Cal Poly Pomona has launched MyPlanner, a new tool that will help students plan their path to graduation, so that they can reduce their time to degree and minimize student debt.
Located in PeopleSoft/BroncoDirect, MyPlanner provides a structure for students to plot their required and elective courses while being able to review a copy of the Degree Progress Report to determine what courses they still need to take to graduate. They will also be able to modify their plan when they need to change a course.
“With MyPlanner, students will be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” says Francelina Neto, director of the semester conversion initiative and a professor of engineering. “The goal is to start teaching students that it is important for them to plan so that they can reach graduation on time, without spending an extra year or two on campus.”
HOW IT WORKS
Once in MyPlanner, a student will be able to select desired courses and place them into the planner by term, creating a concrete path to graduation. Comparing their personal plan with the department road map for their major will ensure that they will fulfill their major requirements. The My Requirements section, which is essentially a copy of the Degree Progress Report, shows students which major core requirements they still need to fulfill and allows students to select and add them to the planner.
Students will also be able to check their plan against each department’s “plan to offer” course schedule. Because of the coming conversion from quarters to semesters, every department has created a three-year “plan to offer” through spring 2018.
The Advising Website has more details on how to use MyPlanner.
OTHER BENEFITS
MyPlanner will also help departments anticipate and meet course demand. When the majority of students have filled out their schedules in MyPlanner, departments will have a better understanding of demand for specific courses in upcoming terms and schedule courses and sections accordingly.
For this to work optimally, students will need to keep their schedules in MyPlanner updated, Neto says.
“MyPlanner is a really great tool,” she says. “But students really need to be proactive and use MyPlanner as soon as it is available.
“The university is using all of these tools to link to its pledge to students that we are going to support them during this transition process from quarters to semesters.”
More information about MyPlanner, including a step-by-step guide, is available on the Advising Website.