Joshua StorieInstead of waiting, sometimes for months, for a program check, students in the Bachelor of Arts (BA) can now check whether they’re meeting their degree requirements in Bear Tracks.
The academic advisement tool went live on January 4 after a year and a half of development and testing. Robin Cowan, senior officer of student programs services with the Faculty of Arts, said the program will save time for students and advisors.
“We kept doing program checks manually which was not good for students or staff,” she said.
The online feature tells students their degree requirements and whether they have been fulfilled. Students in the general BA program can access their programs by selecting the “Plan” tab on the left sidebar, and then clicking on “Academic Requirements.” The tool updates every time students make registration changes.
Cowan added that the program isn’t meant to replace academic advisors, and is supposed to be used in conjunction with the calendar and user guide. Using the tool before talking to an advisor allows students to ask more precise questions about their program requirements.
“The program releases times from the staff to have those conversations that they didn’t have time for,” she said. “They were trying to keep up with the checking programs.”
Students in non-general Faculty of Arts programs, such as honours, don’t have access to the program yet, but the advising team plans to code all possible degree programs and certificates. They are currently working on expanding the tool to Bachelors of Fine Arts, Design, and Music.
“We chose to start with the BA because it had the most students in it,” Cowan said. “It was going to give more benefit for both staff and students.”
Coding began in May of 2015 and about a year ago the program was ready to be tested by arts advisors. Current students and new admissions were used as test subjects for a year until programmers were confident in the accuracy of the program, Cowan said. The tool will now have to be maintained and updated whenever academic program requirements are changed.
As the program was being developed, 13 students were able to use it to help developers write a user guide.
“As staff we think ‘Oh it’s going to be too hard,’ but students just zip through it,” she said.
The Faculty of Arts used to have a similar program to the Bear Tracks advising tool, but it stopped being used when the faculty switched software systems.
“We really missed it,” Cowan said. “It was something students could use on a regular basis and then they didn’t have to rely on advising staff to do program checks for them.”
