Graduate Program

DARS

Graduate students now have access to the Degree Audit and Reporting System (DARS). If you used DARS as an undergraduate, it works much the same, but it is not identical.

Obtaining and Using the DARS Report

Log in to your MyISU portal and follow the links to access and print your DARS report.
During the First Semester

Print your DARS Report.

Make certain that it shows the correct degree program (MS or MA) that you wish to pursue. If not, go to the SOGS website and download an Application for Change in Program/Specialization and/or Advisor form. Complete this form and submit it to your advisor.

Your DARS report also shows your advisor’s name.

Item 6 of your DARS report (on page 2) begins the Plan of Study. Read it.

In Item 7, check your selected Program Concentration. If you don’t know which area you’d like to pursue, contact your advisor.

Item 8 allows you to enter by hand any courses that you would like to transfer to ISU from another graduate program. It also has space to enter any course substitutions made or to be made. During your first semester, you only need to pay attention to the following information if you wish to transfer courses to ISU.

• Contact your advisor if you wish to transfer courses and he/she will let you know whether the specific courses can be transferred. If so, you will need to complete an Application for the Transfer of Graduate Credit from Other Institutions and submit it to your advisor for processing. If the course(s) that you wish to transfer were not taken as part of a degree program, then you must complete an Application for the Transfer of Graduate Credit from Non-Degree Status toward a Graduate Degree instead. These forms are available on the SOGS website.
• Any courses that you transfer will either substitute for a specific course in the graduate program or will count as an elective. To substitute for a required core course or course in your Concentration, you need to complete a Request for Substitution of a Course (available from the SOGS website) and submit it to your advisor for processing. The form is not necessary if you are transferring a course to count as an elective.
• You may need to take other courses that can substitute for some required courses, but this probably will not occur until after your first semester, if at all. If you do need to substitute a course, your advisor must approve the substitution before you register for the course. If you register for a course without clearance from your advisor, it may not count toward your degree.

Item 9 is for signatures of those listed. Sign it, make a copy, and submit it to your advisor for processing. He/she will forward it to the School of Graduate Studies. If you are a distance education student, you may authorize your advisor verbally or in an email to sign the DARS/POS.

You have completed your initial Plan of Study.

At this time, the DARS Report does not “automatically” show the Concentration that you indicate, specific courses that were transferred, or how courses were substituted.

When you register for the first course in your Concentration, though, the section showing any other concentration will disappear from the report. We hope to be able to enter the other information in the future so that it shows on your DARS Report after you complete your initial POS in your first semester.

While Taking Courses
 
You may print a copy of your DARS Report any time you wish, to help you keep track of your progress. Just keep in mind that the individual items you entered by hand are not entered into the system, and, therefore, will not appear “automatically” on the report. If you transfer courses, however, the number of hours transferred will appear at the beginning of the report (in the area labeled “TRF E-HRS”), but the individual courses will not appear later in the report. You should check your DARS Report about 3 weeks after submitting the POS to verify that your transfer credits have been entered. If they do not appear, contact SOGS.
 

Upon Applying for Graduation

·        During the semester in which you plan to graduate, print another copy of your DARS report and fill in any substitutions or transfers that were made.

·        Submit the Application for Graduation.

·        You are responsible for completing the final POS and Application for Graduation, and submitting both items to your advisor at least 2 weeks before the deadline posted on the SOGS website for the semester in which you wish to graduate. (This allows time for processing within the department.)

·        Check the culminating experience you have selected. For the MS, it will be either the Research Project or Comprehensive Exam. For the MA, no selection is offered, because the culminating experience is the Thesis.

·        Sign it and submit it to your advisor along with your Application for Graduation. Your advisor will process the Application for Graduation and submit it to SOGS.

·        Once the culminating experience has been completed, your advisor will enter the completion date on the DARS Report/POS and submit it to SOGS to verify completion of all degree requirements.