Degree Works FAQs (General)

When did Rice start using Degree Works?

In academic year 2014-2015, the Office of the Registrar (OTR) released a new electronic degree audit system named Degree Works to replace the manual, paper-based process previously used to certify graduation requirements. Working with Rice's academic departments and programs, the Office of Academic Advising (OAA), and the Office of Information Technology (OIT), this degree audit program was rolled out to the campus for undergraduates in Spring 2015 and for select graduate programs in Fall 2016.

What is Degree Works?

Degree Works is an online degree auditing and tracking tool which enables students and advisors to evaluate the student’s individual academic progress towards graduation, in accordance with overall university requirements and specific academic program requirements, as those requirements are outlined in the General Announcements (GA), Rice’s official curriculum

How does Degree Works work?

The Degree Works audit identifies courses on a student's record (including courses completed at Rice, in-progress coursework or transfer credits accepted by Rice), and displays how those courses are applied towards the completion of a student's declared academic program (degree, program/major, minor, and/or certificate) according to the requirements as outlined in the General Announcements (GA), which is the official curriculum of Rice. Degree Works updates nightly as students may change their declared academic programs, or as students may add/drop coursework.

Which student populations use Degree Works?

All undergraduate students will have their academic progress toward graduation requirements (university, degree, major, minor, and/or certificate requirements) graduation requirements tracked in Degree Works. Graduate students in terminal master's degree programs, as well as graduate students pursuing a graduate certificate will find those programs' graduation requirements tracked in Degree Works.
However, graduate students in doctoral programs (PhD or DMA) or graduate students in candidacy master's programs (candidacy MA or MS degrees) should instead work with that program's academic advisor, or where applicable, the department or program's Director of Graduate Studies, as well as the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (GPS), to identify and document the courses to be taken to fulfill their program requirements. These students will find general academic information in Degree Works and limited information regarding their progress toward specific requirements.

What is an Official Certifier?

Official Certifiers are faculty members identified in all undergraduate programs and the specific graduate programs tracked in Degree Works (terminal master's degree programs and graduate certificates) with the ability to approve and certify those students for graduation, or to make course substitutions or exceptions as needed, via the Petitions function in Degree Works.

How current or up-to-date is the information in Degree Works??

Degree Works is updated nightly to include registration changes (adding or dropping coursework), grade submission, changes to a student’s graduation status, changes to curriculum (such as adding or dropping a major/minor/certificate), or the acceptance of transfer coursework. The system refreshes overnight to dispaly such changes made on a student’s record. When Official Certifiers submit petitions for course substitutions or exceptions, the Office of the Registrar (OTR) typically processes those petitions as exceptions within 3-5 business days (during non-peak times).
At the beginning of each academic year (early in the fall semester), Degree Works is updated to include the official curriculum for that new academic year, as the program requirements are outlined in the General Announcements (GA) for that year. On occasion, new academic programs are approved by Faculty Senate to begin mid-academic year (in January). Those programs are added to Degree Works as needed.