DARS terms
These are terms used in the Degree Audit Report that may be unfamiliar. This is a glossary of those terms and their meanings.
- Audit
- In this context, "audit" is an abbreviation for "Degree audit report" - see below.
- Catalog Year
- The catalog from which the student is working to fulfill his/her program requirements. The catalog year appears at the top right-hand side of the report.
- DARS
- Degree Audit Reporting System. The name given to the audit system by its developers at Miami University of Ohio.
- Degree Audit Report
- An individualized comprehensive report that reflects a student's academic progress toward the degree. It uses all course work the student has taken, both Nevada and transfer work.
- Exceptions
- Anything that must be handled on a student-by-student basis. These could be matching transfer courses that haven't been articulated, waivers, course substitutions or any number of special circumstances.
- Legend
- Gives a brief summary of status indicators, grades and symbols.
- Planned Courses
- Planned - or future - coursework entered in to the DARSweb application by an advisor or student, to see how the additional courses would affect the student's progress toward graduation. These courses can be used by DARS if the "use planned courses" box is checked when the audit run is requested. Requirements, including those that calculate GPA, affected by the addition of planned courses are clearly marked with "PL" on the audit report. The Planned Courses function is strictly for planning purposes - it does not imply a guarantee that the courses will actually be offered during the terms used in the plan, nor does it have any effect on student registration or the student's actual progress toward the degree.
- Prepared
- Date and time the audit was run printed at the top left-hand corner of the report. Any changes to course registration or requirements after this time will not be reflected in the audit.
- Program
- Refers to the curriculum/major code the student has selected.
- Requirements
- Independent components of the degree program that must be completed.
- Subrequirement
- Separate components that make up a requirement; the specific details of what is needed to complete that requirement.
- What If
- A report for a major other than the student's declared major. This is helpful for the student considering a major and/or college change. What If reports can be run by selecting a major and appropriate catalog year from the drop-down box on the DARSweb "request audit" screen.
