WiSys Technologies

Interactive Degree Planner

WiSys Technology Number: T130002US01
Status
Copyright
Stage of Development:

Prototype program created

OVERVIEW

Increasing college tuition costs and associated debt have created a market need for tools that optimize the degree planning process in order to help students pursue the quickest, most efficient route to graduation while completing all degree requirements. Currently, students together with student advisors manually select courses based on major, minor, and sometimes dual-major requirements, course availability and student availability. For students considering multiple majors, minors, emphases, and even disparate career paths, this task is time consuming, prone to error, and often results in course schedules that require an unnecessary extra semester or year to satisfy requirements for graduation.


BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater and University of Wisconsin – Madison and a Wisconsin based startup company have developed the Interactive Degree Planner, a web-based digital tool that conveniently calculates a multiyear course plan that satisfies all program and degree requirements in the shortest possible time to graduation. The Planner considers courses already completed by a student and then creates a comprehensive degree plan that will allow for completion of all degree requirements. Among other variables, the optimization software considers when courses are offered along with prerequisites needed for admittance to courses and determines a semester by semester schedule for the remaining courses needed to achieve the degree . This interactive tool will facilitate efficient and cost-effective degree plans as well as serve as a valuable aid for student advising.


APPLICATIONS

  • Time optimized degree plans

KEY BENEFITS

  • Ensures time optimized degree plans
  • Considers courses already completed
  • Accounts for prerequisite, departmental, cross-listing, college and university requirements
  • Can be customized for any degree program
Institution
UW-Whitewater UW-Whitewater
Inventors
Athula Gunawardena
Professor and Chair of the Department of Computer Science
Robert Meyer
Research Professor