A new tool at the University of Oregon will soon help students better navigate their degree programs and stay on track for graduation.

The degree audit program called Ducks on Track will allow students to access information on required courses and graduation requirements early and often. That’s critical for students as they consider different course options or scenarios for their academic journey and look for the right classes to graduate on time.

Supported by strategic funding from the offices of the president and provost, the online tool will launch in the summer of 2024 and replace the existing UO Degree Guide program. All undergraduate students will be transitioned into the Ducks on Track system at that time.

“Ducks on Track will give students easy access to their academic paths with a user-friendly platform that shows them which and how many courses to take,” said Kimberly Johnson, vice provost for undergraduate education and student success. “Empowering our students with information and a sense of control over their course choices will help them be successful and assist with our institutional graduation and retention goals.”

The new Ducks on Track tool will:

• Create a better, clearer self-service experience for students with increased access to their degree progress information.
• Provide reliable and comprehensive course requirement information to assist students with scenario planning and facilitate on-time graduation.
• Support student-centered academic advising and graduation planning.
• Allow the institution, over time, to centrally track course scheduling trends and bottlenecks.

The project launched in mid-2023 and is co-led by the Office of the Registrar, Division of Undergraduate Education and Student Success, and Information Services. UO staff are working with vendor Ellucian and its Degree Works software to develop and launch the tool. The university added four new permanent positions to support implementation of the technology and to maximize the UO’s investment.

“The student experience is at the center of our work on this project,” said Melody Riley Ralphs, associate chief information officer for enterprise solutions. “We are focused on accessibility and user-friendly navigation, as well as creating a complete, accurate and standardized tool for tracking our students’ degree progress.”

Work so far has included the Office of the Registrar working with academic departments to verify and encode the UO’s existing course catalog and degree requirements; functional and technical trainings for the project team as the tool is developed; and the creation of an advising implementation team to provide feedback on the end-user experience. 

The internal rollout of Ducks on Track and organizational readiness trainings will take place during spring term, along with communications to UO undergraduate students about the upcoming transition to the new tool.

“We are excited about this critical project that will modernize the University of Oregon’s degree audit system,” said Julia Pomerenk, associate vice president for student services and enrollment management and university registrar. “Ducks on Track will create a comprehensive and interconnected database for all degree planning and progress tracking, while helping the institution with course scheduling and student advising interventions.”

For additional information or questions about the project, email degreeauditproject@uoregon.edu.