The 4-Year Plan and Degree Navigator

pdf4-Year Plan for KNES
pdf4-Year Plan for PE

What is 4-Year Plan?

The College of Health and Human Performance has the expectation that students will complete their degree in the college in a timely manner. For most full-time students this will be four years. To aid students in the timely movement through their degree program, each major has a 4-year Template which students should use in planning their four-year program. Each major also has benchmarks designed to help students and advisors plan course selection that will insure that students are able to successfully complete their degree in a reasonable amount of time. Benchmarks are specific courses that must be successfully completed by a set number of credits in the major. At no time will benchmarks be used to keep students from entering a major. Rather, they will be used to plan an approach that will help the student most effectively move to completion of degree requirements.

It is the responsibility of all students matriculating as freshmen beginning Fall 2005 to complete an acceptable plan for degree completion, to have the plan reviewed by an academic advisor, and to present an updated plan to their academic advisor for review as circumstances change. The four-year template for each major is available below and at each department's website. In addition, copies of the template are available to pick up in the Student Service Center (room 1304 HLHP). Students who do not follow established plans for meeting benchmarks or are not making satisfactory progress in the meeting of benchmarks, will be referred by the Academic Advisor to the Assistant Dean of Student Services. Students who are unable to make satisfactory progress in their degree program will not be eligible to continue in that degree program.

Directions for Completing the 4-Year Plan

  1. You should complete the plan in pencil. That way if you have to make changes, you can easily erase.
  2. Start by printing a copy of the 4-year template for your major. KNES | PHED
  3. You should also have a copy of your student audit from Degree Navigator which you can print from Testudo.
  4. Using the audit from Degree Navigator, start by putting all of your AP or transfer credits on the template where they met a requirement. Remember, they either fulfill a CORE requirement, a major requirement, or an elective. An important thing to note is that AP credit is college credit so you do not need to make up for these credits. If you fulfilled a requirement because of AP credit, you do not need to complete that course here at UMD. However, SAT scores are different. If you earned an SAT score of 600 in math or 670 in Engl, you will waive the Fundamental Math (FM) or Fundamental English (FE) requirement. When you waive a requirement, you do not earn credit. When you do this, put a -3 in the margin, to show that you have three more credits of elective. When you do your planning, you will need to be sure that you have three more credits of electives or your total credits will not add up to the required 120.
  5. If you use a class that is less credits than the number on the template, you would do the same thing. For example, if you use a 1 credit elective for the first elective your freshman year on the template you would cross of the 3 on the sheet and put a -2 in the margin. That is, you have meet one credit of this elective and still need two more. The opposite would be true if your use a course with more credits than those on the template. Say that you use a 4 credit laboratory course to meet the PS/MS requirement. Cross off the 3 on the sheet and put a 4, then put a +1 in the margin. This tells you that you have earned one more credit of elective.
  6. After you have put all your earned credits on the template, you start with your current enrollment. Put an "X" on the template at every requirement that you will be meeting by the courses you are in this semester. Some of you will meet requirements from the sophomore and junior year, but this is alright.
  7. Next, print a copy of the 4-year planning sheet. You want to complete the second page titled "Co-Curricular Activities" first. By deciding what types of other activities you want to pursue during your college experience, you will be able to develop a better plan for yourself. For example, if you know you want to study abroad for one semester, you will want to plan to use elective credits and your advanced study credits in that semester. If you have questions as to how you use your credits to fulfill your co-curricular or curricular activities, your advisor can help you.
  8. On the four year planning sheet, write all of your courses which you have been in during your semesters here at UMD and the number of credits each is worth. Add in any transfer/AP credits at the bottom of your first year here so your total number of credits for your first year will include both transfer and UMD credits.
  9. Now continue with year 2, 3 and 4. Use the template as a guide. You should take the requirements on the template which you haven't taken that are identified for freshman first, then complete the sophomore classes, then junior, and finally senior. There is a reason why the template lists certain course for freshman and certain ones for seniors. Mostly it has to do with pre-requisites and sometimes class standing. Here are some things to keep in mind. If you didn't SAT out of them, you need to attempt FM and FE by 30 credits. You also need to complete your CORE Distributive Studies by the time you are a junior. Use your CORE booklet or the CORE website if you are unsure of these requirements.
  10. Pay particular attention to prerequsites. For example, BSCI 201 is only offered fall semester and BSCI 202 is only offered spring. You must pass BSCI 105 before you can take BSCI 201. You also must pass BSCI 201 before you can take BSCI 202.
  11. Finally, do not identify specific classes for CORE (use the abbreviations just like on the template), for options or major electives use option 1, 2, 3, and 4 or "FMST elective" or "HLTH elective") for activities (use "activity" and identify the number of credits), or for electives (use "elective"). This will keep your plan as flexible as possible. You never know exactly what classes will be offered, or of those offered, which will meet your schedule needs.
  12. Once you have completed these steps, you are ready to see an advisor who can approve your plan.

***Remember if you are changing your major, your major will not be changed unless you have a four-year plan approved by Erin Thiel in the Student Services Center.