GRADS Help

GRADS(Graduation Requirements Advising System)
The University of North Carolina's Automated Degree Audit System

Produced by:

Office of the University Registrar
Suite 3104, SASB North
CB # 2100
(919) 962-5161

What is GRADS?
GRADS is a computerized advising support and degree audit system which evaluates your completed course work, courses for which you are registered, transferred course work and determines your progress toward obtaining your degree.

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Does GRADS Replace Advising?
GRADS enhances advising by providing accurate information about academic programs. GRADS tracks course and requirement completion so that your advisor can spend less time in manual record keeping, and more time helping you plan your academic goals. You must obtain approval from the appropriate dean or school before any adjustments can be made to your program. GRADS is an unofficial guideline. Please see your Academic Advisor or the appropriate school or college for official information regarding your degree program.

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GRADS Worksheet
Undefined/Unapproved Degree Programs: When we are in the process of building and updating degree programs you will be able to obtain audits of those programs, but the following message will be displayed: "THIS MAJOR IS CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION. PLEASE SEE YOUR ADVISOR FOR AN ACCURATE ANALYSIS OF YOUR DEGREE PROGRAM." Please see your advisor for an accurate audit of your degree program. As degree programs are officially approved by the appropriate Dean's offices, the message will disappear.

Gray Cells:
Gray cells are located throughout the General Education portion of the audit, both to serve as filler (for aesthetic purposes) and as an indication of requirements that are not required for a student.

The lighter gray cells serve as indication of something that is not required. For example, Foreign Language Intensive is not being required of students at this time; therefore the cell for this requirement has been shaded in a light gray color.

The darker gray cells displayed below the Foreign Language Intensive and Experiential Education boxes serve only as filler to even out the rows and make it clear that no courses are required here.

General Education Links:
Each of the General Education requirement titles is underlined, indicating a link. Click on the link, and a pop-up will appear indicating which courses have been approved to meet that particular requirement. This also applies to the individual requirements within both Social and Behavioral Sciences and the Humanities and Fine Arts.

Course Pop-Ups:
Some courses will have special indicators listed with them that are blue in color. These indicators provide additional information about the course. Transfer credit, for example, has a (T) indicator shown between the grade and hours for the course. Mouse-over the blue (T) and a pop-up will appear, displaying the institution the course was transferred from as well as the external course ID. Indicators also exist for some advisor-approved degree audit adjustments; situations in which a course was approved to be substituted for another will display an (SB) on the worksheet. You can mouse-over the (SB) and see the course for which it was substituted.

Layer Information:
For majors and minors (listed at the bottom half of the worksheet) the specific courses required are defined in sliding layers. To view these layers, simply click on the header for each major subsection (Prerequisites, Major Courses or Related Courses) or minor section and the layer will appear above the grid used to list courses taken. You can open as many or as few layers at one time as you would like; they will stack on top of one another on the page. Click again on the title (or on the Close Window link or the orange arrow in the upper left-hand corner of the layer) to hide the layer from view.

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GRADS Worksheet Content
GRADS Worksheet - (Foundations, Approaches, Connections, Prerequisites, First Major requirements, Related courses, Minor Courses, Second Major Requirements)

GRADS and General Education Credit
The GRADS System was designed to allow the sharing of courses throughout the General Education requirements. Therefore, a course may be listed in several different areas on the worksheet. The credit hours for the course are only counted once in the number of total hours, but the course is allowed to fulfill multiple requirements if applicable. You are encouraged to use the Undergraduate bulletin to determine which requirements are met by individual courses.

Foundations
The Foundations component of the curriculum includes courses in English composition and rhetoric, at least one foreign language, and quantitative reasoning. It also includes a physical education course in lifetime fitness that encourages the lifelong health of graduates.

Approaches
The Approaches to knowledge are represented by courses in the physical and life sciences, the social and behavioral sciences, historical analysis, philosophical and moral reasoning, literary arts, and the visual and performing arts. Students meet these requirements by taking courses worth a total of twenty-five credit hours.

Connections
The Connections requirements integrate courses in global issues, U.S. diversity, the world before 1750, the North Atlantic world, and beyond the North Atlantic world. The Connections category also incorporates a requirement in experiential education, one that can be satisfied either within the framework of a conventional academic course or in the form of some other credit-earning learning experience.

Prerequisites
A prerequisite is a course which you must complete in order to enroll in a more advanced course. Usually, the prerequisite course requires a student to gain familiarity and experience with foundational concepts or skills which must be applied in the subsequent course. Prerequisites in the GRADS system can also count for credit in the Foundations, Approaches, and Connections areas if applicable.

First Major Requirements
Requirements that will eventually complete the selected program of study are listed under this heading. Different sections and/or competencies of the major are listed in bold with actual coursework listed under that. This section will begin to shorten as courses are taken to meet major requirements and courses taken will populate the worksheet under the Major heading.

Related Courses
Some majors will require students to complete requirements outside of the major department. GRADS refers to these as Related Courses. These courses will be different according to major. For example the Biology major requires students to take Allied Science electives outside of the Biology department. Therefore, related courses for the Biology major will be the allied sciences required by the department. Other examples of majors requiring Related Courses are Math and Chemistry.

Minor Courses
If you choose to declare a minor(s), they will appear on the worksheet beside of the first major requirements. Clicking on the minor heading will show what courses are required for completion. These courses will appear on the worksheet under the minor heading as they are taken and in many cases will be shared with the first or second majors.

Second Major Requirements
Second Majors requirements will appear under the first major section of the worksheet along with any additional Related Courses required for that major. Requirements that will eventually complete the selected program of study are listed under this heading. Different sections and/or competencies of the major are listed in bold with actual coursework listed under that. This section will begin to shorten as courses are taken to meet major requirements and courses taken will populate the worksheet under the Major heading.

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Student Profile
Please verify all data displayed in the Student Profile section. Verification of your degree(s), majors(s), option(s), minor(s), and catalog year is especially important. Your catalog year should generally match the fall term in which you first enrolled at UNC-CH or other institution. Your catalog year should not change unless you change careers; ie, undergraduate to graduate. You may update major, option, and minor information in your school/college dean's office. If your catalog year is incorrect, please contact the Degree Audit Specialists in the Registrar's Office at degreeaudit@listserv.unc.edu. Any address, phone number, birthdate, sex, marital status, ethnic group, and anticipated graduation term additions or changes can be changed in person in the Office of the University Registrar, Suite 3100, SASB North, or via the Internet (http://regweb.unc.edu/), or by mail by writing to:

Office of the University Registrar
CB # 2100
Suite 3100, SASB North
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-2100

Credit Summary
The Credit Summary section displays the summary of credit towards graduation. This includes credit you have earned at UNC-CH and transfer credit earned at other institutions. Also listed in this area are credit hours in which you are currently registered (IN/PROG), credit hours that are not applicable to your program (N/A), your overall GPA, and your major(s) GPA. Both your overall GPA and your major GPA are calculated only on course work completed at UNC-CH.

The Credit Summary page also includes test scores received by the University, including SAT, ACT and Advanced Placement scores.

The last section on the Credit Summary page is a detailed listing of all courses not applicable towards graduation. Courses listed in this section have been rejected by the audit for a variety of reasons. Examples of courses that you may see in this area are:

1. courses for which you have received an F, F*, AB, or W grade
   
   
2. certain courses that are "paired" together for which you may receive credit for only one (Economics 310 and 410 are an example)
   
   
3. level one of the same foreign language you took in high school. A message will appear next to any course in this section giving you the status of the course.

Transfer Credit Detail
The Transfer Credit detail page, accessible from the main GRADS menu, displays all transfer credit granted to a student from any and all Colleges and Universities. The credit is separated by institution, with total credit earned from each institution listed as well. Each entry indicates the information internal to UNC (course ID, title, and hours earned) as well as external information (grade earned, external course ID, and term taken.)

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Manual Changes and Adjustments in GRADS
In order to maintain optimal performance of the GRADS system, any changes to degree requirements and/or adjustments made to individual student records will update overnight. Please allow time for these changes to take place before contacting the Degree Audit Specialists.

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Printing Tips
To ensure that the background on the worksheet prints:

1. In Internet Explorer, open the Tools menu.
2. Click on Internet Options.
3. Click on the Advanced tab.
4. Scroll down to Printing and check Print background.

1. When you have selected Print from the File Menu, Click on the Preferences button.
2. Click on the Effects tab.
3. Choose to print 95% of Normal Size.