Budget cuts aren’t getting in the way of the University’s technology upgrades.

On the heels of upgrades to the MyUGA Web site in March, WebCT is being upgraded and DARS, the Degree Audit Reporting System used during advising sessions, is being replaced by a program called DegreeWorks.

The WebCT upgrade was launched at the start of Maymester and DegreeWorks will premiere this fall in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. After the programming for all Franklin undergraduate programs is complete, DegreeWorks will be programmed and brought online simultaneously for all other colleges.

“[The upgrades] will cut down on people having to remember passwords,” Registrar Rebecca Macon said.

Both new products will be accessed with use of a student’s 810-number. The social security number was eliminated from the classroom for security purposes, Macon said.

“We were concerned with the Social Security number and felt we couldn’t do much with it,” she said.

The Board of Regents made an agreement with DegreeWorks vendor SunGard Higher Education to purchase the system at a 60-percent discount off the $100,000 price tag.

“[The software] is just a piece of the price,” Macon said. “You have to pay for trainers and annual maintenance. If you look at it, taking into account the time and different pieces put into it, you’re looking at about $350,000.”

DegreeWorks includes a student educational planner, allowing students to plan out their college career with the use of a split screen tool.

Though DegreeWorks is expected to make advising more effective, it will not replace OASIS or SARA, the current advising scheduling system for Franklin College.

“DARS is just one piece of OASIS. DegreeWorks is not a registration system. Students still need to register through OASIS,” Macon said.

The University has also begun making the transition from WebCT to eLearning Commons.

One feature of the upgrade is a “Who’s Online” feature for communication between classmates.

“Faculty will have plenty of time to have material pushed over to eLearning Commons,” said Sherry Clouser, coordinator of instructional and distance technologies for the Center for Teaching and Learning.

“The transition has already started and some faculty are using eLearning Commons for their Maymester courses,” she said.