A Navigate U Step-by-Step Guide
Developing and Maintaining Functional 4-Year Degree Plans

Overview

This guide outlines the process for developing and maintaining functional 4-year degree plans at the University of Utah. These plans are crucial for guiding students along their academic journey, facilitating the U’s smooth transition into a new catalog system (Course Dog), and ensuring timely completion for more undergraduate students. The guide includes steps for initial development, annual verification, and ongoing maintenance.

Action Steps

1. Gather program information (6 months before implementation), conduct a thorough review of each program of study’s current curriculum, and compile a list of all degree requirements, including program courses, general education and bachelor degree requirements, electives, prerequisites, and co-requisites.
2. Develop draft degree plans (5 months before implementation) by creating a semester-by-semester plan— focused on maintaining 15-credit hours per semester¹, taking core English/Writing and Math during the first year as well as 9 credits in the student’s academic focus area²—outlining the recommended course sequence for completing the degree in 4 years. Identify key academic and extracurricular milestones. Collaborate with academic advisors to ensure the plan is realistic and considers common student challenges.³
3. Conduct a stakeholder review (4 months before implementation) to present the draft degree plans for feedback to department heads and faculty ensuring a crosswalk for any pre-requisites or co-requisites in another department/School/College and include input from current students.
4. Finalize degree plans (3 months before implementation) based on feedback from stakeholders. Utilize this degree plan template.
5. Secure approval from departmental and College/School leadership and publish the finalized degree plans via direct links to the catalog on university website.
6. Verify and maintain plans annually (January 20 each year) by:
   1. Collecting data on student progress, completion rates, plan usability and relevance, bottleneck patterns, and “toxic” and “power” course combinations.⁴
   2. Reviewing any changes to the curriculum, course offerings, or degree requirements and validate that plans still align with current degree requirements and provide a realistic path to completion in 4 years.
   3. Conducting review sessions with department heads and faculty to confirm the plans are up to date and fully functional and how these should align with faculty teaching schedules (short-term: workload distribution and long-term: planning at 2- or 4-year increments).
   4. Updating degree plans as changes to the curriculum or degree requirements are approved. Clearly communicate any changes to students and advisors through multiple channels, including the university websites, working groups, email notifications, and advising sessions.
   5. Requiring academic advisors to attend and complete regular training sessions on interpretation, use, and improvement of the degree plans.
7. Incorporate the degree plans into regular advising appointments and new student orientation to keep students on track to timely completion.

By following this guide, the University of Utah can develop and maintain functional 4-year degree plans that support increased timely completion. Regular review and updates, along with continuous feedback and stakeholder engagement will propel the Associate Deans as student success leaders who guarantee that the degree plans remain relevant and effective for guiding students through their academic journey and ensure every student can have an exceptional educational experience. #NavigateU

¹ https://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/media/k2/attachments/momentum-15-credit-course-load.pdf

² https://completega.org/sites/default/files/resources/Momentum_Year_Overview_2019.pdf 

³ https://eab.com/glossary/effective-academic-plan/

⁴https://www.airweb.org/article/2019/09/17/curriculum-design-and-student-success