Information Technology at Western Carolina University


What is On Course? – A Guide to be used for advisement purposes A tool that requires analysis by and discussion with a student’s advisor One way in which credit may be applied to a degree program; yet not the only way An indication of requirements specific to the term declared for the graduation catalog

What On Course is Not – A check sheet to be followed without in-depth analysis A replacement for your academic advisor A map that shows the only way in which credit may be applied to a degree program Degree requirements compulsorily tied to a printed catalog

How Data Flows Through On Course – A student’s coursework is applied to general and specific requirements based on a combination of total hours and/or GPA needed for each requirement, plus courses specified as meeting the requirement.

General Requirements – Credit are used to satisfy multiple requirements 120-128 hours needed to complete a degree minimum CPA 25 percent hours in junior / senior level courses 50 percent hours in junior / senior level major courses

Specific Requirements – Data flows Into a “Bucket” and Stops! General Education or Liberal Studies Pre-Major Major Minor / Concentration / Disciplinary Focus Area / Second Major / Approved Program

A specific requirement must be just that: specific. If specific courses and hours are not accurately specified, then the On Course system cannot adequately match requirements with fulfillments to formulate a precise audit.

What are Known Issues and Limitations With On Course?

Limitations with On Course occur for two reasons: 1) the logic used in the development of the software, and 2) the data used to specify degree requirements. Certainly all students are different and, therefore, take different paths in completing an academic program. A “One Fits All” approach cannot be applied with analyzing degree requirements. There are always special cases that require an evaluation by an academic advisor with regard to the applicability of some coursework toward a degree program.

Incomplete academic programs (unspecified minors, concentrations, DFAs, etc.) Unspecified requirements, such as “Approved Programs”, where hours are specified but no specific course(s) are listed. Changes in degree requirements within the academic year that cause a mismatch between the audit and the printed catalog. Courses that may be used to satisfy multiple requirements. Transfer credits that result in fractional semester hour credit. Transfer credits that result in general electives not being considered in the audit. Transfer credits that are not applicable. Change of Majors that result in coursework showing as not applicable. Finally, the very complexity of some specified degree programs.

Incomplete academic programs (unspecified minors, concentrations, DFAs, etc.)

When accessing a degree audit through the web, you will note at the top of the degree audit under “SECTION 1 – Selected Student Data”, the complete program of study that has been declared. Clearly, if a concentration (indicated as OPTIONS on the degree audit), minor, or optional second major are not specified, or is specified incorrectly, then the degree audit cannot provide accurate information. The program of study is shown using abbreviated codes. You may find the complete meaning of these codes on the web at http://registrar.wcu.edu/majors. In fact, when a program of study requires a concentration, minor, or second major that is not specified on the Declaration of Change of Major form, the Registrar’s Office will return the form to the academic advisor for correction.

Unspecified requirements, such as “Approved Programs”, where hours are specified but no specific courses are listed.

In some instances, most notably with “Approved Programs”, a requirement is indicated but no courses are listed. In these cases, the degree audit can only build in a requirement specifying hours needed to complete, but no courses. When this occurs the degree audit will treat the requirement similar to the way it handles general electives: pulling the first available courses to fulfill the hours needed without regard to the actual courses.

Changes in degree requirements within the academic year that cause the audit to not match a printed catalog.

Academic programs are not static. In fact, they may change from semester to semester. In which case, the mandates that a student must complete for degree are tied to the requirements specified by the academic department for a given semester; but not necessarily to a published academic catalog for a given academic year. Throughout an academic year courses are discontinued, added, or modified that potentially impact degree requirements. Likewise, changes occur with concentrations, minors, and more within a degree program.

It is incumbent upon an academic advisor to be cognizant of the catalog term specified on a degree audit and the specific degree requirements that the academic department specified as required for that specific term.

Changes in degree requirements by an academic department during an academic year, and in some cases even for a fall semester after a catalog has been printed, are the cause for some of the more frustrating misapplications and misunderstanding of the degree audit.

Courses that may be used to satisfy multiple requirements.

When specific courses are listed as being able to satisfy multiple requirements, there is no way for the degree audit system to “know” which requirement would be best. Therefore, as courses are analyzed to fulfill a specific requirement, if a course is applicable to that requirement, then it will be chosen by the system and is no longer free to be used for a second specific requirement. A course used in, for example, Liberal Studies, remains in that category. This course is therefore bound to that requirement and unavailable for use to satisfy another component such as the major, if required.

For example, though PSY 150 may be a major requirement, it can also be used to satisfy 3 hours of social science requirements in Liberal Studies. On Course cannot used PSY 150 to satisfy both specific requirements. The advisor must know which specific requirement PSY 150 should be used to satisfy and what to do to make up the requirement that is not satisfied.

Transfer credit that results in fractional semester hour credit.

Fractional semester credit hours are the result of transferred quarter hours. The unit of conversion is 0.67 or 2/3. For example, a 5-quarter hour course would be converted to 3.3 semester hours (5-quarter hours x 0.67=3.3).

If fractional semester hours result in “surplus” credit such as a 5-quarter hour ENGL101 course, three hours will be applied to ENGL101 and .3 hours of credit will be reflected as general transfer credit. Only the maximum hours can be awarded as stipulated for the WCU course.

A reverse scenario may occur when transferred credit results in fractional semester credit that is less that the minimum required credit for the WCU courses. For example, a 4-quarter hour course will receive 2.66-semester hours credit for the WCU course.

Even though the credit hour requirement for WCU has not been fully satisfied, the course requirement is still regarded as being fulfilled. For example, if 2.6 hours of transfer credit is awarded for MATH101, the entire course requirement has been met. There is no expectation that an additional 0.4 hours of MATH101 is to be completed in order to fulfill the credit hour requirement. Typically, these “deficiencies” are compensated by additional elective credit as might be reflected in the “Not Applicable” section of the degree audit. The number of hours for graduation is still required as specified by the degree program.

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