Jamie Bowles
The Broadside
Students no longer have to rely on Student Services to keep track of their graduation progress.
A new program, Grad Tracks, replaces the old system.
“It was not user friendly”, said Aimee Metcalf, director of admissions and records. “It was functional, but not pretty. It was not easy to read for students or advisors.”
With the new system, students can log into their COCC accounts to access Grad Tracks, which provides real-time degree progress. Students can see their degree status and what classes they need to take to complete their degree. The program provides a “what if” scenario, allowing students to explore another degree option and see exactly what it would take to get there.
Grad Tracks also includes any courses that were transfer credits from other institutions, which provides students with up-to -date, accurate information.
As of now, there is no official date set to announce Grad Tracks to the student body.
“There has been a lot of adjusting going on behind the scenes to get Grad Tracks working smoothly with COCC courses,” said Metcalf.
Although Student Services is currently transitioning students to Grad Tracks, advisors have been using the program since fall term.
“They (the advisors) have had great things to say about it,” said Metcalf. “The new program takes a lot of weight off of their shoulders.”
Students who have used Grad Tracks, either with their advisor or on their own, have enjoyed the program so far. Despite not being announced publicly, Grad Tracks is currently available to all students.
“Since COCC is a community college, many students have jobs, families and little time to come in and meet with their advisor,” said Krissa Mattox, the administrative assistant at the CAP Center. “This program allows students access that they didn’t have before.”
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Matt Sanders • Feb 19, 2012 at 9:27 pm
Nice article about Grad Tracks. After searching the COCC web sight for about 30 minutes I have only one question. Where the HELL is the web address or the link to Grad Tracks? It is not stated in your article and I could find no information about it on the COCC web sight? It is really frustrating to read about something as helpful as Grad Tracks and not be given the information on where or how to access it. As a reporter, I would think you would know this.
The Broadside Editor • Feb 24, 2012 at 7:29 pm
Hi Matt,
Thanks for the feedback on the GradTracks article. The program really is amazing.
In the article it says that “students can log into their COCC accounts to access Gradtracks.” If you go to the log in page and log into your account, you’ll find the program in the list. Hope this helps.