Degree Works

Degree Works is a Web-based tool for students to monitor their academic progress toward degree completion. Degree Works also allows students and their faculty advisors to plan future academic coursework by viewing courses remaining.

A Degree Works degree evaluation is a review of past, current and in-progress coursework that provides information on completed and outstanding requirements necessary to complete a degree or certificate.

Students who are enrolled in two academic programs will be able to view both programs by choosing from the Program drop-down list to the right of their name in the Degree Works display.

Once you have logged into myCommNet you will see the Degree works portal with links to the college (or colleges) where you are a student. Choose the Housatonic Community College link to view your HCC degree evaluation.

Yes. Degree Works is accessed through secure login to myCommNet. Once logged in you can access Degree Works by clicking the college name in the Degree Works portal. Degree Works will open in a new window. It is very important that you log out when you are finished to ensure that your information remains confidential.

Only you and your faculty advisor will be able to see your degree evaluation, other students will not be able to see your degree evaluation unless you let them, or if you fail to logout when you are finished.

No. Degree Works is a snapshot of courses in-progress and in academic history. Registration, add/drop, etc., are still handled through the registration function in myCommNet. However, when you click on a required course (or courses) you will see a window that includes available CRNs for each course.

Yes. Once grades have been processed at the end of the semester, they are viewable in Degree Works. Courses in-progress are listed with a grade of "REG" and the credits in parentheses.

No. Degree Works is a degree evaluation of your progress toward graduation as well as an outline of requirements still needed to complete your program of study.

Yes. Click on the "Academic History" link in the three-dot menu at the top of the Degree Works window for a list of courses taken.

You should consult your faculty advisor and review your degree evaluation with him/her to ensure accuracy.

You cannot update course or curriculum information in Degree Works. If you need to change your major you must complete a Declaration of Major form available on the HCC website, in the Advising Center (L112), or Admissions office (L111) obtain the necessary approvals, then deliver it to the Student Services Center  (L113).

Your degree evaluation will display the courses you've taken and any courses that are in progress. The degree evaluation will show you any degree requirements that have been 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 current on your transcript. You will be able to view any courses that have been completed, registered for, transferred in by the date your degree evaluation was last refreshed (an overnight process each night). Keep in mind that any transfer work or grade changes that have not been formally submitted and accepted will not appear on your degree evaluation.

Your degree evaluation will outline the courses still needed to meet degree requirements. You will be able to use this information to discuss your plan with your faculty advisor. 

Note: In order to view only the courses remaining choose the “Courses Remaining” tab in the drop-down box and click the PROCESS button.

Yes. By clicking on a course in your degree evaluation you can view any pre-requisites required, as well as course sections available for the upcoming semester.

Courses from which you have withdrawn will appear in the Insufficient block on your degree evaluation.

The "What If" function shows what a degree evaluation would look like with a different program. Your new 'What If' degree evaluation will show you what coursework is required for this major, what courses you have taken that satisfy requirements, and what courses are still left for you to take.

Note: New programs may appear in the 'What If' Feature before they appear in the HCC college catalog.

No. The 'What If' function shows what a degree evaluation would look like with a different program. This DOES NOT officially change the student’s record.

Yes, but only if you process the “What If” while working with your faculty advisor in Degree Works or if you print it out to share with your advisor.

No. 'What If' plans are not saved in Degree Works. You would need to run a new "What If" scenario next time you log in to see it again. You may print a 'What If'.

Note: If you view your 'What If' when your advisor is logged into Degree Works the the advisor can save the "What If" to be viewed later.

Speak with your faculty advisor. If you would like to change your major you must complete a Declaration of Major form available on the HCC website, in the Advising Center (L112), or Admissions office (L111) obtain the necessary approvals, then deliver it to the Student Services Center  (L113).

You can print your degree evaluation by clicking on the “Print” button at the top of the Degree Works window. 

The Graduation Calculator enables you to determine the GPA you will need to earn on AVERAGE for the rest of the courses you need to take in order to graduate with a specific desired GPA.

The Term Calculator enables you to estimate the Term GPA based on the projected grades for the classes that you are currently taking.

The Advice Calculator provides you with different “paths” that you can potentially take to earn a desired GPA.

Degree Works is a Web-based tool for students to monitor their academic progress toward degree completion. Degree Works also allows students and their faculty advisors to plan future academic coursework by viewing courses remaining.

Once you have logged into myCommNet you will see the Degree Works portal with links to the college (or colleges) where you teach. Choose the Housatonic Community College link to view your HCC advisees’ degree evaluations. A drop-down list will appear with the names of all of your advisees.

Note: This list will include all students that are eligible to register and are assigned to you as an advisor in Banner. If you believe that a student has the incorrect advisor contact the Academic Dean’s office.

No, advisors will be provided with a drop-down list of all of their advisees but they can also find any student by entering the student’s Banner ID in the ID field (must be included), or by using the Find button and search using different parameters in the search window.

All students who have attended HCC since 2008 are included in Degree Works as well as all new unregistered students. Students that do not fit this criteria must continue to use CAPP. The last upgrade to program requirements in CAPP was for the 2013-2014 catalog.

There are a couple of reasons that this may occur:

• The student has not declared a major or is non-matriculating. A student must have a major assigned in Banner to create an audit.
• The student’s catalog year is not available in Degree Works. Each program was coded as far back as possible, most go back at least 4 catalog years. None go back farther than the 2007-2008 catalog
• The student has not had any activity on the student record since 2007.

A Degree Works degree evaluation is a review of past, current and in-progress coursework that provides information on completed and outstanding requirements necessary to complete a degree or certificate.

If a student is enrolled in two academic programs the advisor will be able to view both programs by choosing from the Program drop-down list to the right of the student’s name in the Degree Works display.

No. Degree Works is a snapshot of courses in-progress and in academic history. Registration, add/drop, etc., are still handled through the registration function in myCommNet.

Yes. Once grades have been processed at the end of the semester, they are viewable in Degree Works. Courses in-progress are listed with a grade of ‘REG’ and the credits in parentheses.

No. A Degree Works degree evaluation shows progress toward graduation as well as an outline of requirements still needed to complete a program of study.

Yes. When viewing a student’s degree evaluation click on the ‘Academic History’ link in the three-dot menu at the top for a list of courses taken.

You should contact the registrar’s office, identify the information that you believe is in error, and request that they review the student’s record. 

A degree evaluation will display the courses a student has taken and any courses that are in progress. The degree evaluation will show any degree requirements that have been met by the courses taken or that may be met upon satisfactory completion of courses in progress.

Degree Works uses the information that is current on a student’s transcript. Any courses that have been completed, registered for, transferred in by the date the degree evaluation was last refreshed (an overnight process each night) will be displayed. Keep in mind that any transfer work or grade changes that have not been formally submitted and accepted will not appear on a student’s degree evaluation.

Note: If the student’s record has had any Banner changes since the nightly run (grades, registration, add/drop, etc.), advisors can click the refresh button to refresh the degree evaluation with the very latest Banner data.

A degree evaluation will outline the courses still needed to meet degree requirements. In order to view only the courses remaining choose ‘Courses Remaining’ in the drop-down box that displays ‘Degree Evaluation’ and click the Process button.

Yes.  By clicking on a course in the degree evaluation or courses remaining you can view any pre-requisites required, as well as course sections available for the upcoming semester.

Courses from which a student has withdrawn will appear in the Insufficient block on the degree evaluation.

The ‘What If’ function shows what a degree evaluation would look like with a different program. The new ‘What If’ degree evaluation will show the student what coursework is required for the new major, what courses have to be taken that satisfy requirements, and what courses are remaining.

Note: New programs may appear in the ‘What-If’ Feature before they appear in the HCC college catalog.

No. The ‘What If’ function shows what a degree evaluation would look like with a different program. This DOES NOT officially change the student’s record,

Yes. ‘What If’ plans can be saved in Degree Works and be viewed later in ‘What If History’ provided the advisors save the ‘What If’. Students will not be able to view a saved ‘What If’ unless they are viewing with his/her advisor logged in.

If a student would like to change their major they must complete a Declaration of Major form available on the HCC website, in the Advising Center (L112), or Admissions office (L111) obtain the necessary approvals, then deliver it to the Student Services Center  (L113).

Notes track conversations and advice provided to students. All Notes entered into Degree Works are viewable by the student! Never enter personal information about the student, such as about health, disabilities, financial information, etc.

Yes! All Notes entered into Degree Works are viewable by the student! Never enter personal information about the student, such as about health, disabilities, financial information, etc.

The Notes content will display on a student audit and should be kept very succinct.

No, Notes apply to the student’s record as a whole, not to individual audits (degree evaluations) included in the student’s record.

When Notes are displayed the author and date of the Note will be included.

No, Notes entered in Degree Works will remain with the student’s record in Degree Works but WILL NOT appear anywhere in Banner.

Only the Registrar can edit any Notes on student record. Email the Registrar with the necessary information (Student ID & Note to be removed or edited) and the note will be deleted.

When a waiver has met all approvals, it will appear on a student’s degree evaluation as an “Exception”. Exceptions are permanently part of the student’s Degree Works audit and will be viewable only in Degree Works. Only a user with Registrar status can enter an Exception.

No, HCC’s waiver procedure remains the same, The only difference now is that a waiver is visible to the student and their advisor whenever they review the degree evaluation. Exceptions are permanently part of the student’s Degree Works audit and will be viewable only in Degree Works.

The final step in the waiver process is to present the Waiver form to the Registrar’s office. The Registrar will apply the waiver to Degree Works as an exception. Only the Registrar can add an Exception to Degree Works.

Yes, you can print a degree evaluation by clicking on the ‘Print’ button at the top of the Degree Works window. Be sure to treat a printed Degree Evaluation with the same level of confidentiality as you would any other student record.

The Graduation Calculator enables a student to determine the GPA they will need to earn on AVERAGE for the rest of the courses needed to take in order to graduate with a specific desired GPA

The Term Calculator enables a student to estimate the Term GPA based on the projected grades for the classes that they are currently taking.

The Advice Calculator provides students with different ‘paths’ that they can potentially take to earn a desired GPA.