DP Planner Student Quick Guide
The Degree Program Planner (DP Planner) is a web-based tool to help undergraduate students and mentors work together to create the degree program, rationale essay and general education document.
Before You Start
q You need to know the name of your mentor. q You need your Empire State College login and password (if you do not have a login, go to http://www.esc.edu/MyESC and click Activate my login). q You need to gather your sources of college credit: transcripts and credit by evaluation documentation.
When You Are Ready To Begin
q Go to http://www.esc.edu/MyESC. q On the MyESC page select the Studies and Degree Plan tab. In the Your Degree Plan (Undergraduate) section click the Begin with DP Planner link. q Read the information found on the page then click the Start DP Planner link in the grey box. You may save and exit the DP Planner at any point in the process. You can return at any time to continue.
Your Profile
In this section, you set up your plan by entering information about yourself, the degree you are seeking, and the number of transcripts and other credit sources you have. You can return at any time to change this information. q Delete the three digits after your last name. q Select the Degree with the drop-down arrow.* q Select your Registered Area with the drop-down arrow.* If you have two areas, change the Using two areas? from N to Y and select your second Registered Area with the drop-down arrow.* q Enter your concentration. q Select your Mentor/Advisor with the drop-down arrow.* q Under Transcript Credit Sources, select the number of colleges you will be bringing transcripts from (limit eight colleges). q Enter the name of each college in chronological order. If any of your colleges are SUNY or CUNY schools, click the appropriate link to select them from a list. q If any of your colleges awarded credit based on quarter credits select Yes for that college. Use the arrows below the college name to move a college up or down in the list or to the other column. You also can delete it. q q q q Under Credit by Evaluation Sources (CBE), select the number of sources (limit six sources). For each CBE source, enter the name as it appears on the documentation in chronological order. Note: If your source of CBE is not from a pre-approved source, enter “Independent Study” as the source. Save your work using the Save button at the bottom of the screen. After you save your Profile, you will see a list of buttons to take you to other sections of your plan.
* Required fields to save your Profile
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DP Planner Student Quick Guide Rev. 12/2007
Your Prior Learning Credits
In this section you will enter detailed information about credits from the transcripts from your previous colleges and from your CBE documentation. To Enter Transcript Credit q Click Go To Transcript Credit from the top menu bar. Select one of your colleges with the drop-down arrow. q For each college, review your transcript. Select the courses you will use for Concentration and for General Learning and enter the number of each as shown.
q For each college, enter the full names of the courses (no abbreviations) in the order that they appear on that college transcript under either Concentration or General Learning. Do not enter course codes or numbers. For each title: q Enter the number of credits. q Select Y if liberal (default is N). q Select Y if advanced (default is N). q If the course meets a general education requirement, click the Designate as Gen. Ed. button and follow the on-screen directions. q Save your work using the Save button at the bottom of the screen. To Enter Credit by Evaluation q Click Go To Credit by Evaluation from the top menu bar. Select one of your sources with the drop-down arrow. Review your source. Select the courses you will use for Concentration and for General Learning and enter the number of each. q For each CBE source, enter the full name of the title as it appears on your certification, test report, etc. q Follow the instructions used to enter transcript credits as above to finish completing the title entry. q If the course meets a general education requirement, click the Designate as Gen. Ed. button and follow the on-screen directions.
Entering Empire State College Studies
You and your mentor will decide on the studies you will take at Empire State College to complete your degree program. q Click Go To ESC Studies from the top menu bar. Enter the number of Concentration and General Learning titles as shown below.
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DP Planner Student Quick Guide Rev. 12/2007
q To add an independent study, enter the name with no abbreviations (CDL students click Add Independent Study first). Enter the number of credits. Select Y if liberal (default is N). Select Y if advanced (default is N). If the study meets a general education requirement, click the Designate as Gen. Ed. button and follow the on-screen directions. q To add a CDL course, click the Add CDL Course link, select the course from the Selection List and click Add. All of the course information will be automatically added to your DP Planner. Save your work using the Save button at the bottom of the screen.
View in Official Format
As you are adding your studies, you can view the official format of your program at any time. Click the View in Official Format link at the top of any page.
View Credit Totals
You can view your total credits by transcript credits, credit by evaluation, and Empire State College studies broken out by Concentration and General Learning with the number of credits you still need. Select View Credit Totals from the top menu bar.
Total Credit View
Your Rationale Essay
Your rationale essay is an explanation of how your degree program meets your academic goals. Create your rationale essay using a word processor outside of the DP Planner and then attach the file to your plan. To attach your rationale essay: q Click Go To Rationale from the top menu bar. q Click the Browse button to find your rationale essay file on your computer’s hard drive. q Highlight the file to attach, and then click Open. q Click the Save Rationale button. You will be prompted to look for your saved essay at the bottom of the screen. q Click the OK button. q Save your work using the Save button at the top of the screen. To revise or change your rationale essay, first make the changes in your word processor outside of DP Planner. Then delete your previous rationale essay and attach the revised one as follows: Remove the old version: q Click Go To Rationale from the top menu bar. q At the bottom of the page you will see your existing rationale essay with a check box next to it; select the box to Mark attachments for deletion. Attach the newer version: q Click the Browse button to find your revised rationale essay file on your computer’s hard drive. q Highlight the file to attach, and then click Open. q Click the Save Rationale button (you will be prompted to look for your saved essay at the bottom of the screen). q Your revised rationale essay will now be attached and your original essay will have been removed. q Save your work using the Save button at the top of the screen.
Empire State College Center for Learning and Technology DP Planner Student Quick Guide Rev. 12/2007
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Requesting Mentor Review
At any time during the DP Planner process you can ask your mentor to review your plan. DP Planner provides an easy way to communicate with your mentor by generating an e-mail with a link to your degree program. q Click View in Official Format, then E-mail Mentor Request to Review from the top menu bar. q You will be prompted to confirm that you want to send an automatic e-mail to your mentor. q Click the OK button. Your mentor will receive an automatic e-mail with a link to your degree program. You cannot add text to this e-mail.
Using the Mentor Comments Area
You and your mentor can conduct a conversation about your degree program in the Mentor Comments area. q To view your mentor’s comments from the View in Official Format screen, click Mentor Comments on the top menu bar. q To comment, type your comments in the text box provided. q Click the Save Comments button.
Returning To Your Degree Program In Progress
It will probably take you several sessions to complete your degree program and rationale essay and to incorporate your mentor’s feedback. To return to your degree program in progress, go to http://www.esc.edu/MyESC and select the Studies and Degree Plan tab. In the Your Degree Plan (Undergraduate) section, click on the Return to an Existing Degree Plan (DP Planner) link. Enter your user name and password to open your degree program. Then click Edit Degree Program link to open the degree program you are working on.
Changing the General Education Document
You can click Go to General Education Document at the top of any screen to review it or make changes. You also can edit the General Education Document from the View in Official Format screen; click the Edit link under the Gen Ed Doc area. You can remove a component from the General Education Document, or you can move it from one area to another. To print your work at any time, under Print, click DP or Rationale from the top menu bar of the View in Official Format screen. You can print the General Education Document from the same top menu bar using the Print link under Gen Ed Doc.
Printing
Submission Process
When you and your mentor agree that the degree program and rationale essay are complete, your mentor will submit it to your center’s academic review office. After it is submitted, you will be able to view/print it, but not be able to edit it. If the center academic review office requires changes, you will receive information about how to submit the changes.
Empire State College Center for Learning and Technology DP Planner Student Quick Guide Rev. 12/2007
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