Using the Planner

1. Using the Planner

2. Why use the Planner? • Students can use the Planner to create a long-term study plan for degree completion. • The Planner will also help the University track what courses students need to take and when they plan to take them.

3. Select the Planner tab in DegreeWorks.

4. When you are planning for the current academic year, please refer to the Master Class Schedule in AIMS and make sure the courses you choose are conflict free. • When you are planning for future, please check the tentative course offerings for next year for reference.

5. You can increase or decrease the width of your advising worksheet/planner by dragging the grey bar in the middle of the screen.

6. To add a new plan, select “add new plan” and load a new Planner form (this option is default for first-time users). • Your first study plan is default to be the Active Plan. If you wish to replace your old plan with a new one, please uncheck the Active Plan box for your old plan.

7. Type a description for your plan. (e.g. If you are drafting your study plan for 2013/14, please type “Study Plan for 2013/14”.) • Select the semester/term in your planner. (e.g. SemA 2013/14)

8. Then you can either drag and drop needed courses from your worksheet to your Planner, or enter the courses directly into the Planner fields. For GE courses in distributional areas, you should enter the exact course code (e.g. GE 2305) and the credit. Note that a space must exist between the subject code and the course number.

9. Add any supplementary information you wish to tell your advisor about your study plan in the notes field.

10. If you are now in an undeclared major, you can put the major you intend to declare in the Notes field and put in your plan the GE courses or free electives you intend to take.

11. You can also view the tutorial on using the what-if option if you wish to include the courses of a new major/minor in your plan.

12. If you wish to see how your planned courses fit into your degree requirements, click “test plan” and a new worksheet will generate.

13. Click “save plan” to save the plan.

14. A pop up window will appear if your plan is successfully saved.

15. If there are any errors, a pop-up box will appear with instructions for correcting errors.

16. Click the name of the advisor • Please send an e-mail to your advisor if your study plan is ready for review.

17. After your study plan is reviewed, your advisor may lock your plan. In that case, you will be unable to make further changes to the plan.

18. You can click the “save as” button and enter a new description to save the plan under another name for further changes. You can also create other plans.

19. Though you can create as many plans as you’d like, you can only mark one plan as “active” at a time. A locked active plan must be unlocked by advisor first before you can make further changes to the plan or mark another plan as active. • You should review your plan regularly and update it before you meet with your advisor.

20. If you require assistance in using the Planner, please contact the Academic Regulations and Records Office or your Departmental General Office. Consult your Advisor if you have questions in planning your studies.