DARS
REPORTS HELP - Frequently Asked Questions
What is DARS?
DARS is the Degree Audit Reporting System. DARS assists the advising
process and greatly
simplifies the preparation of student graduation audits. The DARS audit
is an advising report that shows
progress toward a degree. Students can request a degree audit report,
at no cost through the Web, for
the degree program(s) in which they are enrolled or for degree programs
in which they are interested.
DARS takes the guess work out of selecting courses for future
enrollment.
What does DARS show?
University major and graduation (i.e. general education and
university
degree) requirements are
displayed. DARS shows which of these requirements the student
has already fulfilled and which
remain to be completed. This report has instructions for easy
interpretation.
Students can print a copy
and take it with them when they see their academic advisors.
How do I get my DARS report?
Instructions for Students viewing online Degree Audit Report:
**NOTE: If you are using a Macintosh computer, be sure to look for
"pop-up"
screens behind the top window when you submit your major code from
the drop down list.
A. Go to Catsweb at http://www.txstate.edu/catsweb/index.htm
B. Click “Student Services.”
C. Click “Generate Degree Audit Report.”
D. Enter your user name and password.
(If you do not have one, go to the Ready Room in
MCS 263 to obtain one.)
E. Your major and catalog year will appear at the top of the page.
If they are correct, click “submit” at the bottom
of the screen.
If the information displayed is incorrect, select
the right major and catalog year at the bottom of the page,
then click “submit”. Be sure to submit a
Change
of Major Form in your major department or college
advising center so that your student record is
officially
updated.
F. Click “Pending.”
G. Click in the small circle to the left of your major at top
page.
Your audit should appear on the screen.
Depending upon how many people are using this system
there may be a long lag time before you get
your audit back. In rare circumstances your
pending audit may not be available until the following day.
Not all colleges/departments
currently
allow students to run their own audits.
Please inquire within your department to
find out when student self-service audits will be available.
Do I still need to see an advisor?
YES! The academic advisor
will use the DARS report in the process of advising you about your
program.
An advisor can answer questions you may have and advise you about your
course substitutions and
waivers that may be needed. Some program's courses must be approved
by an advisor or a department
before they can be included on the report.
Is this official documentation?
NO. The DARS report is an
internal document used for advising and graduation certification. It is
NOT
an official documentation of your academic record. An official
"Transcript
of Academic Record" provides
this documentation and can be ordered from the Registrar's office.
What if I think something is wrong with my DARS report?
If you do not feel that DARS is correctly analyzing your
requirements,
you should contact your
departmental advisor.
What about course work transferred from another school?
When students request their DARS report, transfer courses from other
Texas institutions will automatically
be equated to Texas State courses, when applicable. All other
transfer courses,
without direct equivalencies, are listed in the audit, but are only
used to show completion of requirements
such as total hours, general education, and University bachelor degree
requirements. They are not used
to show completion of major requirements. Students who believe that
some of these transfer courses should
satisfy their major requirements should see their departmental
advisors.
These courses may show up
as ELNA (Elective credit, non-advanced) or ELADV (Elective credit,
advanced). ELNA courses that
have been core-coded by the transferring institution will be translated
by DARS into their CORE
equivalent and matched to the appropriate general education area when
applicable.
What are the components of a DARS report?
A DARS report is usually displayed in the following order:
1. Degree Details
This section describes the degree and catalog year for the audit you
are
running.
PROGRAM CODE: 151.00 /
510.00
CATALOG YEAR: 2002
OVERALL GPA:
2.52
TXSTATE GPA: 2.75
Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice with
Major in Criminal Justice - Law Enforcement
(Internship Option)
Minor in Business Administration
=================================================================
2. Proficiency Status
Using an "OK"
or "NO"
this section tells you if you have fulfilled the minimum
proficiency in the following areas: Core curriculum, foreign language,
computer proficiency.
=================================================================
NO Foreign
Language Proficiency Status:
*** Language requirements vary by degree, SEE ADVISOR.
- 1) Foreign language required.
=================================================================
OK Computer
Proficiency Status:
+ 1) Computer Proficiency - satisfied in high school.
=================================================================
3. Transfer hours/Minimum
Requirements
Parts 1 and 2 below shows you how many transfer
hours you have (if any)
and how many of those are Junior
College(
JC) hours (if any).
Parts 3 - 5 tells you the minimum number of advanced,
residency,
and
writing intensive
hours you have, as well as how many you still need
to meet the University's minimum graduation requirements.
The "-R"
that you see below indicates that this "sub-requirement" is
Required. The "-"
indicates that this sub-requirement has not yet
been fulfilled. (When the sub-requirement has been fulfilled the
"-" becomes a
"+".)
Then
"NEEDS" area
will tell you what you
still need to fulfill a requirement or sub-requirement.
*** Just because you meet minimum requirements, doesn't mean you
are ready to graduate. You must complete ALL REQUIREMENTS
on your audit and get approval from your advisor to graduate.
1) Total transfer hours:
106.0 hrs. complete 35 COURSES TAKEN
2) JC course hours:
(A maximum of 66 JC course hours will count,
regardless of how many JC course transferred.)
60.0 hrs. complete 19 COURSES TAKEN
-R 3) Minimum of 40 advanced
hours.
NEEDS: 40.0 HOURS
-R 4) 25% of the minimum hours needed for degree (32 hours)
must be taken at Texas State University-San Marcos.
(See advisor for additional residency
rules.)
12.0 hrs. complete
NEEDS: 20.0 HOURS
-R 5) Minimum of 9 Writing
Intensive hours.
3.0 hrs. complete
NEEDS: 6.0 HOURS
4. Requirements - OK
OK indicates that the requirement
is complete.
___________________________________________________________
OK
Communication
(Core Code - 010)
EARNED: 6.0 HOURS 2 COURSES 1
SUB-GROUP
199812
ENG
1310 :U 3.0 C 010:COLLEGE WRITING I
199905
ENG
1320 :J 3.0 A 010:COLLEGE WRITING I
(The first four digits above
represent the year course was taken,
the next two digits above represent the
semester
the course was taken.)
___________________________________________________________
5. Requirements - NO -
NO indicates that the requirement
is not complete.
____________________________________________________________
NO Additional Major course for Mass
Comm
-->
NEEDS:
1 COURSE
- 1) One required course.
Course(s): SOC 3307
____________________________________________________________
6. Requirements - EARNED
and NEEDS - EARNED states the number of hours, courses,
subgroups, or GPA accumulated for this requirement. NEEDS states the
number
of hours,
courses, sub-groups, or GPA (if applicable) required to complete this
requirement.
____________________________________________________________
OK Humanities (Core Code - 040)
EARNED: 3.0
HOURS
1 COURSE
199912 ENG 2310 :J 3.0 D 040:BRIT LIT
BEFORE
1
____________________________________________________________
7. Sub-Requirements - A requirement may contain 1 or
more
sub-requirements
that may
contribute toward the completion of a requirement. Each sub-requirement
contains instructions
for the completion of that specific sub-requirement. (The term
sub-requirement
and sub-group
are interchangeable.)
The "-"before
the "1)" indicates that this sub-requirement has not yet
been fulfilled. (When the sub-requirement has been fulfilled the
"-" becomes a
"+".)
___________________________________________________________________
NO Major - Mass Communication - General
-->
NEEDS:
5 COURSES 2
SUB-GROUPS
2.250 GPA
- 1) Four courses required.
<--- This is sub-requirement #1
NEEDS:
4 COURSES
Course(s): MC 3355,3360,4305,3383
- 2) One
advanced
MC elective required.
<--- This is sub-requirement
#2
NEEDS:
1 COURSE
Course(s): MC 3*** TO 4***
___________________________________________________________________
8. SELECT FROM - Course(s):
lists the courses that may be taken to
complete the sub-requirement.
____________________________________________________________________
NO Mass Communication Core
-->
NEEDS:
6 COURSES
1) Six courses required.
NEEDS:
6 COURSES
Course(s): MC
1301,1313,2319,2374,4301,4302
_____________________________________________________________________
In addition, SELECT FROM can have asterisks (*) to generalize the
category
of courses that
may be used. For example:
Select from: BIO ****
(any Biology course is acceptable)
Select from: BIO 3***
(any 3000 level Biology course is acceptable)
Select from: BIO 3000*
(any Biology containing BIO 3000 as a prefix is acceptable, BIO 3000A,
BIO 3000B,
BIO 3000C)
DARS
Hours counting - (See Minimum
graduation
requirements for your degree)
DARS hours earned posted
towards the top of your audit DOES NOT include failed courses,
remedial courses or courses
repeated that are not repeatable for credit. This may cause a
discrepency
between your transcript
hours and DARS. DARS hours earned are hours that you received
credit
for that could possibly
be used to count towards your degree.
Why are there course choices listed as needed that are not available in the Schedule of Classes?
-Not all courses are offered every semester.
-Sometimes course numbers have changed. DARS will reflect the
course
number as listed in your
designated catalog year or the addendum for that year. When you
take
the appropriate course
under the new course number it should match on your audit correctly.
Talk with your advisor regarding any discrepency with course numbers.
My
audit is not right! Some of my transfer or elective courses are
not
applying to degree
requirements
as I was told they would!
Most transfer students will need to
have
some "modificiations" made to their audit. This means
that courses may need to be substituted to another requirement area or
waived. Only your
authorized college advisor may make modifications to your audit.
Once the changes are made
they will be available when you run a new audit. Remember,
your
degree audit only effects the
way your courses apply to requirements. Changes to your audit DO
NOT effect your transcript.
What if the above information did not answer my question?
See your advisor.