic numbers can change over the years, the topic key is a sequence number recognized by the mainframe that ties all the topics together over the whole time span the course has existed. If the topic key doesn't match the topic number you are familiar with, it's OK -- it's the matching title that matters. |
| Tip: In some browsers, the topics window closes and the page refreshes automatically when you choose a topic. If this does not happen, close the topics window manually and, if needed, click on the "Refresh Browser" link at the top of the page to see your changes. You will see the topic title you selected, as well as the topic key. |
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.
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."
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.
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.
For "Other" type categories, you can modify category details as needed. For "Coursework" type categories, you can modify or delete category details with some exceptions.
It is at the department's discretion whether degree requirements have changed enough to warrant creating a new degree plan (reference the information on copying to speed this process), or whether it is simplest to carry on using an existing degree plan with modifications.
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.
It is common for a department to offer several degree plans that share many requirements in common. The GCD gives you the option of to copy categories and details from one degree plan to another.
To use this option, you first set up the categories and details for Degree Plan #1, then set up the basic information for Degree Plan #2. Go to the Category List/Add page for Degree Plan #2 and click the link at the top of the page that says, "Copy Categories from Another Degree."
The system displays a list of all the degree plans you have set up that are available to copy from. Click on the degree plan you wish to copy from.
You will see a check list of all the categories in that degree plan. Check the ones you want to copy to Degree Plan #2, and click on the "Copy Selected Categories" button.
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.
When you have finished adding category details, you can view the finished degree plan by clicking on the "Comprehensive Degree Plan View" link at the top of the page.
When you are satisfied with the degree plan, the last step is to activate it so you can begin assigning the degree plan to students. To activate the plan, go back to the Degree Plan list page (or click on the "Set up Degree Plans" link in the left navigation). All your degree plans will be listed. Click on the "Update" link next to the degree plan you want to activate. Near the bottom of the page, you will see the Degree Plan Status pull-down menu. Change the selection from "In process/inactive" to "Active." Click "Update Degree Plan" to save your changes.
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 Degree Plan List page, or the "Students assigned to profile" pop-up link that appears near the crumb trail as you navigate the degree plan maintenance pages.
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.
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."
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 | |
|---|---|---|
| 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.
| |
| 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. |
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.
To associate a student with a particular degree plan, click on the Set Profile tab. You will see a pull-down menu that lists all of your degree plans in "Active" status. Select the degree plan you want to assign to this student. Click on the "Add Profile" button to assign this degree plan to this student.
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. Finally, if the student is an admit to a major in your area but their current student record major is not yet reflecting the admitted major, you will not be able to set profiles on this tab. You may be able to assign a profile to admitted students via the Bulk Profile Assignment page.
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.
Non-OGS degrees that do not require profiles include:
There are known issues with Dell Medical school shadow coursework and the GCD, so any GCs with students in Dell Medical school dual-degrees should continue to use and submit paper Programs of Work for the OGS portions of their degrees.
In addition, dual-degrees that end in a doctoral degree should continue to submit paper applications and Programs of Work.
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.
Anytime a department undergoes a Field of Study change, any students changed from majors that have the old FOS to majors that use the new FOS need to be assigned to degree plans that reflect the new FOS. If an old degree plan is already assigned to a student in a newer major, it will begin to return errors indicated a field of study mismatch. The degree plan “degree” designation must match both the FOS and degree of the student's major. Graduate Coordinator may need to set up new GCD degree plans under the newer FOS to (eventually) replace the older degree plans—not for everyone, just for those now in majors that reflect the new FOS. Finally, assign those new degree plans to any students now in the new majors.
Steps:
Once majors that are tied to the old FOS are retired, GCs can inactivate any degree plans with the old FOS to remove them from selection lists.
In EASI GCD, click on the Bulk Profile Assignment link in the left nav. If you are editing a degree plan, the "List Students by Major/Assign Student Profiles" link at the bottom of the page goes to the same place. On this page, you can select which major you would like to work with, see a list of current students and recent admits, 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 assign a different plan here. You'll need to look up the student via Grad Student Progress and assign a different degree plan via the Set Profile tab.
The bulk profile listing is divided into a Master's Program of Work profile assignment and a Doctoral Milestones profile assignment. You'll be able to assign one of each kind of profile (as relevant for any given major) to students using the bulk update page. Bulk auto-match will allow GCs for single-degree school-majors to submit a job that will update all current student profiles for a given degree level and major at once, assuming your profiles are eligible and set up for auto-match. (Dual-degree majors currently are not eligible.)
If a profile is no longer active or relevant for a student, you may be able to inactivate it via the GCD "set profile" tab.
Inactivated profiles will still appear on the "set profiles" page but will be removed from all other pages and selection lists, including the student graduation application (if not already submitted). If you are eligible to inactivate a profile, you will see a button giving you the option. You can also re-activate profiles if you make a mistake.
GCs can inactivate POW profiles unless they are attached to an active Master's graduation application or were used to graduate. Milestones profiles can only be inactivated by the Graduate School Director - gs_director@utlists.utexas.edu. Send the student's name, EID, and the Milestone degree plan name and ID for any doctoral profile you wish to inactivate.
If a profile is no longer relevant for a student and you wish to remove it altogether, you may contact the Graduate School to delete it. Send the student's name, EID, and the degree plan name and ID to the Graduate School Director - gs_director@utlists.utexas.edu.
If the degree plan was used to graduate, if it is part of a Milestones Agreement Application that is presently routing, or if there is a saved, pending or approved Master's Graduation Application attached to the degree, it cannot be deleted.
Course matching is done on the Course Reqs 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.
You'll also notice that -- if there's a Program of Work Approval in progress -- there'll also be a link to the Program of Work Approval page for your convenience.
If there are multiple degree profiles assigned to the student, you'll have a pull-down menu to let you select which one you want to view or work on.
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.
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.
If matches can still be made between degree requirements and courses taken, you'll see a "Save Matches" button. If you DON'T see that button, it means that the profile is blocked to updates at this time for you. This could be because:
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.
NOTE: Auto-match is currently disabled for dual-degree majors.
The GCD has a feature that will attempt to match a student's courses to their degree requirements automatically. The more specific your degree requirements are, the better auto-match will function. If your requirements are mostly general (i.e., you entered just a detail description, and not a course department and/or course number), auto-match will not be as accurate or useful.
To run auto-match for an individual student and profile, click on the "Try Auto-Match" link near the top of the "course reqs" tab. Clicking this link launches a program that runs in the background and attempts to match student courses to profile requirements. This usually takes a few seconds longer to complete than the page takes to reload, so you won't see results right away. After clicking the link, look for a message at the top of the tab prompting you to to refresh the page. Click the "refresh your browser" link to see the automated matches.
On the 'Bulk Profile Assignment" page, GCs for single-degree school-majors can submit a job that will update all eligible, listed student profiles for a given major and degree level (Master's vs. Doctoral). This assumes your profiles are set up for auto-match. The Bulk Profile Assignment student listing shows the best profile available for each student and/or allows you to assign a profile if none are set. It is divided into a Master's Program of Work profile listing and a Doctoral Milestones listing in order to better cover profile match options for student who may be pursuing both degrees. If a student has more than one profile assigned at a given level, the page will attempt to match to the best available profile, but may match randomly if no determination can be made. If the page is matching to the wrong profile, you may be able to inactivate the profile via the "set profile" tab for the student.
If you've just set created a new degree profile, always submit and check a few individual student auto-matches via the 'course reqs' tab before running bulk auto-match. There is no "bulk clear" option, so it's best to test new profiles a few times to ensure they are matching in the best way possible. And, as with individual auto-match operations, always be prepared to check your students individually.
Note that GAs cannot submit bulk auto-match. Only GCs have access to this feature. The bulk auto-match option is found at the bottom of the Bulk Profile Assignment student listing if the school-major is eligible for auto-match. The operation takes a few seconds to a few minutes to run depending on how many students are being auto-matched. An email should notify you that the job has completed. At that time, you can look up individual students to check and correct results via the 'course reqs' tab.
| 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. |
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.
To erase all the requirements matches and start over, please click on the "Clear Profile" tab.
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.
If you have any problems or questions about these, contact the Graduate School. Depending on the nature of the problem, you may need to
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 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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Click on "Add Waiver" to save the waiver.
You can delete waivers by finding the waiver in the list and clicking the "Delete" link.
Note: The GCD will not let you waive a requirement that is currently matched to a course.
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.
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.
| 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. |
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.
The Student Information application has a similar format to GCD Grad School Progress, with a number of tabs of information you can view.
When you are done, click on the "Return to GRAD SCHOOL PROGRESS" link in the left-hand navigation bar to return to the GCD.