Undergraduate Advising: Four-Year Degree Plans

Effective fall 2005, all incoming freshmen must develop an academic plan (which maps out all courses needed to graduate within your intended major/degree).  This website includes sample plans in excel format for easy revision and general instructions of how to create a personalized academic plan.

Creating a Four-Year Plan
The goal of the Student Academic Success-Degree Completion Policy is to promote undergraduate student progress toward a degree. Each student must create and consistently review a Four Year Plan for their major.

Degree Plan Templates
Please use the templates below as a starting point to creating your own Four Year Plan. Each link is an excel document that assumes the student will begin as a freshman who will take Math140. Directions on how to modify the plan to fit your needs are below the templates and include information for undecided engineering students and students with a declared major.

• Aerospace Engineering.xls
• Bioengineering.xls
• Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.xls
• Civil & Envir Engr, Water and Resources Track.xls
• Civil & Envir Engr, Infrastructure Track.xls
• Civil & Envir Engr, Transportation and Engineering  Management Track.xls
• Computer Engineering.xls
• Electrical Engineering.xls
• Fire Protection Engineering.xls
• Materials Science and Engineering.xls
• Mechanical Engineering.xls

Directions for engineering students in a declared major:

Select the appropriate suggested Four Year Degree Plan that correlates with your declared major from the menu above. 

1. Download the excel document so that you may adjust it to meet your course load and semester plans.
2. Denote at the top of the excel document any AP, IB, transfer work, or approved substitutions that may have already fulfilled degree requirements. 
3. In the first box on the left the semester that you matriculated into the Clark School of Engineering.  Input into this box the courses you are currently taking or were approved to take your first semester. 
4. Use the Schedule of Classes and Undergraduate Catalog to determine the pre/co-requisites for the courses that you are required to take (listed on the right-hand side of the Four Year Plan document). 
5. Plan each semester based on when you have met pre/co-requisites for courses.  The template can serve as a guide for generally when to take a course.  NOTE: In some departments, not all courses are offered Fall AND Spring semester.  Ask your academic advisor for this information to make sure you are properly planning.
6. CORE General Education courses should be included in your Four Year Plan.  Students are encouraged to complete CORE requirements in their first 2-3 years due to seat management of CORE courses. 
7. Review your departmental benchmarks (course requirements you are required to meet by 45, 60 and 90 credits) on Degree Navigator or from the list of benchmarks on the Degree Planning Tools link.  Make sure that you are taking the courses in each benchmark prior to or in the semester of the review so that you remain on track.  A student who does not meet benchmark requirements can be told to change their major out of engineering.
8. Once completed, review your plan with your academic advisor. 
9. Make any needed changes then submit a copy of your Four Year Plan to your departmental academic advisor and the Office of Undergraduate Advising & Academic Support located in 1124 Glenn L. Martin Hall.  If any further changes occur with your plan, you will be responsible for creating a new plan and submitting it to both offices.
10. Students in declared majors such will be required to submit a four year degree plan prior to registering for their third full time semester.  

Top

Directions for undecided engineering students:

1. Please visit various departmental engineering websites and explore the different majors available to you. For assistance, please speak with an advisor in Undergraduate Advising & Academic Support.
2. Decide on a tentative major, print out a suggested plan for your intended major from the menu above.
   
3. Denote at the top of the excel document any AP, IB, transfer work, or approved substitutions that may have already fulfilled degree requirements.
   
4. In the first box on the left the semester that you matriculated into the Clark School of Engineering. Input into this box the courses you are currently taking or were approved to take your first semester.
   
5. Use the Schedule of Classes and Undergraduate Catalog to determine the pre/co-requisites for the courses that you are required to take (listed on the right-hand side of the Four Year Plan document).
   
6. Plan each semester based on when you have met pre/co-requisites for courses. The template can serve as a guide for generally when to take a course. NOTE: In some departments, not all courses are offered Fall AND Spring semester. Ask your academic advisor for this information to make sure you are properly planning.
   
7. CORE General Education courses should be included in your Four Year Plan. Students are encouraged to complete CORE requirements in their first 2-3 years due to seat management of CORE courses.
   
8. Review any possible departmental benchmarks of your desired major (course requirements you are required to meet by 45, 60 and 90 credits) on Degree Navigator or from the list of benchmarks on the Degree Planning Tools link. Make sure that you are taking the courses in each benchmark prior to or in the semester of the review so that you remain on track. A student who does not meet benchmark requirements can be told to change their major out of engineering.
   
9. Once completed, review your plan with an Undergraduate Advising & Academic Support academic advisor.
   
10. Make any needed changes then submit a copy to Undergraduate Advising & Academic Support located in 1124 Glenn L. Martin Hall. If any further changes occur with your plan, you will be responsible for creating a new plan and resubmitting.