TESU launching MyProgress to replace Academic Evaluations

[jch]

Just received the below email from TESU. As part of the move away from the old WebAdvisor platform to the new student self-service portal, TESU is replacing traditional Academic Evaluation reports with a new interactive MyProgress feature. When I was attempting to enroll in the free term at South Texas College a while back, they were already using this system, and it was okay. Many students may find it easier to grasp than the current dump of info on evals, but it may make things harder to manage for degree hackers. 

TESU is Launching MyProgress During the July 2023 Term
The new web-based tool helps you easily map degree planning and completion.

The University is launching MyProgress, a new web-based degree planning tool that will replace your traditional Academic Evaluation.

MyProgress will make it easier to track and monitor your degree progress, collaborate with your academic advisor along the way and quickly identify courses that fulfill your degree requirements multiple terms in advance.

Before MyProgress is launched during the July term, watch the MyProgress video tutorial, take the pre-launch tour (with printable instructions) and review MyProgress Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to learn more.

Please note: Although both TESU courses and external courses you plan to take have traditionally appeared on your Academic Evaluation, only TESU courses will appear in MyProgress. However, even though they do not appear in MyProgress, be assured that your advisor has noted external courses you plan to take in your student record. For further reassurance, it may help to print out your most recent Academic Evaluation to serve as a future reference for external courses you have planned.

If you have questions, we are here to help. Call 609-777-5680 or email Enrolled@tesu.edu.

Sincerely,
Cathy Punchello
Catharine A. Punchello
Vice Provost and University Registrar

Unfortunately, this move does appear to be a downgrade in a few respects. 
First, according to the FAQ and tours, neither external opportunities to meet a requirement nor pre-planned external credits will be shown in MyProgress. That will likely contribute to students inadvertently taking an excessive number of credits at TESU because they think it's the only option. 
Second, although there is a print function, I don't think the output will be as good as what we currently have. 
Third, I fear for the fate of the handy "what-if" tool. There is a "view a new program" button, but it wasn't addressed in the demos. Being able to get a quick rough estimate of how your credits might apply to another program is very convenient. 
On the upside, MyProgress should make it easier to see exactly where you're at with met and unmet degree requirements. 


The FAQ recommends that you generate and save a copy of your academic evals right now due to upcoming changes. 
I'd also capture what-if reports on anything you are potentially interested in before WebAdvisor goes away in a month.

[rachel83az]

Yikes!

[allvia]

And in other news today...FireShot has a sudden surge in usage. I fear no good can come of this (for those here).

[dfrecore]

Well, crap!! Knowing the equivalencies of all of those courses was the key to making TESU the easiest of all schools to figure out. This is a major bummer.

And, if they're doing this, why on earth make the switch to 4-digit course codes?

[bjcheung77]

@jch, I haven't clicked the links, but doesn't it show you which requirements are necessary for the degree? If so, it'll have 40 course requirements. If people already know where to take their courses from and make their own spreadsheet for reference/tracking purposes, this 'change' wouldn't really affect those who are already on top of their degree planning.

[jch]

Final reminder: grab your current academic evaluations and any what-ifs you're interested in before the old portal goes away imminently!

[rachel83az]

Thanks for the reminder! I knew I had forgotten to do something.

[allvia]

For those not sure a good way to do this - Fireshot is an excellent Free tool for this purpose - https://getfireshot.com


And don't forget to grab those What-Ifs you've been considering  (they're not official, but they can be very helpful).

[Pats20]

Gosh. The new format makes the “what if” tool confusing and junky looking.

[mariobros1985]

I never got an email like that from TESU, now that I think about it. Also, I can still access my Academic Evaluation even though we're already in August. I don't see MyProgress anywhere in the student self-service.

I guess we should just leave it like that, maybe TESU will forget about it or repent replacing the Academic Evaluations anyway.