DegreeQuest, a digital directory created by the Sacramento State Office of Institutional Research to help students navigate more effectively through their degrees, should be available to students as soon as fall 2006, said Chao Vang, information technology consultant for Academic Affairs.

The program, which was originally set to open this semester, was put off because the work to create the program has to be done in addition to other institutional research projects, Vang said.

“This is not our primary job at the university,” Vang said. “We are doing this to help Sac State students in addition to our primary work.”

DegreeQuest, a free service that allows Sac State students to plan their undergraduate careers, provides students with a semester-by-semester projection of what they should take. To use the program, students will enter a catalog year, degree level, major and how many units they plan to enroll in each semester.

“The purpose is to help students speed up the graduation process,” said Mike Lee, associate vice president and dean for Academic Programs.

DegreeQuest also makes room for including advanced placement courses taken in high school, allowing freshmen to eliminate redundancy, Lee said. The program facilitates flexibility in allowing students and parents to try out different major scenarios to compare timelines and courses.

“It’s a great tool for freshmen, continuing students, parents and all those who are considering coming to Sac State,” Lee said.

Farah Naqvi, a junior at Sac State, feels the program will be an effective tool for students who need direction regarding their majors.

“It’s a good way to keep students on track,” Naqvi said. “I would use this program to give me the right idea but still have my academic advisor double check it.”

Even though the program will lay out the courses students will need to graduate, academic advisors would still be required to advise students on degree electives.

“Only a student’s adviser can specifically say which electives are appropriate,” Vang said.

Currently the program is still in its development phase. DegreeQuest has, however, already programmed up seven majors in the program, including Child Development, Communications, Marketing and Computer Engineering. “We tried to start out with some of the most complicated majors,” Vang said.

The seven majors will be tested and approved by their departments before they are released for student access, Lee said.

Meanwhile, work continues to add other departments and majors as well as other modifications.

“We will definitely get input from students and departments in our focus group and continue to improve the program,” Lee said.

Over the summer, Academic Affairs will gather focus groups for a trial period and ready the program for its release in the fall, Vang said.

Binde Rai can be reached at [email protected]