Degree Workgroup Meeting Info

DATE	NOTES

DATE

NOTES

Kickoff meeting

4/29/2019

Reviewed Degree Project Charter
- Included project overview, objectives, assumptions, committee members, proposed timeline.
Action Items:
- Each area submit their existing 4 degree maps for the group to review at our next meeting.
- Between May and September, the workgroup will address the first two items on the list. Subcommittees may be formed to address each of these.
  - Review currently used terminology to create a glossary of terms and definitions.
  - Review current 4 year degree maps, decide on a map template for all to use, using the 18-20 catalog map 4 year plans for each degree plan.
    Links:
    - Architecture
    - Business 18-20 BBA
    - Engineering - 18-20 Biomedical
    - Education
    - Fine Arts 4 Year Maps - select any department or degree from the dropdown menu. Each degree has both a guideline (a list of all the requirements) and a 4-year plan (a suggestion of coursework matriculation).
    - Liberal Arts
    - Liberal Arts 4 year template blank, ACL example
    - Natural Sciences - 18-20 BS Math
    - Natural Sciences - 18-20 BS CS
    - Natural Sciences - 18-20 Roadmap Biochemistry
    - Natural Sciences - 18-20 Roadmap Cell and Molecular Biology
    - Natural Sciences - 18-20 Roadmap Genetics and Genomics
    - Natural Sciences - 18-20 Roadmap Microbiology
    - Nursing
    - Social Work

5/6/2019

Reviewed 4 year degree mappings provided by the colleges.
- Some templates will need to be more detailed than others depending on the degree plan.
- Templates should be used for basic 4 year degree plan mapping for students.
- If these are in future catalogs, wording and paths need to be thought through since it would be a contract with the students.
- Based on the initial review of the templates, the group thought the following would be good to include in a template:
  - Must be simple and easy to read
  - If courses have titles, they should be the OCS titles
  - Indicate if a course is a flag course and if others are needed
  - Include flag icons for mapping
  - Include total hours for each semester.
  - Include fall, spring, and summer semesters
  - Indicate pre-requisites/co-requisites
  - Consider including internships
  - Indicate if courses are historically offered in a specific semester
  - Highlight major course work throughout mapping
  - Include minors in degree mapping if required by a major
  - Include list of offered upper division coursework
Action Items:
- Cassandre will review the 4 year mappings she worked on for the 16-18 catalog with the group.
- Each committee member will review each of the mappings and indicate what they like and dislike for each example. Information should be sent to Mike and Shan to review at the next meeting. Based on the feedback, the group will design a template.
- Add discussion for minors and certificates in terminology in an upcoming meeting. The differences are not intuitive for students.
- Determine breakdown of sub-committees for future meetings. Faculty, advisers, and students should be included.

5/13/2019

SSI reviewed the 4 year maps they are using for their study.
- Although the group liked the templates, due to the ongoing study, they are not available to use at this time.

5/20/2019

Discussed the templates and created a complete list of the elements to include on a UT 4 year template.

Template Considerations - 4 Yr
Major course work bolded	Central Repository for all templates that is searchable (i.e. FA degree site) or attached to internal transfer site
Course titles from OCS	Simple, excel spreadsheet style, easy to read at a glance - not cluttered
Curriculum flag and core icons from the course schedule	Flags not covered by degree plan
Include Fall, Spring, and Summer semesters	Include course credit hours and totals by semester
Indicate pre/co-requisites	Optimal 4 year plan is an advising tool
Include when a course is traditionally offered if applicable	Indicator of when a course could be fulfilled by other courses
Identify gateway courses (gather info and check data to confirm)	Note that recommends all UT students should see an adviser each year. Could be in the central repository interface
Grade requirements for courses	Link to IDA to run audits with courses
Color coding with a legend	Link courses to specific IDA requirements in degree plan
Required internships	Include minors/certificates in mapping if required by major

Discussed work groups and decided who would work on each group.
- At the upcoming meetings, we'll break into 2 groups. One will focus on creating the templates and one will focus on discussing glossary terms, definitions, and standards to be used in degree programs/inventory. These groups will meet in WMB 5.114 on Fridays from 10-11 AM starting June 7. Each group should set deadlines to provide updates/documents to share with the entire group for feedback.
  Thus far, the following people have volunteered for the work groups. Please let Shan or Mike know if you want to include anyone else to these groups. They can be staff, students, or faculty.
  - Template Workgroup
    - Yma Revuelta
    - Mike Raney
    - Tomi Yamamoto
    - Jillian Kozlowski
    - Megan Conner
    - Jen Morgan
    - Business Adviser (Micheal Schuetz will send names)
    - Cossy Hough
    - Alexis George
    - Cassie Burton
    - Catherine Whited
  - Glossary/Term Workgroup
    - Jess St. Lawrence
    - Chris Montes
    - Richard Hogeda (or a representative)
    - Priscilla White
    - Jeff Handy
    - Vanessa Garcia
    - Daniel Zarazua
    - Lauren Brown
    - Renee' Acosta
    - Shan Evans

Action Items:
- June 7 begin workgroups and assign a group lead.

6/7/2019

Degree Workgroup breakout committees met to begin developing a standard 4 yr Template and a Glossary/Standard Definition guide

A Box account has been created for each workgroup. Notes from each group can be added/found in the Degree Workgroup Box account.
Workgroup leads were identified. Workgroup leads will be responsible for the coordination and facilitation of each meeting through the end of August.
Once the workgroups have a completed draft, the results will be shared with the entire Degree Workgroup. The Degree Workgroup will provide feedback to complete a final draft. This draft will be taken by the Degree Workgroup to the colleges for review and feedback.
- 4 Yr Template Workgroup Lead - Yma E Revuelta
  - The 4 Yr Template workgroup folder
- Glossary/Definition Workgroup Lead - Jess St. Lawrence
  - The Glossary/Standard Definition workgroup folder

8/21/2019

Degree Workgroup reconvened to share the two subcommittees work on the 4 Yr Template and Glossary/Standards Definitions. (Proposed documents can be found by clicking on the links below.)

11/04/2019

Degree Workgroup reconvened to finalize the 4 Yr Template and Glossary/Standards Definitions, ID where documents will be published, and discuss next steps. (Approved documents and resources can be found by clicking on the links below.)

Approved 4 Yr Template
Approved Glossary/ Standard Definitions
Degree Workgroup folder
University of Texas Four Year Degree Plans
Degree Workgroup Wiki
ut-degree-workgroup@utlists.utexas.edu (email listserv for Degree Workgroup)

Discussed and signed off on 4 year map templates.

Ahead of the curve for Senate Bill 25 implementation plans and data definitions because of work this committee has been doing.
Indicate hours on template; use all semesters, including summers, if needed. If no courses needed in summer for four year plan, put "N/A", don't delete summer section to keep standard format. Requirements of SB 25 are that we must publish a 4 year plan, indicating how courses align and sequence in order to accelerate programs.
Per University Senate Bill 25 committee, the THECB needs to clarify if 5 year programs will be exempted. At this time, these are not specifically exempted under SB 25.
Template will same for every college, not custom by college. and will include a proposed sequence of courses, not necessarily every option.
Foreign language requirements can be written in a way that accommodates a range,. For example, "Foreign Language (Please note: Foreign language courses vary in hours.)", "4 to 6 hours"
Senate Bill 25 requires the University to provide this information in catalogs, even if just a link to box files. Naming standards are so important for this reason.

UT Box folders

UT Box folder, Degree Workgroup: All documents including project charter, glossary, templates, etc. Public folder accessible to anyone with the link.
UT Box folder, University of Texas Four Year Degree Plans: Folder where all colleges will publish their 4-year templates. For editing access, contact Priscilla White. Public folder accessible to anyone with the link.
- Goal is to be able to link to these from any website.
- Will publish templates in the University catalog. TBD: Publish by including templates or linking to them.
- Every college has a folder except UGS.
- Start with templates for 18-20 because we already have students in those degree plans that we will need to report on in fall 2020.
- Serves as institutional repository
- Colleges to use as degree plans become available.
- Versioning built into UT Box.

Action Items

Mike and Yma will share finalized templates with University college leadership. College leadership will share templates with their degree audit coders and complete/upload templates. Colleges should contact Mike Raney and Yma Revuelta for questions.
Submit suggestions for and vote on a common naming standard for degree plans/4 year maps. Send suggestions to ut-degree-workgroup@utlists.utexas.edu.
Need to define what constitutes "officially filing a 4 year degree plan" at the University. (Uploading plans to University of Texas Four Year Degree Plans is the initial first step.)
Colleges will complete and upload completed plans in UTBox University of Texas Four Year Degree Plans. Target date for 18-20 plans is March 2019 and 20-22 is early June 2019. (Fall 2020 Registration opens in April 2019 for continuing students. Fall 2020 orientation begins in June 2019 for new students.)