GPC created Program Maps for all programs of study; these maps provide students with the recommended course selection for each term to complete their AA in four semesters. Program Maps are available on the college website and through the advising offices. Advisors encourage part-time students to take as close to 15 hours as possible each semester, taking into consideration their personal and work commitments.
Part-time program maps are currently being developed, which will provide a clear path to graduation for students taking 9 hours per semester. The college has adopted a strategy of encouraging part-time students, who make up 63% of the population, to take at least 9 hours per semester. This will put a part-time student on track to graduate within 6 semesters, which is significantly fewer than the current average of 8 terms required of students to complete an associate’s degree.
The Program Maps have been added to DegreeWorks, the college’s online advising platform. While the Program Maps assist students in planning their semester schedule early in their college career, DegreeWorks monitors a student’s progress toward degree completion by tracking the courses completed, those in progress, and the ones still needed for the declared program of study or major.
Additionally, the college held a graduation fair that identified students who have more than 55 hours of credit. A graduation audit was performed for all of these students, and they were invited to meet with an advisor to complete an application for graduation if they had already met the requirements or to identify the remaining classes needed to be eligible to graduate. This process will be repeated each semester as a way of reaching out to students who have successfully completed a significant amount of course work but may not realize that they are close to graduating or even that they have fulfilled all degree requirements.
