Self-Service: Helpful Definitions

MY PROGRESS

My Progress is a degree audit tool that allows students to:

• Monitor Graduation Status: View program details, overall GPA and your anticipated completion date.
• Track Degree Requirements: Access a live checklist of all program requirements.
• Plan and Register: Find courses for missing requirements and add them directly to your academic plan or registration schedule.
• Visualize Progress (progress bars): Use color-coded status bars to distinguish between completed, in-progress and planned credits.
• View alternate majors (View a New Program): Explore completing a different major.

SCHEDULE

The Schedule is a tool which: 

• displays courses and sections for a given semester (term) that students have planned, registered for, or completed.
• It includes a calendar grid which displays the days and times of your scheduled sections for a given semester.

TIMELINE

A visual representation of all of the semesters (terms) a student has attended or planned.

PLAN

The Plan is the overall tool a student uses to visualize and plan degree completion. It includes:

• My Progress
• Timeline
•  Schedule

A student’s PLAN may show:

• course sections that the student has completed
• sections for which the student is registered
• sections which are the student’s schedule, but for which the student is not yet registered
• courses (with no assigned section times) placed on the plan for future semesters.

COURSE

A course has a defined description and set of objectives, but is not necessarily located in time. A student can plan to take a specific course three years from now, but can only register for it if the course is scheduled as a section.

Students can plan courses for future years, but keep in mind that courses are typically offered when specified, but not always. Occasionally they are offered in different semesters, or not offered at all – particularly courses that state they are offered infrequently.

Students may plan courses for any year or semester, but should be prepared to move or replace it if a section is not offered in the term selected. Students should work with advisors to check the section schedule when it becomes available.  (Scheduled sections are typically posted only for the next academic year.)

SECTION

A section is an instance of a course which is scheduled (has dates and times assigned) that is offered within a specific semester – such as MWF from 9:10 to 10:10 in fall 2026.

COMPLETED

The student has completed the course and earned a passing grade.

IN-PROGRESS

The student is registered or preregistered for the course section in a specific semester, but has not yet completed the course.

PLANNED

The student has planned a course for a future semester, but has not yet registered for a section offered in a specific semester.  Students may plan courses for any year or semester, but should be prepared to move or replace it if a section is not offered in the term selected. Students should work with advisors to check the section schedule when it becomes available. (Scheduled sections are typically posted only for the next academic year.)