Florida Atlantic University

Student Instruction Manual

November, 2013

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Table of Contents Module 1: Creating the Plan of Study…………………………………………………………………………………………2 Module 2: Viewing the Plan of Study…………………………………………………………………….…………………12 Module 3: Submitting the Plan of Study……………………………………………………………………….………….16 Reference Links…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………….22

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Module 1: Create Plan of Study This module focuses on creating, initiating, and populating a Plan of Study. Note: In order to populate a Plan of Study, the user has to be a “form initiator” as per the program’s settings. Creating a Plan of Study Step 1: Select "Plan of Study".

Diagram #1

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Step 2: Select General Information. Note: If this is the first time in the system and you have not yet entered a major to this Plan of Study, you will be prompted to set your major under General Information before proceeding. Here is an example: Diagram #2

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General Information Step 1: Click the "General Info" link (top menu).

Diagram #3

Step 2: Verify that your first name, last name, email, and Z Number are correct. If they are not correct, contact the Graduate College. Step 3: To set the Plan of Study's major:

Diagram #4 - Select College. - Select Degree. - Select Major.

Note: Make sure that the major you select is consistent with the degree program you were accepted into.

Step 4: Select "Anticipated Graduation Term" (semester & year). Step 5: Select "Thesis" or "Non Thesis" (if prompted). Step 6: Click the “Save & Continue” button.

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Prerequisites or Courses to Remove Deficiencies Step 1: Click the "Prerequisites or Courses to Remove Deficiencies" link (top menu):

Diagram #5 Step 2: Select whether or not there are any prerequisites or courses to remove deficiencies. If this section does not apply to you, simply click the "Save & Continue" button. If there are courses, select "Yes" and proceed to Step 3.

Diagram #6 Step 3: Type the course into this section and be as accurate as possible. Required fields are Institution, Course, Title, Grade, Year, Credits. Note: Make sure to enter the course ID in this format: ABC 6000 (course prefix letters AND numbers) Step 4: Click the "Add Course" button. Step 5: Repeat steps 3-4 for each prerequisite/course to remove deficiencies. Step 6: Click the "Save & Continue" button.

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Courses to Fulfill Degree Step 1: Click the "Courses to Fulfill Degree" link (top menu).

Step 2: Enter the first course: select Completed, Current or Future Course.

Step 3: Type the course into this section and be as accurate as possible. Required fields are Institution, Course, Title, Semester/Year, Credits, and Grade (completed courses only). 3a. Make sure to enter the course ID in this format: ABC 6000 (course prefix letters AND numbers)

3b. DOCTORAL STUDENTS: If applying courses from your master’s degree to the doctoral degree credits, select the box “This course is part of a separate Master’s degree.”

Step 4: Click the "Add Course" button. Step 5: Repeat for each course that fulfills degree requirements. Do NOT list any courses that do not fulfill your degree.

For Doctoral students

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Future courses: For future courses, if course substitutions are applicable (such as multiple elective options): Click "Yes" where it asks if there are any courses which can substitute the course.

Then click “ADD COURSE.”

- Enter substitution course information (Course ID, Title, Credits). - Click "Add” - Repeat process for each substitution. - When done with substitutions, click the "Add Course and Substitute(s)" button. Step 5: Repeat steps 2-4 for each course to fulfill degree. Step 6: Click the "Save & Continue" button.

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Research Compliance and Safety Step 1: Click the "Research Compliance and Safety" link (top menu).

Step 2: Answer the 3 questions provided by selecting "Yes" or "No" for each question. Step 3: Click the "Save & Continue" button. If "Yes" was answered on any of the 3 questions, you will be required to "certify" the Research Compliance and Safety Form on the next page. The Plan of Study will not be allowed to be submitted until this has been done.

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Evaluators Step 1: Click the "Evaluators" link (top menu).

Step 2: Review the evaluation settings. If any evaluation levels require a selection (e.g. Advisors), select your assigned advisor. NOTE: If you are unsure of your assigned advisor, please contact your program office. Step 3: Check the notification option for each level if you wish to receive email notification. These are optional. Step 4: Click the "Save & Continue" button.

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Summary Review and make sure everything is accurate. If anything is not accurate, click on the section's link and modify the Plan of Study accordingly.

NOTE: You may need to correct or address certain issues prior to submitting the Plan of Study. Look for the icons at the top. If any are red, it indicates there is an issue in that section which you must correct or address.

If there are any issues, you will see an error message like the example below:

Click “Create Petition” to enter justification for the stated issue. (NOTE: submitting a petition does NOT guarantee approval.) Once all issues have been addressed, the “Submit for Review” button will appear under the sidebar menu.

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Module 2: View Plan of Study In this module, we'll look at an actual Plan of Study and see how it is compiled. To view/edit a Plan of Study, please follow the same procedure you did in Module 1. Viewing/Editing a Plan of Study Click on "Plan of Study" to view it and see a summary on the progress of completion. Here is an example of a Plan of Study:

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Plan of Study Composition Every Plan of Study is composed of the following elements:

1. General information

2. Course Summary

3. Research Compliance and Safety

4. Evaluators

5. Form History

General Information The "General Information" subpanel is used to identify the current Plan of Study. It will also show the your full name, Z Number and email address. If a major has been assigned to the Plan of Study, it will display the full major name (and if you hover over the major you will see the program code). In addition, if the anticipated graduation term has been chosen, it will be displayed as well. For programs which require a thesis, "Thesis" will be displayed in this subpanel if the initiator selected this option while filling out the Plan of Study.

Diagram #15

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Course Summary The "Course Summary" subpanel is a list of all courses which you have taken, are currently taking and are planning on taking in order to complete your degree. This includes courses from other institutions as well as courses to remove deficiencies.

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Research Compliance and Safety The "Research Compliance and Safety" subpanel displays the answers to the research-related questions which every student is required to answer.

Diagram #17

Evaluators The "Evaluators" subpanel displays the list of evaluators assigned to the Plan of Study. They are listed in chronological order (level 1, level 2, level, 3, level 4) and if the level does not contain an evaluator, it will not be listed here.

Diagram #18

Form History The "Form History" subpanel is a list of every action which has been performed on the Plan of Study starting from the point at which it was initiated. Each logged action displays the action, who performed it and the date it was performed.

Diagram #19

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Module 3: Submit Plan of Study This module covers the Plan of Study's compliance check, petitions and the submission for review. In addition, it includes a few complementary tools for the Plan of Study like "Plan of Study Notes" and "Plan of Study History". Plan of Study History The Plan of Study History section is a chronological timeline of every action which has been taken on the current Plan of Study. To pull up the Plan of Study History page, once a Plan of Study has been loaded, click the "Form History" link from the main menu. Note: The form history list is also available on the summary page of every individual Plan of Study.

Diagram #20

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Plan of Study Notes

The Plan of Study Notes section is a complementary tool designed to facilitate any dialogue regarding the Plan of Study. Click the "Notes" link from the main menu to see all notes which have been composed for the current Plan of Study. Notes can be written at any time by anyone who has access to view the Plan of Study, including students. Students, Academic Units and Graduate College admins can all create notes or respond to previous notes at any point throughout the evaluation process. Plan of Study Notes are also "inherited" from other sources such as the Plan of Study disapproval note, the Plan of Study withdrawal note and any petition justifications.

Diagram #21

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Compliance Check The Compliance Check for the Plan of Study is a required, automated and required process that takes place before the Plan of Study gets submitted for review. The compliance check can only be completed once every form page in the Plan of Study has been opened at least once. In previous modules, you have previewed the current settings for all universal compliance settings (across all colleges). You have also customized the programs' settings for which you are an administrator. These settings are the "checkpoints" which are used against the Plans of Study whenever a compliance check is executed. Load the Plan of Study which you created in Module 5. If you are an initiator for this Plan of Study, you will be able to execute a compliance check on it. Otherwise you will not. If you are an initiator, you can continue with this module... Click "Submit for Review" from the Plan of Study's main menu. If you do not see this link in the main menu, you are either not an evaluator or you (or another initiator) have not opened each of the Plan of Study form pages at least once. Upon clicking the "Submit for Review" link, the system will perform an instant audit against all of the checkpoints set at both the program level and the universal level. If no compliance issues are detected and the Plan of Study is ready to be submitted for review, you will be redirected to the Plan of Study submission page. If compliance issues are detected, you will then see a list of issues including title, description, compliance issue type, how to correct it and possibly details regarding that particular issue. Here is an example:

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Diagram #22 In the case above, the student has a compliance issue - "Total Credit Hours". For this particular type of issue, either correction or a petition is required. (NOTE: submitting a petition does NOT guarantee approval.) Either enter a petition for this issue or go back and try to "fix" the Plan of Study accordingly. The next section in this module explains how to enter a petition for any compliance issue. The compliance issue types are as follows: "Correction Required": requires immediate action on the Plan of Study. The Plan of Study

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cannot be submitted with a pending "Correction Required" issue and petitions are not allowed in this case. "Petition Optional": allows the initiator to enter a petition but does not require it. In most cases, it is recommended that the initiator enter a petition (to maximize their chances for approval). If the initiator chooses not to enter a petition in this case, they still have to act on this issue by clicking the "Bypass Petition" button. "Petition Not Required": does not require action or a petition. Furthermore, there is not even an option to enter a petition. This type is basically a warning. Petitions If one or more compliance issues were detected which require a petition, this will have to be done as follows. From within the compliance check itself or from the summary page, scroll down to the issue at hand and find the "Create Petition" button. Click the "Create Petition" button. You will now be prompted to enter a justification/explanation for your petition. This must be as detailed and clear as possible. Note: this is a one-time action. Once a petition is created, it cannot be modified or removed (unless the Plan of Study is later disapproved). If there are any files which could be attached to this petition, select the number of files from the dropdown menu next to the relevant prompt. Note: only PDF file formats are allowed as attachments. Once you have filled in the entire justification and attached any (optional) files, click the "Create Petition" button. This will not only place a petition within this Plan of Study's record but it will "lift the hold" for the compliance issue at hand (if a petition was required). Repeat this petition process for any other issues which require a petition. Submit for Review Once a Plan of Study is ready to be submitted, and required petitions have been submitted and the person viewing the Plan of Study is an official initiator, they can then submit the Plan of Study for review. From the main Plan of Study menu, the previous petition page, the compliance check page, or the summary page, click the "Submit for Review" button. You will be redirected to the following prompt:

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Diagram #23

In order to submit the Plan of Study for review, you will be required to check the checkbox which confirms that you were the person who completed the Plan of Study. Click the "Submit for Review" button to submit the Plan of Study and start the evaluation process. Upon doing so, the people who have been assigned to receive notifications at this level will do so and the following confirmation will appear:

Diagram #24

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Reference Links To contact our support team, click “SUPPORT.” For a copy of this manual, click “Student Quick Guide.”