Degree Works FAQs

Your worksheet is an outline of requirements that you need to complete to earn your degree. The horizontal block headers (in dark grey) divide the worksheet into various segments of data. The first block is the Student Information block and contains information about you as a student, such as your name, ID, Program, Major, School and Pathway. The next block contains data specific to the degree you are pursuing, i.e. Associate in Science, followed by your Program block, i.e. Business Administration. These blocks contain checkboxes with a description of the degree requirements and/or coursework that must be completed. Some requirements are indented, and just like an outline, indicate that there are ‘sub’ requirements underneath. Across from the checkboxes, you will see what is Still Needed or the course(s) fulfilling that requirement. The Legend at the bottom of the worksheet explains the various symbols you see on the worksheet. Any blocks toward the bottom of your worksheet that do not have checkboxes are generated by Degree Works and provide additional data about your coursework. For further assistance with how to read your worksheet, please consult an advisor.

The Student Information block at the top of your Degree Works worksheet displays your Program and Major. Some Programs also have Tracks or Options within them. The Degree you are pursuing is displayed in the first block below the Student Information block.

Program: MCC awards degrees based on the completion of your Program, which is comprised of curricula approved by the State Department of Education. Degree Works will always default to your Program requirements.

Major – Your Major refers to your ‘Field of Study’ and is often the same code and title as your Program, which means you only need to complete the requirements on your default worksheet to earn your degree.

If your Major is a different code and title than your Program because it is a 2+2 articulation agreement, you may click on the 2+2 link at the top (left) of your worksheet, and/or contact a transfer advisor about specific advisement for the transfer School. Or if your Major is a Liberal Arts and Sciences advisement sequence, you will need to run a ‘What If’ on that Major to see which specific courses you are advised to take. In either case, the requirements in your Program (on the default worksheet) must still be satisfied to earn your degree. Additional courses that are not required in your actual Program may not be eligible for Financial Aid – see FACE – Financial Aid Course Eligibility: www.monroecc.edu/go/FACE

Majors that are ‘Tracks’ – Some Majors with a different code than your Program are identified as ‘Tracks’, such as the HS03 Health Studies ‘Clinical Track’ within the HS01 Health Studies Program. You do not need to run a ‘What If’ for these Majors because your Track will be built into your Program. Your, default worksheet will display the requirements you need to satisfy.

Tracks and Options within a Program – Some Programs have a choice of two or more Tracks or Options within the Program, such as the ‘Design’, ‘Illustration’, and ‘Motion Media’ Tracks in VC01 Graphic Design. You will follow the requirements on your default worksheet but will need to choose courses according to whichever Track or Option you are seeking (as listed on your worksheet).

Degree – In addition to Certificates, the Degrees offered at MCC are the Associate in Arts (A.A.), Associate in Science (A.S.), and Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S).

You will find your School and Pathway in the Student Information block at the top of your worksheet. When you are admitted to MCC, you are admitted to a School, which connects you to an academic home and the people who will support your personal success at the College. Your Pathway is your intended major. Depending on your placement scores or other student needs, your pathway may match your current Program or it may differ. (If applicable, you will also find your Department, Advisor, and Advisement Location in this block.)

MCC students who plan to transfer and complete a baccalaureate degree at a SUNY four-year campus must complete the 30 credit SUNY-GERs from at least seven knowledge and skill areas/categories: Mathematics (required), Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, American History, Western Civilization, Other World Civilizations, Humanities, The Arts, Foreign Language, and Basic Communication (required). Critical Thinking (Reasoning) and Information Management are competencies infused throughout the General Education program. Whether or not you plan to transfer, the SUNY-GER block is there to track the courses and categories of SUNY General Education Requirements that you have completed or are in progress.

A course attribute is a way to identify courses that meet certain criteria. Many Programs require courses that qualify as a SUNY General Education Requirement (SUNY-GER) and/or meet MCC General Education Learning Outcomes. Each course that meets these criteria is ‘tagged’ with its respective attribute(s). When planning registration, students will find it convenient to click on the attribute link to find all the courses that will satisfy a given requirement.

Some Programs have requirements that can be satisfied by several different courses. To understand how these requirements are structured, think of your worksheet as an outline. Oftentimes you will see the category of the requirement listed first, i.e. SUNY General Education Requirement (SUNY-GER), followed by an indented list of SUNY-GER ‘choices’, meaning that you only need choose ONE of those options. Another hint is to focus on the right-hand side of the audit and follow ‘Still Needed’ from left to right. Each course ‘choice’ across from, and under, ‘Still Needed’ will be followed by ‘or’ until you get to the end of the choices. Once you register for a class that meets the requirement, the long list will be replaced by your registered class.

In the fall 2018, many academic programs were re-designed in a four-semester format in Degree Works to help students complete their degree in a timely manner. The format also aligns with the College catalog. It is possible that your coursework falls into different semesters on your worksheet – without filling up the prior semester(s). This is okay! The important thing is that you complete ALL the requirements. Your academic/faculty advisor can help you build your schedule so that you are taking the appropriate courses each semester.

As described on your worksheet, ‘SAP’ is your Satisfactory Academic Progress, which impacts your Academic Standing at the College. Having this information in Degree Works not only lets you know how well you are doing but also helps advisors guide you in your academic pursuits. To learn more about SAP, and what the different SAP values mean on your worksheet, visit: www.monroecc.edu/go/sap

The Plans tab takes you to the Degree Works Student Educational Planner (SEP). You and your advisor can use this tool to build, plan, and track your progress each semester. There are pre-built program templates that, once pulled into your plan, can be modified to meet your individual needs. You also have the ability to build a plan ‘from scratch’. Different views within the SEP tool will allow you to see your Degree Works audit, print a schedule, view notes, and edit your plan. A student tutorial will be available soon, but you may contact an academic advisor/specialist to start using SEP now!

Your Degree Works plan is meant to be fluid and can be modified/updated each semester during your advisement session with your advisor.

No. Your Degree Works Plan is for academic planning and does not link directly to registration, so it is a supplement to the Schedule Planner. Hopefully, there will be an integration between the two systems in the near future.

Currently, students can create, modify, and view plans. However, they cannot modify or delete a locked plan.

The Transfer tab takes you to the Degree Works Transfer Finder tool where you can evaluate transfer opportunities within the SUNY network. Transfer Finder allows you to search up to three different SUNY colleges and universities or three different majors at a time. The coursework you have taken at MCC will be automatically evaluated for equivalent coursework at the transfer institution through their Degree Works system. If you have coursework from a private institution or from a SUNY college or university that does not have Degree Works, you can manually enter it in Transfer Finder to be evaluated. Progress bars on the Transfer Finder audit can help guide your transfer decisions. A Transfer Finder tutorial is now available.

Important: Transfer Finder is a transfer tool available for students and advisors. Its results are not official and do not represent agreements between Monroe Community College with other institutions.

‘My Courses’ displays a condensed list of the courses that you have taken or are in-progress at MCC. It will not show courses that you have transferred into MCC. To add AP credits or courses taken at a different institution, click ‘Search/Add SUNY Schools’ or ‘Add Other Schools’ and select the institution you wish to add. If you select a SUNY School that you previously attended, as long as the school also uses Transfer Finder and you are still in their Degree Works database, it will automatically bring in the coursework you took there. Otherwise, click ‘Add New Class’ and manually enter your course information. You will need to follow the same manual method when choosing ‘Add Other Schools’.

MCC course information and other institution(s) courses will now show in the ‘Transfer What If Audit’ when you return to the ‘SUNY Transfer Tools’ link located at the upper left and then click on the ‘Transfer What if Audit’ box.

The ‘Transfer What if Audit’ allows you to see how your completed courses would transfer to another SUNY institution. The first choice is to select either a SUNY Transfer Path, an Academic Discipline, or a specific Campus.

SUNY Transfer Path- If the program you want to pursue is part of a SUNY Transfer Pathway, select this option; transfer is essentially seamless and you will receive credit for all courses completed in that pathway. Click on the ‘SUNY Transfer Path’ link, select your pathway and click ‘ok’. All institutions that offer that pathway will display. You may select up to three Majors/institutions then click ‘See Comparison’. This will bring you to the Degree Progress bar(s). To view the details of each Major/institution, click ‘View Detail’. The course equivalencies will display at the top of the audit. Below that, you will see a degree audit similar to your MCC Degree Works worksheet. Your MCC courses (or other coursework brought into Transfer Finder) and their equivalents will display at the top. Courses that have an equivalent at the transferring institution will also populate below in the degree audit if they apply to the major.

Academic Discipline- If you want to pursue a specific discipline at another SUNY Institution, select this option. Click on ‘Academic Discipline’, select the discipline you want to pursue and then click ‘ok’. You may select up to three campuses that offer a program in that discipline and click ‘See Comparison’. The degree progress bar(s) will display for each major. To view the details of each major, click ‘View Detail’. The course equivalents to your MCC courses (or other coursework brought into Transfer Finder) will display at the top. Courses that have an equivalent at the transferring institution will also populate below in the degree audit if they apply to the major.

Campus- If you are planning to transfer to a specific SUNY institution or want to compare several SUNY schools, select this option to see the majors in your selection. You may select up to three campuses that offer a major you are interested in and click ‘See Comparison’. The degree progress bar(s) will display for each major. To view the details of each major, click ‘View Detail’. The course equivalents to your MCC courses (or other coursework brought into Transfer Finder) will display at the top. Courses that have an equivalent at the transferring institution will also populate below in the degree audit if they apply to the major.