Degree Planner Release Updates
The following is a detailed list of the various enhancements and bug fixes that may have affected our environment. Generally, we receive an update release every quarter from High Point.
Please review the following and feel free to direct questions or concerns to Tammy Montgomery at montgot@losrios.edu or Susan Rankin at rankins@losrios.edu.
Changes:
- A fix was made to the notification count on the student dashboard to make sure that it clears after user mass-deletes notifications. (25728)
- We have addressed a bug when deep linking to a requirement from the warnings page to view the warning in more detail. (25721)
- We have enabled the progress chart section labels to be configurable via Message Catalog so that institutions may override these labels with text of their desire. (25707)
- We have adjusted the ‘Add An Elective Course’ button label to be configurable via Message Catalog (25706)
- Course sharing stage 1 has been implemented with some added enhancements from current Degree Planner – including the ability to group shared requirements in Unplanned and other User Interface style changes (25685) (25687)
- We have addressed a lag-time that was occurring when a user would select/ deselect a course so that the selected course is now visible immediately upon re-opening the course selection requirement modal. (25663)
- An enhancement was made to the course selection modal for requirement(s) where only one course can fulfill the requirement, or in a case where Degree Planner automatically selected the course. In these cases, the ‘Deselect’ button will be grayed out with hover-text informing that the user cannot deselect and if there are other courses in the list, the user will need to override the selection by selecting one of the other courses rather than deselecting the one already selected. (25662)
- For administrative and other users who have access to Path Planner – we will hide the path planner deep link from requirements in student planner for requirements that are not getting derived from path planner. This will avoid cases where a user will select ‘Path Planner’ only to be taken to a blank page. (25661)
- An enhancement was made (configurable via Application Settings) where the student’s cumulative current GPA will now display on the dashboard next to the Progress Chart section. (25703)
- The course history page status has been updated to include a separate filter for ‘Repeated’ statuses, should a student have repeated courses in their enrollment history.
- A new application setting item configurable per career on the ‘Student Paths’ tab has been added to enable or disable dynamically generated requirements. The new setting is called ‘Generate Dynamic Requirements’ In Degree Planner 2.0 – these dynamic requirements will get automatically generated in the student’s path should the student be short credit or courses for a particular requirement. These - requirements are typically configured with minimum units/courses at the parameter level in your Academic Advisement setup. (25604)
- A separate batch process for generating student paths in batch is now available specific to Degree Planner 2.0. The navigation is similar to the existing batch process (HighPoint > Degree Planner > Processes) but is now called ‘Refresh Student Paths 2.0’ Those with existing security/ access to run this job currently should have access automatically to run the process specific to 2.0. (25247)
- Several query optimizations and performance enhancements were made in this release including one of the ones that queries catalog course data in PeopleSoft. (25643) (25290)
- An enhancement was made to allow users to delete notes entered under the chat tab (the tab used for communicating between advisor/counselor and student). Previously, only notes entered by staff in the ‘Advisor’ tab (the middle tab) were able to be deleted by the user that entered the note. This is dependent on Application Settings and whether you allow students to reply. (17066)
- An enhancement was made to the view section modal where one can see scheduled class sections for subsequent enrollment or add to shopping cart functionality. This enhancement includes an additional filter that will display the status of the sections, so one can filter only on sections that are open/have seats available. (24367)
- An enhancement was made to disable the ability for students to add additional electives in their path (via the Add an Elective Course button found beneath each term). This is configurable via application settings on the ‘Electives’ tab. The new setting is called: ‘Disable Student User Electives’. (Note: the existing setting: Disable User Selected Elective is still there and can be used to disable this feature for all users of Degree Planner – not just students). (17202)
- An enhancement was made to allow users to change careers when creating a what-if report in Degree Planner. (23811)
- An enhancement was made to add a filter on the course selection modal to allow users to filter only on courses that have at least one section scheduled for the applicable term. The label of this new filter is configurable via the Fields tab of Application Settings and will come delivered as ‘Is Offered?’ (20226)
- An enhancement was made to Option titles to obey override in text from Path Planner. (14359) The following enhancements were made to Degree Planner analytics:
- From Daytona: The Projected Graduation Report will now include students whose last term in Degree Planner contains only enrolled coursework. Currently these students would not be associated to that Projected Grad term in this report as it only would look at the last term with unmet requirements from their Degree Planner to derive the Projected grad term from. (25076)
- Course Demand Report: a fix was made to the subject and academic org filter behavior. Previously, based on the demand term selected, the subject and academic org filters were incorrectly reduced to only display subjects from courses that have scheduled data from the demand term. This often resulted in null filters for those fields. (23332)
- Configured Plans Report: a change was made to one of the services behind this report to fix an issue that sometimes would result in the careers and program filters getting stuck in loading status. (25159)
- Projected Graduation Report: A fix was made to the academic plan filter so that all plans associated under a particular academic organization, get returned as expected. (23298)
- Complete/ Incomplete Plans Report: a fix was made which will return student information data such as email and phone number stored in the Student Information System upon expanding a row of data. (25121)
The following is a detailed list of the various enhancements and bug fixes that may have affected our environment. Generally, we receive an update release every quarter from High Point.
Please review the following and feel free to direct questions or concerns to Jesus Morales at moralej2@losrios.edu or Susan Rankin at rankins@losrios.edu.
Changes:
- When a user opens an option from the student degree planner dashboard, each option will now be automatically expanded on the options detail page. (19187)
- An issue was resolved that caused the search filter to not always return the expected results when adding an elective. This has been resolved so that all matchings from the search box filter will be returned as expected with the list of courses returned. (23352)
- Performance improvements have been made for viewing the courses for a requirement from the student degree planner. (24741)
- For clients that use triggers for refreshing student paths – the action of enabling or disabling the splash screen in Application Settings will no longer invoke the path to have to refresh (presuming there are no other changes that would cause the path to refresh). (16684)
- An issue was resolved that caused the wrong URL to be used when a user selected the Path Planner option from the student degree planner. (23286)
- An issue was resolved that caused the warning icon to not display on the student degree planner dashboard for requirements that have warnings. (24288)
- An issue was resolved that caused the student degree planner to not be able to identify when a client also has Schedule Builder installed. (23296)
- An issue was resolved that caused text to overlap on the student degree planner dashboard for enrolled courses. (23812)
- An issue was resolved that caused student paths to not load when the "Number of Terms to Validate" is greater than 0 and the H_VAL_CLASS_NBR field is set to 99999. (19624)
- An issue was resolved that caused enrolled and elective courses from displaying on the Print Path/Preview Plan page. (24368)
- An issue was resolved that was causing an error when viewing courses in the view-only mode of Path Planner. (24402)
- An issue was resolved that was causing an error to occur when an auto-assigned elective (for example, Free Elective) was moved to unplanned prior to a user resetting their path. (24372)
The following is a detailed list of the various enhancements and bug fixes that may have affected our environment. Generally, we receive an update release every quarter from High Point.
Please review the following and feel free to direct questions or concerns to Jesus Morales at moralej2@losrios.edu.
Changes:
- A display issue was resolved so the Refresh Path banner does not overlay the Progress or Past Courses.
- Added a duplicate window button to the Configured Plans report. (16997)
- An issue was resolved to allow special characters or spaces to be used within the Notes functionality without display issues. (17068)
- An issue was resolved on the Progress Chart to prevent In-Progress units from being double-counted towards the Planned units count. (17032)
- An issue was resolved on the Warnings report to prevent an error related to term descriptions. (16852)
- An issue was resolved to display the correct message if a student’s path does not complete within the Refresh Path allotted time configured in Application Settings.. (16991)
- An issue was resolved which caused the not offered/scheduled warning to be assigned to a requirement that was offered/scheduled when the Scheduling Trigger dropdown is set to Manual Scheduling in Application Settings. (17002)
- An issue was resolved that impacted the calculation of a student’s academic level with unselected options. (17207)
- Changed the ‘Disable Electives’ functionality in Application Settings to ‘Disable User Selected Elective’. When enabled, Degree Planner will remove the ability for users to add any Elective course from the Course Catalog via ‘Add An Elective Course’. (16949)
- Resolved an issue with the scrolling focus on the Tips display.
- The ‘In-Memory Course List Caching’ checkbox was added to the Global Settings to provide the ability for course list caching from memory instead of reading from a table. This will help improve the performance of Degree Planner, particularly with large course lists. This is the recommended setting but can be disabled if there are memory issues. (17182)
- Administrators can now specify recommended elective courses in Path Planner for career, program, plan, and subplan paths. To enable this feature, the “Recommend Elective Courses in Path Planner” checkbox needs to be checked on the Electives tab in Application Settings. When checked, a Recommended Electives item will display in the Requirement Group dropdown for applicable paths in Path Planner. (13914)
The following is a detailed list of the various enhancements and bug fixes that may have affected our environment. Generally, we receive an update release every quarter from High Point.
Please review the following and feel free to direct questions or concerns to Jesus Morales at moralej2@losrios.edu.
Changes:
- An issue was resolved in Student Planner where lower priority subplan requirements were scheduled ahead of higher priority requirements configured at the Plan level. (16846)
- An issue was resolved in Student Planner with the alignment of the course-sharing message. An issue was resolved when selecting multiple subjects in the requirement course modal. (16706)
- An issue was resolved where the Mass Edit Max units modal was not allowing the user to save selection if the new unit value was ‘0’. (16840)
- An issue was resolved where the elective modal was not opening as expected when attempting to select a course for a free elective. for a free elective. (16520)
- An issue was resolved which caused the custom title for an option requirement to display in the “Select option” dropdown in Path Planner and for the option in the student Degree Planner. (16718)
- An issue was resolved that impacted the calculation of a student’s academic level. (16692)
- An issue was resolved with the display of dynamic requirements in an unselected option.
- In Path Planner, an issue was resolved which caused a "00" Academic Level to be pre-populated in the “Min academic level” dropdown in the DP Prereqs modal for paths where “00" is a valid academic level. For institutions that use “00” as a valid Academic Level value, this change will not fix existing Path Planner lines. HighPoint cannot provide a script to fix existing lines since there is no way to differentiate between valid “00" prereqs and those that should be blank. Institutions may want to blank these prereqs out using SQL. (16500)
- In the “Add new paths” modal in Path Planner, an issue was resolved which caused the Years dropdown to display years that are prior to the Starting Year in Application Settings. (16826)
- In the “Add new paths” modal in Path Planner, the Search field was added to allow users to filter the careers/programs/plans by career code, career description, program code, program description, plan code, and plan description. (16691)
- New feature to display ‘Preview Plan’ on the dashboard to display the Print Path view. Expand/Collapse All buttons and Mass Edit Max Units have been moved to display under the Progress Chart and Past Courses. The ‘Preview Plan’ label can be configured in the message catalog override (message set 28498, messages 257). (16675)
- Requirements, enrollments, and options are now sorted in alphanumerical order within a term. (16407)
- Resolved issues on the mobile course modal view addressing incorrect filter count and display of subject filter. (16579)
- The ‘Term Overview’ dashboard will now display the header banner, which includes Name, Path Title, Path Actions, and Notifications, at the top of the page when scrolling. (16804)
- The Electives filters are sorted in alpha-numeric description order for all fields. Various fixes for the Term Overview dashboard to address styling, fonts, branding, and sizing. (15180)
Beginning February 25, a new, enhanced Degree Planner Dashboard is available as part of the current release of the Degree Planner tool. Watch the following demo video on how to make the best use of the new Dashboard.
As a reminder, following user feedback, a new entry point into the Degree Planner tool is now available in eServices. Degree Planner is now located under the Manage Classes and Academic Progress tiles. The existing entry point will remain available for the immediate future.
Please feel free to direct questions or concerns to Jesus Morales at moralej2@losrios.edu.
The following is a detailed list of the various enhancements and bug fixes that may have affected our environment. Generally, we receive an update release every quarter from High Point.
Following user feedback, a new entry point into the Degree Planner tool is now available. It resides within Student Self-Service (eServices). Degree Planner is now located under the Manage Classes and Academic Progress tiles. The existing entry point will also remain available for the immediate future.
Please review the following and feel free to direct questions or concerns to Jesus Morales or Frank Pahlke.
- An issue was resolved which caused the failed course count to display on the Term Overview dashboard when it is disabled on the General tab in Application Settings. (16153)
- An issue was resolved that prevented the Configured Plans report from working for SQL server environments. (16162)
- In Path Planner, an issue was resolved which caused the search filter on the Recommended Courses modal to not return results when searching by subject and catalog number. (16149)
- In Path Planner, notifications will indicate the status of new detail lines that were are added as inactive by default.
- In Path Planner, the clickable area for the Notes column has been increased to make it easier to open the Notes modal. (16209)
- The “Include Do Not Print Lines” checkbox has been added to the Req Exclusions tab in Application Settings. When checked, requirements and lines that are configured “Do Not Print” will be included in Path Planner. If the status in Path Planner is set to “Active,” the requirements will appear in Student Planner. Will not affect programs that are live (this item pertains to Degree Audit setups).
- The Mass Update Term units feature was enhanced to allow users to make multiple unit changes at once.
- The PG Term dropdown in the Projected Graduation report will now include terms where the year is equal to or greater than the Starting Year in Application Settings. (16219)
- Updated Path Planner logic so requirements that will always be satisfied will default to Inactive. (15045) This update will not affect programs that are live.
- An issue was resolved on the Term Overview dashboard which caused NaN% to display in the progress chart. Also fixed calculations on percentages and Planned courses. (16145)
- An issue was resolved which caused the splash screen to display in the student Degree Planner when navigating between pages. (15305)
- An issue was resolved in the Term Overview dashboard where users could not add courses to Schedule Builder after running Verify Path.
- An issue was resolved in Student Planner Print Path where the selected requirement title did not display for group requirements.
- An issue was resolved in Student Planner Print Path where the selected requirement title did not display for group requirements. (16099)
- An issue was resolved which caused the Lock option to display under Path Actions on the Term Overview dashboard for primary paths when “Allow advisors to lock the primary path” is not checked.
Frequently Asked Questions
Los Rios is committed to the California Community Colleges Guided Pathways framework – a highly structured approach to student success that provides all students with a set of clear course-taking patterns to promote better enrollment decisions, help students in reaching their educational goals, and prepare them for future success.
Degree Planner is an interactive-planning tool that helps students complete their degree as efficiently as possible. Degree Planner integrates degree audit information, program maps, and course offerings to recommend the sequence of courses a student should take each semester. Degree Planner is also an interactive advising software tool that counselors can use to help students select and customize their pathway to degree completion.
Degree Planner provides students with a semester-by-semester course plan to complete their degree in two years and for transfer (if they are attending college full-time). It also gives students the ability to interact with their degree plan, so they can alter their plan based on their individual needs and life circumstances. Students can select such things as the number of units they take each semester. They can rearrange their classes based on course availability and other factors, like which classes balance best with their workload, family responsibilities, and so on.
When a student makes a change to their plan, Degree Planner does not lose track of the classes a student still needs to take to complete their degree. It automatically updates the student's plan to accommodate the student's choices then re-prioritizes the student's remaining degree requirements.
Degree Planner also pulls in courses the student has already taken at any of the Los Rios colleges. If that course meets a degree requirement in the student's major, Degree Planner recognizes the equivalent course and re-prioritizes the remaining courses the student needs to complete their degree. Note that efforts are underway to develop a tool that will read transcript information from institutions outside of Los Rios and integrate it into Degree Planner. We'll provide more information when it's available.
Counselors can help students customize their degree plan during a counseling session. The following video explains how counselors can use Degree Planner.
Here are other ways a counselor can help a student customize their plan. Counselors can:
- Adjust the number of units a student takes each semester.
- Move a course from one semester to another.
- Enter notes at the course level, semester level, and plan level in a student's plan.
- Develop "what if" plans with the student.
- Make a copy of the student's plan, make changes to the plan in conversation with the student, and then "lock" the changes in place, keep a record of the plan and agreement between the student and counselor.
- View a previous counselor's notes and locked plans.
- Move planned classes into Schedule Builder to help the student enroll in those classes.
Staff can help students use Degree Planner in the following ways:
- Help students log into eServices.
- Identify if a student has declared a live major and help navigate the student to the Degree Planner link.
- If a student’s major is not live in Degree Planner, then inform the student they will not have access to Degree Planner.
- Share the link to the Degree Planner Information for Students page, which contains a video and FAQ.
- Walk the student through the tips in the program.
- Practice using Degree Planner in a test site in preparation to walk students through the process.
- Show students how to change the number of units they can take, move a class, validate their path, print a copy of their map, and move their classes into Schedule Builder to enroll.
Degree Planner is available to students who meet both of the following criteria:
- Students who became term active in summer 2019 and later
- Students who are majoring in a degree that is available in Degree Planner
See a list of all programs currently available in Degree Planner.
Note: Certain degrees are not yet live. We encourage students to view the list of programs currently available in Degree Planner and make an appointment with a counselor to confirm their degree is available.
Only students for whom both of the following are true have access to Degree Planner in eServices:
- The student applied to a Los Rios college in summer 2019 or later.
- The student is majoring in or has declared a degree that is live in Degree Planner.
Where to Find Degree Planner
- From the eServices dashboard, click Degree Planner.
Students whose majors are not yet active in Degree Planner will not have access to this link at this time. However, students pursuing other degree programs will eventually have access as more programs are added to the system.
With the student, go to their eServices homepage. Have the student select Degree Planner. If the student's degree is one of the programs that is live in Degree Planner, then the Degree Planner link will be on their page.
Only students for whom both of the following are true have access to Degree Planner in eServices:
- The student applied to a Los Rios college in summer 2019 or later.
- The student is majoring in or has declared a degree that is live in Degree Planner.
See a list of all programs currently available in Degree Planner.
Note: Certain degrees are not yet live. We encourage students to view the list of programs currently available in Degree Planner and make an appointment with a counselor to confirm their degree is available.
If a student does not have access to the Degree Planner link, then their degree is not yet available in Degree Planner. The college teams are building these programs over the course of the academic year.
In the meantime, encourage the student to make an appointment with a counselor to develop an individual student education plan (iSEP). Students can view degree maps on the college website to determine which courses to take.
If the student has selected a program that is live in Degree Planner, but the Degree Planner link is not displaying, then check to make sure they became term active at your college in summer 2019 or later. If they did, then contact the Help Desk.
Note: Certain degrees are not yet live. We encourage students to view the list of programs currently available in Degree Planner and make an appointment with a counselor to confirm their degree is available.
Currently, only students who have selected one of the majors that is live in Degree Planner will have access to the tool.
During the CCCApply process, some students do not select a major (so they are "undecided") or they may select a general education area of study that is too broad to be considered a major. To proceed with enrollment, the system will prompt these students to select a specific major.
If a student selects or declares one of the majors that is live in Degree Planner, then they will have access to the tool through eServices.
The goal is for every student to be able to use Degree Planner. However, it takes time to input and test the degree/academic programs to ensure that they are accurate. It will take time to perfect the tool – even with testing, issues may still arise that require adjustments to improve the accuracy, student experience, and the tool itself.
That's why we decided to release Degree Planner on a limited basis – it will enable the team to identify potential issues in the live environment, correct them, and improve the tool for all students.
Degree Planner contains associate degrees for transfer (also known as AD-T, AA-T, or AS-T) along with many other AA and AS degrees and certificates. We will continue to make more degrees available in the future.
See a list of all programs currently available in Degree Planner.
Note: Certain degrees are not yet live. We encourage students to view the list of programs currently available in Degree Planner and make an appointment with a counselor to confirm their degree is available.
College-specific training sessions are being planned for fall with information coming soon. In the meantime, review the following videos.
If you are having trouble watching these videos, then make sure you are logged out of the VPN tunnel.