By Steven Viera, News Editor

The College launched Degree Works, a new system for students and faculty advisers to perform degree audits, Friday. The new system, which is a part of F&M’s Project BOOST, includes a number of new features designed to make degree audits and academic planning easier for students.

Under Degree Works, according to an article on F&M’s news website, students can compare courses they have taken with the College’s graduation or major and minor requirements to see what courses they still need to take. To that effect, students and their advisers — who will also have access to the page — can determine what courses the student should take several semesters in advance. Advisers can leave notes on the page, which will be visible to the student and any other advisers. Furthermore, Degree Works includes a GPA calculator that will allow students to figure out what grades they will need to earn a certain GPA.

“The program allows students and their advisers to plan for future coursework and evaluate possible major or minor changes,” said Sarah Esh, assistant registrar, in the F&M News article.

In an email to the student body announcing the launch of Degree Works, Esh encouraged students to check their accounts and make sure that all information is accurate; specifically, credit totals and major and minor requirements.

Degree Works, which is accessible via Inside F&M, is part of the College’s Project BOOST. BOOST, an acronym for Building on Opportunities for Streamlined Technology, is F&M’s program to improve online resources and assets. Beginning in 2012, some of the highlights of the program include making course registration and room reservations digitized and managed through Inside F&M.

Resources and training information for students and faculty are available on Project BOOST’s website. Additionally, student informational sessions will be held to help teach the new system. The upcoming information sessions will be held at 11:30 a.m. in the Lisa Bonchek Adams Auditorim in Kaufman Hall on Tuesday, Oct. 29; and 5:00 p.m. in the Bonchek Lecture Hall in LSP on Wednesday, Oct. 30.

By TCR