MALLANE DRESSEL
PRIDE STAFF WRITER

Last year, CSUSM put a great amount of effort into replacing the old degree audit report with the current Degree Progress Report (DPR) online program. Students at CSUSM can access this program through the student center in their MyCSUSM online accounts. In this program, students can now view an accurate, easy-to-read record of what classes they have taken, which they still need, and those in which they are currently enrolled. This program also contains a list of the General Education (GE) requirements that a particular student needs to fill as well as a list of the classes that they need for their specific major. These elements of the program allow students to monitor the progress of their degree on their own.

David McMartin, the Associate Director of Undergraduate Advising Serves, stated that students should “think of [the DPR report] as a live site because things are being updated all the time.” Students can clarify which credits count toward their degree in this program because once processed the credits appear in the DPR program. If a student notices an error, they can select the DPR correction form in the program, which allows them to communicate to their advisors the discrepancy. It will take 2-3 weeks for the advisor to send a message to the student that either tells them that they have fixed the error or what shows in their DPR is correct and informs them why. When asked about this feature of the program, Jeff Antilla, a junior at CSUSM, said, “I have emailed them a few times to get my DPR updated, and they usually do that pretty promptly.”

McMartin articulated that the advising department is trying to make sure that every student is aware of this program by setting up workshops that show students how to use their DPR and by referencing it during student advisement appointments. The workshops allow the advisors to make sure that students understand how to correctly use the program’s features, such as the DPR correction form. He believes the workshops allow students to “understand that they never really are in the dark, that this information is always available for them.” In addition, the DPR workshops will show students how to do class searches effectively, McMartin said. For a list of upcoming workshops, visit csusm.edu/academicadvising/workshops.html.

McMartin believes that the DPR program is very beneficial because  “it allows students to get some answers that they might have waited for an appointment for in the past, where now they can answer some of those questions themselves.” Antilla acknowledged that he uses the program once every other week. “It is very useful…it really helps with planning” Antilla said. This program allows students to follow their progress on their own, which in turn allows them to stay on track towards graduation.

Photo courtesy of CSUSM.edu