West Liberty University has a new tool in its kit for ensuring student success. The University is now using Ellucian Degree-Works to keep students on track to graduation. The web-based academic advising and degree audit tool offers a convenient and comprehensive way for today’s students and their advisors to negotiate graduation requirements. 

DegreeWorks is keeping WLU students on track, from left front are WLU’s Sara Sweeney, Jill Nixon, Amy Balog and Stephanie North, Ellucian representative Laurie Perry, WVNET’s Barbara Long and Tanye Iyalla. Back row, WLU’s Bob Wise, Scott Cook and Jim Clark.

“DegreeWorks creates clear goals and can do the the basic planning work so advisers can work more closely with students. Our investment in this digital solution will help us maintain our enrollment numbers while providing better advisement for our students,” explained Chief Information Officer James Clark. “Purchase of this solution was driven in part because it is fully integrated with Banner, our existing student Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System, also by Ellucian. This integration ensures accurate, consistent information, while enhancing each student’s profile and history.”

WLU assembled a strong implementation team that includes the registrar, members of enrollment services, student services, computer center and student government.

“This will be a valuable tool for students and advisors to use for years to come,” added Dean of Enrollment & Student Services Scott Cook, who also serves as registrar. “Our students are balancing many different things while going to college. DegreeWorks will help them get all the information they need about their program of study and time to completion. It will help them map out their college program, graduate and enter the workforce as quickly as possibly. And it will give our advisors valuable tools to guide students in their decision-making.”

Ellucian and WVNET consultants are working closely with West Liberty University to achieve a complete DegreeWorks roll-out for Fall 2015.

According to recent graduate Jeffrey Tice, who served as vice president of the Student Government Association and hall director with the Office of Housing and Student Life, “Degree Works is going to be extremely beneficial to the students and faculty advisors. DegreeWorks supports the University’s goal of being student centric and will give students the tool to get their education completed in the shortest time possible – even with multiple major changes.”

“West Liberty University is a wonderful addition to the West Virginia DegreeWorks community,” said Barbara Long, DegreeWorks project coordinator for West Virginia Network, which provides telecommunications and computing services within West Virginia. WVNET was created in 1975 to provide central computing facilities and wide-area network communications linking its central site computing resources in Morgantown with the campus computing systems at most of the colleges and universities throughout the state.