Winter quarter enrollment is underway and students are frantically studying their degree requirements to find which classes they need to take.
Unfortunately, many students are unsure what courses they need to graduate on time.
“One of my problems is that the old guides are not up, so it’s hard to know what I have to take,” said Ian Sizto, a computer science senior. “When classes are offered only once a year, it’s pretty important that you know when to take them.”
Help is on its way. Cal Poly will begin e-mailing PolyProgress reports to approximately 6,000 students at the end of each quarter beginning this fall, with more students being included as evaluations are completed.
The program tracks students’ progress toward graduation, just as an adviser would do.
It helps to insure that students avoid graduation dilemmas.
“If we can give students thorough audits before they register, they will be better aware of what classes they need to take,” said Tom Zuur, registrar and director of Academic Records.
PolyProgress provides students with an audit of their progress toward their specific degree requirements. The audit evaluates transfer work, academic records, Cal Poly completed courses and currently-enrolled courses against students’ degree requirements.
The computerized audits will replace the paper curriculum sheets currently used.
“It really helps me to see what classes I’ve taken and what classes I need to take,” English junior Haley Stocking said.
The audit results are separated into categories, such as general education, degree, major, concentration and support. Specific degree-oriented requirements may also be included.
The audit shows which classes and how many credits each student needs to graduate.
“As a rule, students should focus on completing the recommended classes before the credit recommendation,” according to the Cal Poly Web site.
Next year, the campus will begin changing over to a new type of audit system under People Soft Student Administration which will focus on students who are starting in fall 2006. The programs will work in tandem for approximately three years with PolyProgress, and then PolyProgress will be phased out, Zuur said.
“PolyProgress has been a very good audit tool for students,” Zuur said. “We have received expressions of adulation from students on receiving such complete information.”