Program and Curriculum Approval System (PCAS) FAQ

What is the purpose of PCAS?

The Program and Curriculum Approval System (PCAS) was designed to do three things:

1. PCAS is a comprehensive database of all the requirements needed to complete each undergraduate degree program offered on the four University of Minnesota campuses.
2. PCAS is a web-based approval system that automatically routes all new programs, and any changes to existing programs, to the correct approvers and approval levels. It replaces the old paper-based program approval process.
3. PCAS also is a resource for the Graduation Planner, the University's program that supports students' timely progress toward graduation. PCAS includes information about timing of course-taking (i.e., when students must/should take each course in order to graduate in four years). This information is used in Grad Planner to help students plan degree programs.

All University catalogs, both print and online, use data from PCAS. Degree requirements for University majors and minors are automatically generated from PCAS for display in the online catalog and this same information is downloaded as needed for print catalogs.

How does PCAS link to other University information management programs such as ECAS and PeopleSoft?

Courses entered in PCAS with a designator and course number are linked to the ECAS system. PCAS is able to draw additional information about courses (e.g., number of credits, title, when it is offered, prerequisites, etc) from the ECAS database. For this reason, courses that are used in PCAS must first be entered into ECAS, and changes to courses in ECAS will be automatically displayed in PCAS.

PCAS uses information about colleges, departments, and term dates pulled from PeopleSoft. PCAS does not actually write program information to PeopleSoft directly; program information is entered in PeopleSoft by OESS staff once programs are fully approved.

What are Checkpoint requirements?

The Checkpoint chart (Step 7) is a tool to help students visualize and plan ahead for courses that must be taken at specific times in the degree program so that the program can be completed in four years. Not all requirements in the degree program will show up in the Checkpoint Chart. Checkpoint requirements are those requirements that are critical in terms of timing for students. These requirements must be taken in specific sequence, and early enough to allow timely completion of the degree.

The Checkpoint Chart is a display of requirements matched to a grid that shows earliest, latest, and recommended semesters for completion. The grid is divided into years and semesters. The chart is automatically generated from the course groups and subgroups users designate as "checkpoint" in steps 3, 4, or 5. To change the Checkpoint Chart's display, information must be changed in the step in which the requirement course group is entered.

What are the rules around earliest, latest, and recommended semesters? How do they change when the course group or subgroup is a Checkpoint? When will the recommended semester show up in the Checkpoint Chart?

In general, the recommended semester for any course must fall in the range between the earliest semester and latest semester.

Recommended semester is not required for courses in "OR" course groups or subgroups, or for courses in course lists or sublists. You may enter a recommended semester for these courses, but it will never display in the checkpoint chart.

In PCAS, you may not choose a recommended semester for an ECAS course that conflicts with the "term most frequently offered" information in ECAS. For example, if a course is set up in ECAS to be offered only in fall, you may not choose spring as the recommended semester in PCAS unless you update the course in ECAS.

Courses are pulled into the sample plan that PCAS generates (Step 6) based on their recommended semester. These courses can be moved in the sample plan into any term that is within the Earliest - Latest semester range set up for the course when it was added to PCAS.

The chart below describes how the rules work for earliest, latest, and recommended semesters when a group or list is chosen as a Checkpoint.

Course Groups / Subgroups
Course Group type	Checkpoint Chart results
AND; Designator-Level courses only	Each element is displayed on a separate line Earliest and Latest semesters are required for all elements in the group
AND; ECAS courses only	Each element is displayed on a separate line Earliest, Latest, and Recommended semesters are required for all elements in the group
AND; with Other courses / requirements	Each element is displayed on a separate line Earliest, Latest, and Recommended semesters are required for all elements in the group
Concurrent With; Designator-Level courses only	Each element is displayed on a separate line Earliest and Latest semesters are required and must be the same value for all elements in the group
Concurrent With; ECAS courses	Each element is displayed on a separate line Earliest, Latest, and Recommended semesters are required and must be the same value for all elements in the group
Concurrent With; with Other courses / requirements	Each element is displayed on a separate line Earliest, Latest, and Recommended semesters are required and must be the same value for all elements in the group
Course List; any combination of Designator-Level courses or ECAS courses (Other courses / requirements are not allowed in a course list)	All elements in the list are displayed on a single line Earliest and Latest semesters are required and must be the same value for all elements in the list Recommended semester will NOT display, even if it is selected
OR; any combination of Designator-Level courses or ECAS courses or Other courses / requirements	All elements in the list are displayed on a single line Earliest and Latest semesters are required and must be the same value for all elements in the list Recommended semester will NOT display, even if it is selected

What is the difference between different types of sub-plans?

Optional sub-plans are a choice - students may complete the degree with or without completing a sub-plan.

If a sub-plan is required, the "sub-plan required" button in PCAS must be set to YES, and at least one sub-plan must be marked in PCAS Step 5 as "fulfilling the sub-plan required requirement." In order to graduate in a degree program that requires a sub-plan, students must complete one of the sub-plans marked as "fulfilling the sub-plan required requirement."

Honors sub-plans are always optional and contain honors course work.

What is the difference between a sub-plan and a focus course group?

Sub-plans are formal "tracks" that have a sub-plan code assigned in PeopleSoft. The name of each sub-plan a student completes will print on his or her transcript.

Focus course groups are sets of choices within the main body of a program. They are not defined tracks and do not have a sub-plan code in PeopleSoft. They may occur anywhere in the program, including at the lower division level. A good example of a lower division focus is the Introductory Biology focus - students have the choice of focus course groups called "Sequence A" and "Sequence B" - but regardless of their focus choice, students are completing the same Biology core program.

What is the difference between an update for current and future students, and an update for future students only?

An update for current and future students will affect all students currently in the degree program, as well as those who are not in the program yet. It will be effective right away, as soon as it is approved.

An update for future students only is a change that will go into effect at some future point. It is similar in concept to the old idea of a "new bulletin year." When a PCAS user makes an update for future students only, they choose the term and year that the new requirements will go into effect.

Many more fields in PCAS can be changed for future students only than can be changed for current/future students. In general, the rule of thumb is that updates for current students can never make the program more difficult or time-consuming to complete than it was already. PCAS will not allow the user to change most of the fields, if the user chooses an update for current and future students. Examples of fields that CAN be changed on "current" update are: program description, program contact information, RIASEC code, and course group description. Examples of things that can only be changed in a "future" update are: program title, additions or deletions of courses to course groups, or additions of sub-plans.

What changes can be made during update that will only have to go to the college for approval (and won't have to go any further)?

Very few changes stop at the college without continuing on to the catalog editors. These changes include: changes in the order of course groups in a step, or the order of courses within a course group, changes to the number of terms of second language that are required, and all changes to sample plans other than changes to the sample plan names.