Generating What-If Advisement Reports (Administrators)

Generating What-If Advisement Reports (Administrators)

If one of your students is thinking of changing their school or college, catalog terms, or possibly adding an additional plan, you can use the What-If Report in the Student Administration System to explore these scenarios and determine the student’s progress towards those simulated degree requirements.

If you need to update catalog terms (i.e., requirement terms) as part of the What-If Scenario, you can use the following Requirement Term Overview for guidance on requirement terms and valid values for each.

Catalog/Requirement Term

Description

Valid Values

Catalog/Requirement Term

Description

Valid Values

Career Requirement Term

The career requirement term determines the student’s career-level degree requirements, for instance the General Education/Common Curriculum requirements for Undergraduate students.

The career requirement term should typically be greater than or equal to term the student was initially admitted to the career.

Exceptions may apply for students who deferred admission, have been readmitted to the career, or transferred to UConn as an Undergraduate student in Fall 2025.

Program (School/College) Requirement Term

The program requirement term determines the student’s program-level or school/college-level degree requirements.

The program requirement term should typically be greater than or equal to the term that the student was admitted to the school/college.

Exceptions may apply for students who have returned from a leave of absence.

Plan Requirement Term

The plan requirement term determines the student’s plan-level degree requirements, namely the major, minor, or field of study requirements.

Major/Field of Study requirement terms should be greater than or equal to the term the student was admitted to the school/college.

Exceptions may apply for students who have returned from a leave of absence.

Minor requirement terms should typically be greater than or equal to the career requirement term.

Sub-Plan Requirement Term

The subplan requirement term determines the student’s subplan-level or concentration requirements.

The subplan requirement term should always match the associated major/field of study requirement term.

 

  1. Log in to the Student Administration System. 

  2. Select the NavBar icon.

    The NavBar icon is shown.
  3. Select the Menu icon. 

    The Menu option in the NavBar is highlighted.

     

  4. Select Academic Advisement

    The Academic Advisement option is selected from the NavBar Menu.

     

  5. Select Student Advisement.

    The Student Advisement option is selected from the Academic Advisement menu.

     

  6. Select Request Advisement Report

    The Request Advisement Report option is selected from the Student Advisement menu.

If you access What-If Advisement Reports often, you might consider adding this page to your Homepage, NavBar, or Favorites for easy access.

Select the Actions menu and choose your desired option.

The Actions menu from the Header bar is shown.

  1. Select the Add a New Value button on the Request Advisement Report page.

    The Add a New Value button is highlighted on the Request Advisement Report page.

     

  2. Complete the three required fields.

    1. In the ID field, enter the student’s ID.

    2. The Academic Institution field should populate with UCONN.

    3. In the Report Type field, enter ADWIF (Advisement What-If).

  3. Select the Add button. The Report Request page will display.

    The Add a New Value page shows the ID, Academic Institution, and Report Type fields completed and the Add button highlighted.

     

  4. In the What-If Information section, select Use Career Simulation.

    The Use Career Simulation option is shown as selected on the Request Advisement report page.

     

  5. Select the View/Change the Career Simulation link that displays once the Use Career Simulation option is selected. The What-If Scenario page will display.

    The View-Change the Career Simulation link is highlighted.

  6. To automatically populate the What-If Data with the student’s current academic information, select the Copy Current Program button (recommended). This option can be helpful if the change that is being explored is a small change to the student’s current record or if it’s helpful to reference the student’s existing information when specifying the details of the What-If Scenario.

    Alternatively, you can manually complete all the fields.

    The Copy Current Program button is highlighted on the Request Advisement Report page.

  7. If you selected Copy Current Program, use the Show next row arrows in the Program What-If Data section to scroll to the relevant Academic Career.

    The Show next row arrows are highlighted in the Program What-If Data section.

    Alternatively, select the '-' icon in the Program What-If Data section to delete any unwanted rows (e.g., Non Degree Programs). In the following example, the student has two rows for Academic Career = Non Degree Programs. Since Non Degree Programs do not have advisement reports, these could be removed from the What-If Scenario.

    The minus icon is highlighted in the Program What-If Data section.

     

  8. If necessary, modify the Career Requirement Term, which determines career-level University requirements (e.g., Common Curriculum requirements).

The Common Curriculum was implemented in Summer 2025 in the Undergraduate career. A Career Requirement Term of Summer 2025 and later would apply the Common Curriculum requirements. For Career Requirement Terms prior to Summer 2025, the General Education requirements would apply.

The Career Requirement Term field is highlighted and shown as updated to 1258.
  1. If necessary, modify the Requirement Term value in the Program What-If Data section, which determines school/college-level requirements (e.g., CLAS or Business school requirements).

Due to school/college-related policies, for undergraduate students in CLAS or Business, the Program (School/College) Requirement Term value should match the Career Requirement Term.

The Requirement Term field in the Program What-If Data section is highlighted and shown as updated to 1258.
  1. For undergraduate students, if the student is considering a different school or college, you can change the student's Academic Program (School/College). Select the magnifying glass icon to the right of the field to select a different Academic Program (School/College).

    In this example, the student is remaining in CLAS.

    The Academic Program field is highlighted in the Program What-If Data section.

  2. If the student is considering a different Academic Plan, you can change the student's Academic Plan. Select the magnifying glass icon next to the Academic Plan field to select a different Plan. The Requirement Term in the Plan What-If Data section should typically be greater than or equal to the term the student was admitted to the school/college.

    In this example, the Academic Plan has been modified from the student’s current major in Psychological Sciences (PSYCH_BA) to their potential new major in English (ENGLISH1_BA).

    The Requirement Term and Academic Plan fields are highlighted in the Plan What-If Data section.

    Use the Show next row arrows in the Plan What-If Data section to make changes to additional plans. You can see that this student is a double major in Human Development and Family Sciences (2HDFS). You would want to update the Requirement Term for the secondary major to match the primary major in this case.

    The Show next row arrows are highlighted in the Plan What-If Data section and the second major is shown with the updated requirement term.

  3. To add Academic Plans (second major or minor) within the same school/college, use the '+' icon in the Plan What-If Data section to add What-If Data for the additional plan(s).

    The plus icon is highlighted in the Plan What-If Data section.

Enter the Requirement Term and Academic Plan for the new major or minor. Select the magnifying glass icon next to the Academic Plan field to search for a particular major or minor. If you are adding a minor (plan with a 3 preceding the plan code, e.g., 3BIOLOGY), the Requirement Term should typically be greater than or equal to the career requirement term.

In this example, a Communication Minor has been added to the student’s degree requirements as part of this What-If scenario.

image-20250602-142044.png

You do not need to modify the Plan Sequence. It will automatically populate with an increment of 10.

Academic Plan Codes

Each Program (School/College) row can have only one Primary Plan code (codes beginning with neither 2 or 3), e.g., ALDHLTH_BS.

Secondary majors have a 2 preceding the subject code, e.g., 2ANTHRO.

Minors have a 3 preceding the subject code, e.g., 3BIOLOGY.

  1. If including a concentration for one of the student's Plans, enter Academic Sub-Plan What-If Data for the plan. Select the magnifying glass icon next to the Academic Sub-Plan field to select a Sub-Plan. Be sure the Requirement Term for the Sub-Plan matches the associated major/field of study requirement term.

    In this example, we’ve returned to the English major plan row and added a concentration in Creative Writing.

    The Sub-Plan fields are highlighted in the Sub-plan What-If Data section.

  2. If adding an additional degree (e.g., dual degree), select the '+' icon in the Program What-If Data section to add a new Program What-If Data row. Complete the necessary fields on the added program row.

If the scenario involves additional degrees (i.e., multiple Program What-If Data rows for a single career), the Career Requirement Term should be the same on all rows.

For example, if the scenario includes two Undergraduate degrees, one in CLAS and one in ENGR, the Career Requirement Term in the Program What-If Data row for CLAS should equal the Career Requirement Term in the Program What-If Data row for the ENGR degree.

While the What-If Report allows you to set a different Career Requirement Term per degree, in reality, the student's record only allows one Career Requirement Term per career.

The plus icon in the Program What-If Data section is highlighted.
  1. Once you have specified the details of your desired What-If Scenario, select the OK button. The Report Request page will reappear.

    The OK button is highlighted.

  2. OPTIONAL: You can add What-If Courses by selecting the Add a What-If Course link. A What-If Course is a course that a student may consider taking. By adding a What-If Course, you can see what requirements this course may fulfill if taken by the student.

     

    The Add a What-If Course link is highlighted on the Advisement Report Request tab.

     

    1. After selecting the Add a What-If Course link, follow the instructions on the Course Search page and select a course.

      The Course Search page is shown with the fields completed and search results displayed.

    2. On the Request Advisement Report page, enter a Grade for the course, if desired. Only adjust the Units if the course is a variable credit course. Enter a Topic ID for Special Topics courses.

      The Request Advisement Report page is shown with a What-If Course added in the What-If Information section.

  3. Select the Process Request button. After a few moments, the What-If Advisement Report will display.

    The Process Request button is highlighted on the Advisement Report Request page.

  4. Select the View Report as PDF button to view and print the advisement report.
     Note: If the PDF document does not appear, disable pop-up blockers on your browser and try again.

    The View Report as PDF button on the View Advising Report page is highlighted.

     

  5. At the top of the PDF, you can review all the information that was entered into the What-If Scenario including all Careers, Schools/Colleges, Plans, Sub-Plans, and the associated Requirement Terms for each that determine the requirements included on the report.

    The PDF is shown with the Academic Info and Requirement Terms highlighted.

  6. At the bottom of the page, select the Return to Report Request link to return to the Report Request page where you can modify the What-If Scenario or create a new scenario.

    The Return to Report Request link is highlighted at the end of the View Advising Report page.

     

If you have questions, contact Degree Audit in the Storrs Registrar's Office at (860) 486-6214.

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