Degree Works (Degree Audit) FAQ

Degree Works is a web-based tool used to monitor a student’s academic progress toward degree completion. It combines WSU’s degree requirements with the courses a student is currently taking, has taken in the past, and plans to take. It produces a snapshot called a "degree audit" of the progress a student is making in fulfilling their degree requirements.

Degree Works will help you:

• View your “degree audit” to determine what requirements you need to complete in order to earn your degree.
• Apply and modify a plan of study in the "Plans" tab.
• Confirm which courses you have taken or transferred and see which ones fulfill requirements or count as electives.
• View waives and exemptions applied toward your degree.
• See how your coursework could be applied toward another program of study, minor, or concentration using the “What If” feature.
• Estimate how many semesters it will take you to graduate.
• Learn the prerequisites and co-requisites for courses by clicking on the course numbers.
• Calculate your GPA for the current term and learn how to achieve your desired overall GPA using the “GPA Calculator” feature.

Yes. Access Degree Works with any device, using a web browser like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer or Safari. Log into your myWSU account at: http://mywsu.wichita.edu/

Students: Once you are logged in, click the "myClasses" tab. In the "View My Degree Evaluation/Audit" section in the center of the screen, click the link titled "Run my Degree Works Audit".

Advisors: Once you are logged in, click the "Teach/Advise" tab. In the "Advisor Links" section in the center of the screen, locate the Degree Works paragraph and click "Run a Student's Degree Works Audit".

A Degree Works degree audit is a review of a student’s past, current and “planned” coursework combined with the requirements of the degree the student is currently seeking. The degree audit matches courses the student has taken with the requirements to give the student an overall picture of their academic progress and what requirements are outstanding.

Yes. Degree Works is accessed through your myWSU secure login. Advisors, faculty, and selected staff will also have access for the purpose of supporting your progress through your academic career. Your Degree Works audit is part of your Education Record and is protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). As with any other personal information that you access on-line, you should be sure to logout of your account and close all application windows before leaving a public computer.

The information in Degree Works is refreshed each night. Any changes made during normal business hours (e.g. grade changes or classes added/dropped) will be seen in Degree Works the next day. Contact your advisor if you have any questions.

No. Degree Works is a snapshot of courses in-progress, planned, and in your academic history. Registration will continue to be handled through logging into  myWSU and adding/dropping classes.

No. Degree Works is a tool used to create an unofficial audit of how your coursework applies to the requirements of your degree(s), major(s), minor(s), and concentration(s). It is used to assist you and your advisor in the planning and tracking of your degree progress. Your transcript is still your official university record.

Yes. A Degree Works degree audit is laid out in a block format (sections). It shows the requirements for your degree(s), major(s), minor(s), and concentration(s). The legend at the bottom of the page shows how you can identify which requirements are incomplete, in-progress, complete and more.

Yes. Once grades have been processed at the end of the semester, they are viewable in Degree Works following the nightly refresh. However, though grades are viewable in myWSU once posted by an instructor, final grades are not available in Degree Works until after the final grading period for WSU has ended. In-progress courses are listed in Degree Works with a grade of “R”.

Yes. While in the degree audit, open the Overflow menu (3 dots) in the top right of the page. In the Overflow menu, click the "Class History" option. This will produce a printable list of courses taken at WSU as well as transferred courses taken within the same level (undergraduate or graduate). Please note this is not an official transcript; just a class listing.

Degree Works uses a student’s catalog term to determine the degree requirements in place at that time. These requirements are used to produce the degree audit.

A catalog term is the semester that a student becomes an active student at WSU. The catalog term identifies which requirements are in place at that time for the student’s desired degree.

Contact your academic advisor.

A change in your information will not be shown in Degree Works until after the nightly refresh.

If you have any questions about your student record or coursework, contact your academic advisor. However, if you have questions about the Degree Works program specifically, you can email them to: degree.eval@wichita.edu.

Make sure the pop-up blockers are turned off in your internet browser or try a different web browser. Contact your academic advisor if you still have trouble accessing Degree Works.

Degree Works opens automatically to the "Student View" of your degree audit. Your audit is organized into blocks (sections) of requirements based on your degree(s), major(s), minor(s), concentration(s), etc. Hover your mouse over the requirements to determine areas that you can click on for more information such as course numbers and attributes. If you see a clipboard icon with a check that means there is a prerequisite (a course you need to take and pass first); click on the course subject and number to view the prerequisites. As you register for courses and complete requirements, they are tracked on the audit. Refer to the legend that’s located at the bottom of the audit.

At least four times a term. You should review your worksheet at the following times:

1. Before you meet with your advisor to ensure your planner has three future terms populated.
2. After you register to ensure the courses apply to your requirements as you expected.
3. After your grades are posted.
4. Any time you make changes to your schedule.

It’s important to review your degree audit frequently, especially before and after you schedule courses or receive grades. This helps ensure you are taking the correct courses and are on track to graduate on time.

Remember: Changing your registration or completing a course with a grade lower than the minimum required for a requirement may impact your degree progress.

Your academic advisor is your primary point of contact. If your advisor determines that your audit is incorrect, he/she will contact the Office of the University Registrar for assistance.

Degree Works is designed to show a listing of your majors and minors in the grid of student information near the top of your degree audit. Additionally, each major and minor is broken out into individual requirement blocks within the audit. Students pursuing simultaneous degrees will need to click on the "Degree" drop-down box at the top of the audit in order to view additional audits for each type of degree being pursued.  

Multiple degrees of the same type will appear on one audit. For example, all in-progress BA degrees will show on one audit. However, if you are also pursuing a different degree type, a BS for example, it will appear on a separate audit. Click the "Degree" drop-down arrow at the top of your first audit screen to see additional audits for multiple degree types.

Your degree audit will outline for you courses that are still needed to meet degree, major, minor, and/or concentration requirements within each specific block. You may then use this information to discuss your plan with your academic advisor.

@ = represents a wildcard; it means “any”

@@ = any SUBJECT and any COURSE NUMBER

ENGL @ = Any English (ENGL) course

@ 300 = Any SUBJECT but the course number must be 300.

A colon (:) = represents a range. For example, instead of writing every course number between 200 and 499, a colon is used to show this in a more simple way.

MATH 200:499 = Any Mathematics (MATH) course with a course number between 200 and 499.

Yes. Click on the desired course on the degree audit and a portion of the catalog will open up with the course description, credits, prerequisites, and co-requisites (if they are required). Hovering over the course will display the title and credits of the course. Any class that has an asterisk (*) has a prerequisite.

Your academic advisor is your primary point of contact. If your advisor determines that your degree audit is incorrect, he/she will contact the Office of the University Registrar for assistance.

Yes. On the degree audit, click the "Class History" link located in the Overflow menu (three dots) near the top of the audit. DegreeWorks uses the information that is current for your transcript. You will be able to view any courses that have been completed/registered for/transferred by the date your audit was last refreshed. (Data is refreshed nightly.) Keep in mind that any transfer work or grade changes that have not been formally submitted and accepted will not appear on your audit.

Your major GPA is a calculated GPA based on coursework used to fulfill just the major requirements. This GPA will appear at the top of the major block (section). Additionally, depending upon your college, the major GPA may also include courses that potentially could have been used within the major block but were not needed to fulfill specific requirements.

The audit updates automatically nightly. Students do not need to do anything to update their audit.

Any or all of the following may appear at the bottom of an audit:

• Fallthrough Courses: Courses that are counting as additional electives toward your degree. Courses here are above the minimum requirements of your specific major/minor/concentration but are still used in the overall hours needed to earn your degree.  Engineering students cannot use courses in the Fallthrough Courses block toward their degree.
• Excluded Coursework: Coursework appearing in this section will not be used toward earning your degree. Certain courses listed here do count toward GPAs, such as F grades that are not repeated.
• In-Progress/Preregistered Classes: A list of any courses currently being taken or that the student is preregistered for. These courses will also be listed in other blocks (sections) throughout the audit.
• Not Counted: Does not count toward credits totals, GPAs or degree progress.

You can view your audit two other ways:  "Registration Checklist" or "Graduation Checklist". To change views, select an option from the "Format" drop-down menu. The "Registration Checklist" shows a concise list of the courses you still need to take. The "Graduation Checklist" is a condensed, quicker but less-detailed view of the "Student View".

 There could be several reasons, as follows:

1. The course did not meet the minimum number of credits required.
2. The course did not meet the minimum grade requirement for your program of study.
3. The requirement may state that the course must be taken at WSU.
4. All requirements have been met and this course is simply not needed.

Contact your academic advisor if you need further help.

Yes. Courses from which you have withdrawn will appear in the "Excluded Course Work" block toward the end of your degree audit.

In most cases, yes. Degree Works is programmed to recognize that some courses may be used to fulfill more than one requirement. Contact your advisor for further confirmation.

You should contact your advisor to resolve any substitutions, waives or exceptions.

Not necessarily. If you have applied to graduate, your academic division will perform a preliminary audit of your coursework prior to the add/drop period of your final semester and a final audit after all final grades have been submitted to determine if you are eligible to graduate. Missing requirements will be communicated to you by your academic division.  

 

Yes. The "What If" function will perform an audit based on the hypothetical major/minor/concentration and will show how your completed, current, and planned coursework meets the requirements of the hypothetical major/minor/concentration.

 

Degree Works relies on your internet browser and its Adobe plug-ins for the PDF view and printout. Please make sure you are on the latest version available for both. If you need assistance, please contact:

Technology Help Desk:

• Phone: 316-978-4357
• Email: helpdesk@wichita.edu
• Location: 120 Jabara Hall

HelpDesk Hours:

• M-Th: 8 a.m.-7 p.m.
• F: 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
• Closed weekends

The "What If" function allows you to hypothetically change your major, minor, or concentration. The "What If" audit will show you what coursework is required for the new major, minor, or concentration; what courses you have taken that satisfy requirements; and what courses are still left for you to take.

 No. The "What If" function is for information purposes only. You will see the header "What If Audit" displayed at the top of the audit whenever an audit is run on a "What If" scenario.

Yes, you can save the "What If" audit to your personal computer as a PDF document. "What If" audits cannot be saved within Degree Works. To save a “What If” audit:

• Click the “What If” feature next to the “Academic” tab.
• Fill in the hypothetical criteria using the drop down boxes and free-text course boxes.
• Click the “Process” button in “What-If”
• Click the Print icon at the top right of the page
• Set the printer destination to Save as Adobe PDF

Yes, to print a “What-If” audit:

• Click the “What If” feature next to the “Academic” tab.
• Fill in the hypothetical criteria using the drop down boxes and free-text course boxes.
• Click the “Process” button in “What-If”
• Click the Print icon at the top right of the page

Since "What If" scenarios are not saved in Degree Works, your advisor can only see your results if the two of you work through a "What If" procedure together or if you show him/her a printout of a "What If" scenario you generated on your own.

Always speak with your academic advisor first. After consulting with your advisor, you may change your academic program by going to: http://mywsu.wichita.edu/. Click the "Log in to myWSU" button and enter your secure id and password.

Locate the "Student Tools" section and click the "Change My Major/Minor" link.

The "Plans" tab in Degree Works allows you to create and modify a plan of study to track your degree progress.

The degree audit is a list of requirements for your degree and cannot be modified. The "Plans" tab allows you to create a plan of study semester-by-semester, and can easily be updated to fit your schedule. Both are tools to help keep you on track to graduation.

No. Plans of study created in Degree Works are unofficial and intended for use as tools to assist in planning and tracking of your degree progress. Your transcript is your official university record.

Yes. Advisors have access to the "Plans" tab. They can make modifications and assist you with your plan of study.

The GPA Calculators (found in the Overflow Menu (three dots) in the upper right corner of the page) will show you your estimated GPA after you fill in hypothetical information.

The "Graduation Calculator" tool shows the amount of average grade points you need to achieve in your remaining credit hours in order to reach your "Desired GPA" by graduation. The "Current GPA" field is automatically filled in. You can use your degree audit to obtain the information necessary for the "Credits Remaining" and "Credits Required" fields. Once all fields are filled in, click the "Calculate" button. The results are an estimate based on information you enter and do not provide any guarantee, basis for academic distinction, or graduation honors.

The "Term Calculator" shows what your "Calculated GPA" will be at the end of your current term with hypothetical grades entered for your current courses. Your "Current GPA", in-progress classes, and their corresponding credits will be entered automatically. The "Credits Earned So Far" field represents all hours taken at Wichita State University (factored into your current GPA) that have been applied to your degree plan. You may select hypothetical grades for the in-progress classes shown then click the "Calculate" button to see what your GPA will be if you receive those grades for these courses.

The "Advice Calculator" shows how many courses you need at a certain grade in order to achieve a "Desired GPA". Your "Current GPA" and "Credits Earned" are automatically entered. Simply enter a "Desired GPA" and click the "Calculate" button to see how many courses with a certain grade you need in order to reach that GPA. Advice will alert you if the GPA is not possible because too many hours would be required.  

No. This is a hypothetical estimate only.