Transformative Education 2.0: New degree-planning tool will offer students real-time ‘smart’ degree plans

Getting student degree plans out of the backpack and into a flexible, accessible digital planning tool will soon be a reality thanks to the implementation of EduNav. The new tool will be piloted with select groups this fall as part of Transformative Education 2.0, one of Purdue’s Next Moves.

“Students and academic advisors will be able to use EduNav to develop personalized semester-by-semester plans and track successful progress towards degree completion,” said Jenna Rickus, vice provost for teaching and learning. “The tool includes a (real-time) snapshot of the student’s entire academic career and how courses could look for each semester thereafter.”

Additionally, EduNav will allow students to create complete what-if plans in minutes, facilitating exploration of entire academic plans for multiple degree programs so they can see the impact of including minors, certificates, study abroad experiences, etc., and optimize their progression toward graduation.

“Early on in the Transformative Education 2.0 project, we recognized the need for a responsive degree-planning and auditing tool, that would also provide robust data analytics and reporting capabilities,” said Cherise Hall, vice provost for finance and strategic initiatives. “After an extensive request-for-proposal process, we felt that EduNav would meet all of our criteria plus offer a guided, personalized and optimal pathway to degree completion for students.”

EduNav will enhance the work done by advisors around course planning and registration by keeping academic plans up to date, no matter how many times course offerings, requirements or student needs change. Also, instead of maintaining a spreadsheet or piece of paper each semester with a student’s degree plan, advisors and students will both have access to this “smart” degree plan that works with other institutional data to provide feedback and adjustments as the plan is manipulated. 

“EduNav will empower informed decision-making for all campus stakeholders from students, advisors, department chairs, deans, provosts and the president,” Rickus said. “At a broader campus level, it will help facilitate more accurate modeling of course demand and enhance our overall teaching and learning mission.”

For any questions please contact: edunav@groups.purdue.edu