Faculty

What is the Degree Planner Platform?

The Degree Planner platform consists of two main parts: Degree Planner and Schedule Assistant. 

Degree Planner is an interactive online eAdvising tool that provides suggested degree plans for all students so they can thoughtfully plan for the classes they need for the current and future semesters. 

Schedule Assistant is an electronic eAdvising tool that lets students pick the course sections with days/times that work best for their family and work schedules.

Why are we using Degree Planner?

Advising students can get complicated these days due to changes to General Education and major requirements that happen every year.  Did you know that due to Catalog Rights for GE and Catalog Rights for the Major/minor, some students must follow the new curriculum while others follow the old curriculum?    When a student walks in to talk to you about their career path, how do you know which requirements they need to complete?  Degree Planner provides Faculty Advisors the online and accurate tool they need to guide degree plan advising and provide proactive advising to help students. 

Degree Planner also provides course demand data based on student plans, so departments and programs can offer the number of courses and sections students need, when they need them.

What are the benefits to me and my department?

• Direct student communications to market new courses and/or newly opened class sections.
• Utilize the data to analyze student course demand.
• Utilize the data for reserving seats in GE courses for students in your major that must take the course.
• Reduce misadvising and having to process course approvals.
• Conduct real-time analysis for a student’s progress towards his/her degree when requesting to crash your class.

Other Degree Planner Benefits

• Students can plan multiple semesters in advance and see which courses are typically offered by semester.
• Helps students map out pre-requisites and other requirements, and personalize their degree plan.
• Helps students see when they will graduate before their resources run out.
• Provides a consistent working model for advisors to assist students.
• Degree Planner accounts for all degree requirements in one place vs. using multiple websites or papers for GE requirements. major/minor requirements and overall degree requirements.

How do I learn how to talk about Degree Planner?

Contact the Faculty Center for upcoming Degree Planner Faculty workshops

Send an email to degreeplanner@csusm.edu for a one-on-one or departmental training session

How does Degree Planner work?

Degree Planner integrates department 4-year roadmaps by major to help students and their advisors plan coursework for each semester.  Degree Planner is where students plan and “pick” their courses for each semester, which they will upload to Schedule Assistant (once the Class Schedule is live) in anticipation of registration.

How can I learn more about Degree Planner?

Learn more and view Degree Planner tutorials at https://www.csusm.edu/academicadvising/degreeplanner/index.html.

How do I access and use Degree Planner?

All faculty have access to Degree Planner. Login to MyCSUSM as you normally would to get to see your class schedule. After clicking the Advisor Center tab and entering student information (ID or Name) you will see a link to Degree Planner.