Dinner & Discourse is a monthly civility program that brings students, faculty/staff, and community members around the dinner table to have a meal and discuss current events/topics. Topics are released on Engage one week prior to each session. Guidelines for civility are followed and enforced, with media clips on YouTube helping to drive the conversation!  More info here: https://engage.ecu.edu/organization/democratic-engagement-at-ecu

Or, contact Alex Dennis, Assistant Director, Center for Leadership & Civic Engagement (dennisa15@ecu.edu)

Please see announcement below for an exciting volunteer internship:

STUDENTS: Please note that if you want to sign up for a course in the 2^nd 8-Week block, you need to ask your adviser to do so for you.

This will be easier if, when you reach out, you include in your email the CRN of the course as well as your Banner ID.

Any questions, please reach out to your adviser.

As we noted in a previous tip, Degree Works is a very powerful tool that will do lots of things. However most people use it to see what classes they need to take in the coming semester (or semesters), and/or to check on their progress toward graduation.

This final tip deals with how to read – evaluate – your progress, such that you can see where you stand and what classes are still needed.

Pro Tip #4 (the Ultimate Secret Insider Tip): Look for, and only for, the red text. Red text alerts you to a class or classes that still need to be completed before you can graduate.

The illustrations below are examples of where you might see red text throughout the Worksheet view of Degree Works. Each is explained below the illustration.

Illustration #1, below, shows the student’s “Degree in Bachelor of Science” block, found near the top of the worksheet (below the personal information block). This is basically a table of contents, presenting the a summary of the sections or blocks which follow. If all of the requirements in any of these blocks are fulfilled, you will not see and red “still needed” text. Having said this, you really don’t need to pay too much attention to this block, because all of the information you need in it is repeated in more detail in subsequent blocks.

Illustration #1

Illustration #2 (below) shows the “Writing Intensive” block, which comes below the “Degree in Bachelor of Science” block. In this example, the student still needs to take ENGL 2201 and one POLS class that is writing intensive – that has the “WRIT” attribute.

Illustration #2

In Illustration #3 (below), we see the block outlining the “General Education Requirements.” Here we can see another reminder that the student needs to take ENGL 2201, a class in KINE with the “EXSS” attribute, as well 7 credits of a natural science course (example, biology).

Illustration #3

Illustration #4 deals with the major (POLS) course requirements. By this point you probably understand how this works, but we’ll go ahead and do it anyway: The student needs

• POLS 2010
• POLS 2090
• POLS 3031
• POLS 3032
• One of the following: POLS 2070, 3008 or 3050

The next line may be somewhat confusing, but it’s actually fairly simple. In the Bachelor of Science track, a student has the option of selecting a pre-law concentration. If they do not, they will stay on a generic Bachelor of Science track. This, by the way, is the default option.

This line is where that choice shows up. On the “Pre-law Concentration or Restricted Electives” line is says that “still needed” is “1 of the Following.” The 2 lines list the “Concentration (this is the pre-law) Option” and the “Restricted Electives Option.”

In this case, the student is NOT pre-law, which means that all 4 lines under the “Restricted Electives Option” have to be fulfilled, even though there is no red “still needed” there.

Illustration #4

The final illustration (#5) deals with the student’s minor, in Hispanic Studies. Here we see that they have completed none of the requirements for the minor – again, as detailed in the red “still needed” text.

Illustration #5

Degree Works – the online tool that makes it easier to chart your university career.

Today’s tip is very simple and straightforward. Underneath the personal information block (“Student View”) of near the top of the screen (where all of your information is located) there is a Progress Bar, that supposedly tracks your progress toward completion.

Many people – including many advisers – get confused by this.

So, Pro Tip #3: Completely ignore this progress bar. It is meaningless. If you want to know your progress, you can check one of two things:
• “Overall credits,” in the “Student View” block, tells you how many credits you have actually completed. This does not include the credits you are taking this current semester.
• “Credits applied” includes the classes you are currently enrolled in (and assumes you will pass all of them).

Today is the second in a short series we are presenting on how to use Degree Works – the online tool that makes pesky advisers almost unnecessary!

Pro Tip #2: Degree Works is a very powerful tool that will do lots of things, but most people, most of the time, will only use only one simple feature: The “Worksheet” function that tells you where you stand in your degree progress.

So, after logging in (remember, using Firefox), make sure you have the “Worksheet” tab at the top selected.

See the example below:

This is the first in a short series on the basics of how to use Degree Works.

The first thing to remember is that Degree Works is the Pirate Map to graduation and your future!

The second thing to know: It’s not nearly as complicated as you might believe – honest!

So, Pro Tip #1: Degree Works wants you to use Firefox browser. They don’t tell you that, but we will. If you have ever gotten frustrated because you have logged into Degree Works and nothing seems to be displaying, it almost certainly is because you are NOT using Firefox. So, if you don’t have Firefox installed on your computer, it might be time to consider doing so – if only to make use of this indispensable aid to your university career.

In 1788, British settlement begins in Australia: Captain Arthur Phillip guides a fleet of 11 British ships carrying convicts to the colony of New South Wales, effectively founding Australia. After overcoming a period of hardship, the fledgling colony began to celebrate the anniversary of this date with great fanfare and it eventually became commemorated as Australia Day.

In 1938, Tennessee passes nation’s first prohibition law: The first Prohibition law in the history of the United States is passed in Tennessee, making it a misdemeanor to sell alcoholic beverages in taverns and stores. The bill stated that all persons convicted of retailing “spirituous liquors” would be fined at the “discretion of the court” and that the fines would be used in support of public schools.

In 1950, the Republic of India is born: On this day the Indian constitution takes effect, making the Republic of India the most populous democracy in the world.

The 2022 “40 under Forty Leadership Award” winners have been announced, and we are happy to see that two of them are from our department. Townley Cheek is a graduate of the Masters of Public Administration program, and Bryce Goodwin is Political Science alumnus. Congratulations to both!