Andrew McLaren took a natural sciences general education course during his first semester at the UA last year because he thought he needed the class to graduate.
“”I thought I had to take it,”” said McLaren, an economics sophomore. “”I just didn’t know.””
During the spring semester, however, McLaren looked at the first Student Academic Progress Report he requested on Student Link and saw that his high school Advanced Placement test credit fulfilled his NATS graduation requirement.
Students who have checked their SAPRs recently to see what classes they need to schedule for next semester may have noticed that the new Degree Audit Reporting System SAPR is now the only SAPR system available on the Student Link Web site.
The option of using the On Course SAPR system to view completed coursework, transfer credit, AP credit and degree requirements was discontinued Saturday.
It’s a nice tool for seeing what you have to do and what you have done already.
– Andrew McLaren, economics sophomore
The DARS SAPR was introduced March 13, but students and advisers were given the option of viewing On Course SAPRs during a six-month adjustment period.
“”They both include the exact same information,”” said Nancy Rangel, coordinator of academic advising services for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
“”They were both user-friendly,”” Rangel said. “”The new DARS SAPR works more like a checklist.””
The On Course SAPR was organized in four separate sections while the DARS SAPR is organized in one long, color-coded list.
Also, the organization of the new DARS SAPR closely matches that of the Academic Program Requirements Reports, which present degree requirements and appear in the university’s online academic catalog.
“”We try to use the SAPR pretty much every time we meet with the students,”” Rangel said.
The SAPRs are unofficial documents used by students and advisers as advising and planning tools.
“”It’s a nice tool for seeing what you have to do and what you have done already,”” McLaren said.
There have been a few bugs in the system during the adjustment period, so the Student Link Web site recommends that students talk with their academic advisers if they believe there are any discrepancies on their SAPRs.
However, as the documents are unofficial, errors in the SAPR system will not directly affect a student’s ability to graduate as long as he or she has fulfilled graduation requirements, McLaren said.
Students can click on the link “”How to read the new SAPR”” on Student Link’s SAPR Web site if they are confused regarding how to interpret the new format.
