Natalie Leon had never heard of COMPASS until she opened her UF email Wednesday night. Although it caught her eye for a second, the 22-year-old scrolled passed it.
Leon, a UF English senior, said she didn’t know the Campus-wide Modernization Program to Advance Student Services, or COMPASS, manages the academic data of every UF student.
The program is a series of projects over three years to modernize UF’s information processes and portals, said Associate Vice President Tammy Aagard.
UF initiated the program in 2015 to make student and faculty portals user-friendly and integrate data systems throughout the university’s offices and colleges, said Debra Amirin, a program management leader.
“Adjustments will be made. It’s like when you get a new phone,” she said. “It takes a little while to figure out the new phone from the old phone.”
Here are five things to know about COMPASS before the final updates are rolled out in August:
1. COMPASS has updated the One.UF and my.ufl.edu portals to allow students to check their degree audit, view their unofficial transcript and register for classes online without visiting an academic office, Amirin said.
2. COMPASS created Gator360, UF’s data management system that connects different offices. The program makes student interactions with university offices readily available to advisers to efficiently address student issues, Amirin said.
3. COMPASS is a factor in UF’s goal to become a top-five public university, said Aagard. She said timely graduation plays a role in university ranking, and the program allows students to focus on their education rather than worry about how to track course requirements.
4. UF computer engineering students offered feedback as students who use the services. They also collaborated with COMPASS to design portal updates, Aargard said.
5. The program plans to reach out to UF alumni and implement a One.UF feature for students who consider changing majors. Amirin said in May, the Degree What-if feature will be added, which will allow students to view which course requirements are needed to switch majors.
Leon said the What-if feature would have come in handy when she changed her major three times before deciding on English. Although she won’t get to use all of COMPASS’ features, Leon said she is happy for incoming freshmen who won’t have to go through what she did.
“I think it’ll make their lives a lot easier,” she said. “You wouldn’t have to jump through as many hoops as I did.”
Contact Amanda Rosa at arosa@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter at @AmandaNicRosa.
