1.0    Purpose

Automated degree audit will initially be implemented at Northern Arizona University in October 2003. In preparation for this new service to students, this policy spells out:

§        how degree audit will be used in NAU academic processes

§        how NAU’s degree audit system will be maintained

2.0              Revision History

3.0              Persons Affected

This policy affects the student population for whom degree audit will be available—undergraduate students graduating under the 2001-2003 and subsequent catalogs, except those classified as post-baccalaureate. (It is anticipated that degree audit will be available for graduate students in select graduate plans at a future time; however, this policy only addresses the current implementation.)

This policy also affects those who work with undergraduate students—full-time and faculty advisors and administrators and staff in academic units, the Registrar’s Office, and the Academic Information Office.

Finally, this policy indirectly affects all faculty and others involved in establishing, maintaining, and revising NAU’s undergraduate curriculum.

4.0              Policy

All undergraduate academic plans (majors, minors, and certificates) and subplans (emphases and foci) will be maintained in NAU’s degree audit system, beginning with those in the 2001-2003 Undergraduate Catalog, so that automated degree audit can:

§        provide accurate and consistent general information about NAU academic requirements for students and advisors

§        help students and advisors monitor individual academic progress from the time students begin taking courses until they graduate

§        help the Registrar’s Office determine when students have completed all graduation requirements

Keeping NAU’s degree audit records complete and current will require ongoing maintenance
by several academic offices. The primary maintenance tasks are as follows:

§        All academic requirements must be set up in NAU’s degree audit system by degree audit staff in the Academic Information Office.

§        All individual exceptions to those requirements must be approved by the appropriate advisor or academic office and communicated to degree audit staff for inputting to individual students’ records.

§        All student individualized plans must be approved by the appropriate advisor and communicated to degree audit staff for inputting to individual students’ records.

§        All milestones must be monitored and marked complete by the responsible advisor or academic office.

§        Other changes to student records used in degree audit must be made by the appropriate academic office after being notified by the student. These changes include adding or changing majors or other plans/subplans, completing transfer coursework after the initial transfer evaluation, or completing a community college transfer curriculum or associate degree that was in progress when the student was first admitted to NAU.

5.0              Definitions

5.1. Degree Audit

Compares an individual student’s transcript with the requirements for the specific academic plans/subplans the student is working on. The resulting report, also called an academic advisement transcript, shows which academic requirements the student has currently completed and which remain to be completed before the student can graduate. While a degree audit can be prepared manually, the term is used in this document to mean the automated audit that is part of NAU’s new student administration system.

5.2. Student Exception

PeopleSoft functionality used for making changes in academic requirements for individual students. Types of exceptions include substituting one course for another and changing a requirement.

5.3. Student Individualized Plan

PeopleSoft functionality used for an academic requirement within a plan/subplan that varies by student, such as NAU’s 15-unit BAiLS focus, for which coursework requirements are established by the individual student and advisor.

5.4. Milestone

PeopleSoft functionality used to record noncourse accomplishments, such as completing a required language proficiency exam, in degree audit and on transcripts.

5.5. Graduation Checkout Process

The process by which NAU determines when a student has completed all graduation requirements for the specific plans and subplans that this student is working on. Completing this process means NAU has verified that a student meets degree requirements.

6.0              Options or Proposed Solutions

This policy requires that degree audit be available for all undergraduate students (except post-baccalaureate students) and that all academic offices help maintain the degree audit system.

This approach is crucial in reducing student frustration and helping to improve retention
and graduation rates. By making degree audit available for all undergraduate plans and subplans, NAU will provide consistent “roadmaps” as well as “what-if” scenarios to help students to plan, modify if needed, and complete their academic careers. In addition, because all student-specific information (exceptions, individualized plans, milestones, etc.) will be recorded in the degree audit system, everyone working with a particular student (major advisor, minor advisor, etc.) will have access to the same information and can therefore advise students more effectively.

Finally, because current degree audit information will be available throughout students’ academic careers, gaps in academic progress should become obvious earlier, thus reducing the last-minute surprises that are inevitable in NAU’s current process. In all of these ways, degree audit can help students to monitor their academic progress effectively and to finish their academic goals in the fewest semesters possible.

7.0              Procedures

The following procedures are necessary to ensure that NAU’s degree audit system effectively serves undergraduate students and those who work with them.

7.1. Maintenance of Curriculum Requirements in Degree Audit

All new plans and subplans and changes to existing ones will be set up in NAU’s degree audit system by degree audit staff in the Academic Information Office, after approval by the University Curriculum Committee, the Liberal Studies Committee, or other appropriate entities.
All curriculum changes will go into effect in degree audit at the beginning of the fall semester following their approval by the appropriate curricular entities.

7.2. Maintenance of Student Exceptions

Exceptions will first be approved by the advisor or academic office with the authority to do so. (For instance, exceptions to NAU’s liberal studies requirements are the responsibility of the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies, while exceptions to major requirements are approved by the department offering the major plan.) The approver will then communicate the exception to NAU’s degree audit staff via the Student Exception and Student Individualized Plan web form. Degree audit staff will then input the exception to the individual student’s record.

Inputting exceptions will be centralized because the complexity of NAU’s undergraduate curriculum necessitates complex degree audit rules, and inputting exceptions requires in-depth understanding of these rules, which only degree audit staff members have. An additional benefit of centralized inputting is to avoid adding to advisor workload.

Student exceptions should be communicated to degree audit staff at the time they are approved; at the latest, exceptions for graduating seniors must be communicated at least six weeks before students apply for graduation.

7.3. Maintenance of Student Individualized Plans

The student-specific requirements for any individualized plan will first be developed by the student and advisor together. Then the approving advisor or academic office will communicate these requirements to NAU’s degree audit staff via the Student Exception and Student Individualized Plan web form. Degree audit staff will then input the plan to the individual student’s record.

Specific types of student individualized plans (such as an individualized emphasis in a particular major) must be approved by the University Curriculum Committee and appear in NAU’s academic catalog before they can be used for individual students in NAU’s degree audit system. As with student exceptions, inputting will be done centrally because of the system’s complexity and to avoid additional advisor workload.

Student individualized plans should be communicated to degree audit staff at the time they are approved; at the latest, individualized plans for graduating seniors must be communicated at least six weeks before students apply for graduation.

7.4. Maintenance of Milestones

Milestones will be attached to individual student records and then monitored and marked completed by the college/department responsible for the milestone. Milestone completions should be input when they occur; at the latest, milestones must be marked completed for graduating seniors before they apply for graduation.

7.5. Maintenance of Other Student Records Used in Degree Audit

To keep records used in degree audit current, the appropriate academic and processing offices must make changes to them when students notify them of such events as adding or changing a major or other plan/subplan, completing transfer coursework after the initial transfer evaluation, or completing a community college transfer curriculum or associate degree that was in progress when the student was first admitted to NAU. (Community college transfer curricula include the Arizona General Education Curriculum and the California Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum.)

Students should notify the appropriate advisor or office at the time these events occur. Degree audits will not show complete or accurate information until such events are noted in students’ records; in addition, audits won’t show graduation requirements as complete until students’ records are up to date.

7.6. Use of Degree Audit in the Graduation Checkout Process

The Registrar’s Office plans to increasingly incorporate degree audit into the graduation checkout process over the next several semesters. Additional policy statements may be submitted as these procedures are developed.

Currently, NAU’s undergraduate checkout process is of necessity time-consuming and has the potential for allowing varying interpretations of academic requirements from one advisor and/or academic unit to another. This process involves manually compiling a variety of student records (such as transcripts and liberal studies evaluations) and then having an advisor determine through a manual degree-progress evaluation which major, minor, and other degree requirements remain to be completed. It also involves later manual review of these initial applications to verify that requirements which weren’t previously completed now have been.

By contrast, automated degree audit will show all transfer and native courses that an undergraduate student has or is currently taking, thus reducing the need to compile other student records. It will also show how these courses can be used to meet liberal studies, major, minor, and other degree requirements, thus eliminating the need to create this information manually. Finally, because degree audit shows current information, it won’t require manual updating as is done currently.

Using automated degree audit in NAU’s graduation checkout process will thus streamline this process and reduce the workload for staff in academic units who review and approve graduation applications. Most important, it will significantly reduce the potential for varying interpretations of academic requirements, thus helping students complete their academic goals in a timely fashion.

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