Degree Works FAQ

About Degree Works

Degree Works is a web-based tool that allows students to monitor their academic progress toward degree completion. Degree Works also allows students and their advisors to plan future academic coursework.

A Degree Works audit displays a student's progress toward a degree and provides information on completed and outstanding requirements necessary to complete a degree, major, minor, concentration, or certificate.

Yes. You can access Degree Works anywhere you can access CyberBear.

Yes. Like other tools students use through CyberBear, Degree Works is accessed through a secure log in. Remember that your advisor, faculty, and selected staff will be able to view the information contained in Degree Works.

Currently, Degree Works is available to all degree-seeking undergraduate students. Advisors, faculty, and selected staff also have access for the purpose of supporting your progress through your academic career.

The information in Degree Works is refreshed each night. Any changes made today (e.g., grade changes or classes added/dropped) will be seen in Degree Works tomorrow.

Not directly. Degree Works is a snapshot of courses in-progress and in your academic history. Registration will continue to be handled in CyberBear. However, you may work with your advisor to build semester plans that can be downloaded into CyberBear registration.

Yes. Degree Works is laid out in block format, displaying degree, major, minor, and concentration requirements. Look for unchecked boxes to identify requirements that you still need to complete.

Yes. This is done using Plans. Speak with your academic advisor about how to set up a plan.

Yes. Once grades have been posted to your transcript at the end of the semester, they are viewable in Degree Works following the nightly refresh. Final grades are not available in Degree Works until after the final grading period for the University has ended and grades are officially posted. Courses in progress will appear with "INP" instead of a grade.

Yes. Click on the Class History link for a list of courses taken at UM as well as transfer courses.

You should consult your academic advisor for a review of your audit and to seek further advice. Any exception to major, minor, certificate, or concentration requirements should be discussed with your major/minor advisor or academic department personnel.

There could be several reasons.

  • Degree Works may not have refreshed since a change was made. Information is refreshed nightly. 
  • If you have completed transfer courses, it is possible that the university has not received an official transcript or the coursework is pending departmental review. Check with the Admissions Office if your transcript or audit does not reflect transfer work you have completed.
  • Your catalog year may need to be updated. Speak with you academic advisor about this. 

You cannot update course information in Degree Works directly. To change your major, minor, or concentration, please speak with your current advisor or an advisor in your desired program about making that update or any other changes.

If you are having trouble logging into Degree Works, please call the IT Central Help Desk at (406) 243-HELP or (406) 243-4357. If you are seeing issues regarding your degree audit please contact your academic advisor.

Using the Audit

Your audit will display the courses you've taken or are currently registered for and will show you any degree, major, minor, or concentration requirements that are being met by the courses you've taken or that may be met upon satisfactory completion of courses in progress.

Degree Works uses the information that is on your academic transcript. You will be able to view any courses that have been completed, registered for, or transferred and articulated on your UM transcript by the date your audit was last refreshed. Data is refreshed nightly. Keep in mind that any transfer work or grade changes that have not been formally submitted, accepted, and entered into UM's student information system will not appear on your audit.

Your academic advisor is your primary point of contact. If your advisor determines that your audit is incorrect, they will contact the Office of the Registrar for assistance.

Your audit will show you courses and non-course requirements still needed to meet degree, major, minor, or concentration requirements within each specific block. You may then use this information to discuss your plan with your academic advisor.

There are a number of reasons that may include:

  • You have not registered for and completed that requirement.
  • You may not have a sufficient grade to meet that requirement. 
  • Your department is allowing you to substitute a course. In Degree Works, this is called a petition. Petitions must be submitted by your academic advisor or someone else designated by your major or minor department. 

If your advisor determines that your audit is incorrect, the will contact the Registrar's Office for assistance.

Advisor assignments are a departmental responsibility. Please speak with your new advisor about having your advisor record updated.

If you just submitted the application materials to declare your major after being undeclared, it will take at least 24 hours before your newly declared major shows up in Degree Works. If you new major doesn't appear by then, please contact your academic advisor.

Degree Works is designed to show a listing of your majors and minors in the Student View audit. Additionally, each major and minor is broken out into individual requirement blocks within the audit. Students pursuing simultaneous degrees or a second major in a degree will need to click on the "Degree" drop-down menu at the top of the Student Audit in order to view the the requirements for those degrees.

You can access your second degree audit by using the "Degree" drop down menu at the top of the Student Audit.

There could be several reasons:

  • The course may not meet either the minimum number of credits or the minimum grade requirement for use in your program of study.
  • It is possible all requirements have been met and this course is simply not needed.
  • The transfer course may not have been articulated with the same course number as stated in the requirement. In this case, it will require a petition, which needs to be submitted by your academic advisor or departmental designee. 

Yes. Courses from which you have withdrawn will appear in the "Excluded (Failed, Withdrawn, Repeated)" section of your audit with a grade of W.

You should contact your advisor to resolve any substitution issues. Any waivers, substitutions, or exceptions for major, minor, or concentration requirements must be communicated to the appropriate department chair and processed by the Registrar's Office.

Not necessarily. Graduation requires the submission of a graduation application to the Office of the Registrar. If you have submitted a graduation application, the Graduation Coordinators in the Registrar's Office will perform a final audit after all final grades have been submitted to determine if you are eligible to have your degree awarded. Missing requirements will be communicated to you by the Graduation Coordinators or your academic advisor.

Using What-If

The What-If function allows you to see what would happen if you changed your major, minor, or concentration. The What-If audit will show you what coursework is required for the potential new major, minor, or concentration; what courses you have already taken that satisfy those requirements; and what courses are still left for you to take.

No. The What-If function is for information purposes only. You will see the header "What-If Analysis" displayed at the top of the audit whenever an audit is run on a What- If scenario. Please speak with your academic advisor to change your major, minor, or concentration.

Yes. The What-If function will perform an audit based on the hypothetical major/minor/concentration and will show how your completed and current coursework meets those requirements.

Yes. Degree Works will save your two most recent What-If audits.

Yes. Degree Works will allow you to select more than one major at a time or to select multiple majors, minors, or concentrations.

No, but your advisor can.

Yes. If you want to share it with your advisor at a later date, you may print your What-If scenario.

Always speak with your advisor first. Your academic advisor will assist you with changing your major.

Calculators

The Term Calculator will show you your estimated institutional GPA after you fill in hypothetical grade information. By putting in your current earned credits and GPA and placing your in-progress courses in the table (this all will default in for you) along with the grade you anticipate receiving for each course, you will see a revised institutional GPA based on the estimates you provided.

No. This is an estimate only.

CR grades do not count toward your GPA. Remove courses for which you expect to receive a "CR" from your course list before calculating GPA.