MnSCU DARS Project
The DARS Project
(Degree Audit Reporting System from Miami University of Oxford, Ohio) will provide students with current and accurate transfer and course information to enhance their degree and program planning. With DARS, students are able to self-advise and to do 'what if' scenarios - what if I choose that school or what if I choose that major: how many courses do I have to take? Registrars' Offices also utilize DARS to process registration and graduation clearance. With DARS, there should be no surprises for students - no extra courses or unknown factors as they work toward their goals. DARS is viewed as a campus recruiting and retention tool.
Degree Audit
The DARS Degree Audit electronically checks a student's courses (local and transfer) with the academic requirements of the program goal. For example, an audit typically will check total number of credits, GPA, general education requirements, program or major requirements and electives. In addition, DARS also records and processes exceptions that may be granted via substitutions or waivers. With degree audits, students receive consistent and timely academic advising. Graduation planning is improved. To implement DARS, however, there is a required shift in the deployment of campus labor. This shift is very problematic without some assistance. To implement DARS, each campus must assign an encoder who will be trained in the codes used to translate their academic program requirements into DARS degree audit rules. With the current staffing configuration, someone would have to be reassigned to DARS encoding with a new, temporary person picking up their work. Other campuses in the country have tried to just assign DARS on top of a full-time workload and the result is failure. After the most of the encoding is completed, then the additional staff would not be needed as work could shift from graduation checking or other areas to maintain DARS as course or program changes occur. When the academic programs are encoded, there is a direct benefit to:
- students - they can receive academic advising anytime, anywhere
- advisors - they will spend little or no time on manually checking courses and requirements and instead can spend more time on quality issues such as academic progress, choice of major, or career planning
- Records office - no more manual checking of each student's academic record against a guide sheet for graduation clearance, reducing the chances of errors being made.
Transfer Course Articulation
The DARS automated transfer course articulation module takes a student's academic record sent from an institution and electronically equates the courses to the transfer institution's courses. Through this automated process, a student can receive a Transfer Equivalency Report well before the student enrolls and is advised. Many hours of repetitive manual course equivalency checks are alleviated through this process.
Detailed information about DARS is available at: www.dars.muohio.edu.
MnSCU DARS Project
The MnSCU DARS Project is a term that encompasses degree audit, transfer course articulation, web-based transfer/audit information and electronic exchange of transcripts via XML. The project will involve three steps and utilize electronic capabilities to increase the efficiency, effectiveness and timeliness in providing students with enhanced transfer articulation/equivalency information and comprehensive reports of their progress toward meeting program requirements.
The first step will involve the electronic integration of DARS with the MnSCU Student Information System (ISRS) so that MnSCU students and advisors can receive degree audits and automated transfer equivalencies. This will provide for greater consistency, objectivity and accuracy in transfer course equivalencies and program requirements as academic policies and procedures are standardized into the rules that DARS will apply for each program for students. DARS is a versatile tool that can check for virtually any requirement in a degree, diploma or certificate including prerequisites, course conversions, residency or admission to a program. The client-server version of DARS has been implemented at the MnSCU institutions in three phases as described later in this description. DARS Training Sessions take place several times each year to accommodate campus needs.
The second step of the DARS Project Involves the development of the Course Applicability System (CAS) in collaboration with the University of Minnesota and perhaps, sometime in the future, private colleges in Minnesota as well. CAS is a product - from Miami University of Ohio that is currently being implemented in the numerous states around the United States. Through web access to CAS, students will be able to check how courses transfer from their college to another using the CAS Course Equivalency Guide and its features. Students may also store a Portfolio of their courses in CAS and run a Planning Guide (Degree Audit) that will show how courses apply to their desired program or major. The focus then shifts to what the student needs to complete to obtain a degree, diploma or certificate. The contract with Miami University for the CAS software and the CAS maintenance agreement were finalized in May 2000. Implementation takes place as the University of Minnesota Campuses and MnSCU institutions prepare to join the CAS team by entering their transfer tables into the DARS Transfer Articulation (TA) module. The first MnSCU TA training took place in mid-July 2000 and training continues on a periodic basis.
The third step will involve a cooperative project with MnSCU, the University of Minnesota, the Department of Education and private colleges to send transcripts electronically between high schools, colleges and universities. This will bring in the age of paperless transfer of credits that will enable institutions to achieve greater accuracy and efficiency. In addition there is greater security through the use of this international standard of electronic interchange. (Note: originally EDI technology was the standard for electronic exchange of this date via SPEEDE. XML technology is now the standard and MnSCU is currently working on this project.
The DARS Project will involve responsibilities from three sectors:
1. The Campus Services Unit will arrange the DARS site license for MnSCU institutions and assign a developer/programmer to write and support the interface between DARS and the MnSCU Student Information System, including web-based access.
2. Colleges will assign a campus team to implement DARS - this will also involve the allocation of a person(s) to develop the transfer tables for automated transfer equivalency and for encoding the academic policies into the rules that DARS uses to check program requirements. The transfer equivalency information is probably already kept in some kind of database or document and would need to be incrementally put into the DARS tables. The encoding does require a commitment of staffing so that the person can learn the DARS rules for encoding to apply for the programs the college selects for use with DARS. This could include all current degrees, diplomas and certificates or could go back and add in past programs that students are still eligible to claim.
3. MnSCU System Office will provide centralized administrative leadership, training and campus support. The System Director would be the MnSCU liaison with Miami U. for DARS and would coordinate a statewide network of DARS support for MnSCU institutions. There would also be a cooperative network established with the University of Minnesota DARS program.
