DARS FAQ

DARS is an acronym for a program called the Degree Audit Reporting System. DARS analyzes the degree requirements for your major according to the catalog year in which you entered Ohio University. DARS reports are the printed results of this analysis. The DARS report displays the courses from which you may select in order to complete degree requirements and shows how the courses you have already taken apply toward those requirements. The DARS report provides you an exact "snapshot" of where you stand relative to graduation. Knowing how your DARS report is structured will make the report easier to understand.

Your DARS Report is available online through the Faculty & Advising Center.

The username and password you use to access your DARS is the same username and password used for many other Ohio University online services. Please visit the Ohio Information Technology website to determine the best way for you to reset your Ohio ID password.

An in-progress (IP) DARS audit assumes successful completion of coursework for the current semester. This includes courses that were previously listed with a grade of RG or RGPF. The grade will be reported as IP or IPPF. In-progress courses will count toward the fulfillment of requirements, but the GPA will remain unchanged. If you are retaking a course, earned hours for the previous occurrence will be deducted, but the GPA calculation will remain unchanged. Courses for which you are registered for a future term (grades of PG or PGPF) will not be included in the in-progress computations.

In-progress grades are used to calculate progress for all degree requirements listed below the UNIVERSITY REQUIREMENTS text. The transcript totals include only graded courses and posted transfer credit.

In-progress grades are used to determine which degree requirements will be met at the end of the current semester and what will still need to be completed after the current semester.

Reported earned hours and the transcript totals do not include in-progress courses. Only those hours that have been graded are included.

On the in-progress DARS, if the previous attempt was failed, the reported earned hours will not be affected by the retake. If the previous attempt was earned with a passing grade, the reported earned hours on the IP DARS report will not include the hours from the previous attempt. The hours from the previous attempt will be reported in the in-progress hours total. After courses are graded, DARS and the official transcript totals will update hours earned and GPA according to the university retake policy.

Yes, all DARS audit request types can generate an IP DARS.

Yes. After refreshing your DARS, there will be a checkbox that you can uncheck to generate a non-IP DARS.

In-progress courses will contribute to the required hours, but they will not be included in the reported hours earned or completed. The in-progress hours will be reported on a separate line. Reported hours earned and hours completed will continue to reflect only courses that have been completed with a passing grade, excluding hours from a course that is currently being retaken.

Staff in the college student services offices have a lot of experience reading and interpreting IP DARS. You can check with staff in the college office or with staff in the Office of the University Registrar if you have any questions.

Undergraduate Students

Your DARS report begins with a section that displays personal information. This section includes information such as ACT/SAT scores, assigned advisor, and catalog year of entry. Next are the general graduation requirements, which include total hours needed to graduate and minimum GPA required. General education requirements follow (Tiers or BRICKS, depending on your university catalog of entry). General education requirements are followed by college requirements; these are different for each college within the university. The requirements for the major are listed after the college requirements. The free electives section lists any courses taken that do not meet any specific requirement. Finally, there is a complete record of all classes taken at Ohio University listed by academic year (this is much like an informal transcript).

You can check the status of your transfer credit through the MyOHIO Student Center. Contact your college student services office with specific questions about your transfer credit.

Your transfer credit has not been finalized. Contact your college student services office to check the status of your transfer credit.

There are several reasons why the hours earned and accumulative GPA calculated in the General Graduation Requirement may differ from the accumulative GPA shown in the online MyOHIO Student Center (PeopleSoft) and in the first section of the DARS report (labeled TRANSCRIPT). The earned hours and GPA listed in the General Graduation Requirement section of the DARS report are used to determine if the student meets the minimum hours and GPA required for graduation and will not include hours that are limited by policy (e.g., excess developmental coursework or course duplication). The accumulative GPA in PeopleSoft is used for calculating graduation with honor.

The student's accumulative GPA should remain the same from quarters to semesters. The accumulative hours attempted (hours completed that resulted in a letter grade) and accumulative grade points were converted using the 2/3 conversion and the resulting GPA will remain the same. A very simple example,  

4 quarter hours B grade (4 x 3 = 12 grade points) 
3 quarter hours A grade (3 x 4 = 12 grade points) 
================================================== 
7 quarter hours attempted 24 grade points GPA: 24/7 = 3.428  

7 * (2/3) = 4.6666 semester hours attempted 24 * (2/3) = 16 grade points 
GPA: 16/4.6666 = 3.428

The semester work will add to the converted accumulative hours attempted and grade points to calculate the accumulative GPA.  

The converted accumulative GPA calculated within the PeopleSoft system is based on the conversion of the accumulative GPA values from the last quarter term. The accumulative GPA in the General Graduation Requirement section of the DARS report is based on the conversion of individual courses. The two methods can occasionally result in a difference of one thousandth in the GPA calculation.

The last section on your DARS report is the legend. It contains important symbols needed to understand your DARS report. Following is a list of the most common symbols that appear on a DARS report.

YES! While your DARS report tells you which requirements to complete, your advisor can give you academic counseling to help you make informed choices as well as offer you career advice that will help you after graduation.

You may request a "What if" DARS report through the Faculty & Advising Center. This report will help you determine how courses already completed will apply to the new major as well as what additional courses are needed to complete that program.

If you feel that DARS is not correctly analyzing certain requirements, you should consult an advisor from the student services office of your college or regional campus student services office.

The following is a sample of a requirement section of a DARS report:

If multiple quarter courses with different grades combined to form one or more semester courses, the grade will report as an average of the quarter grades. These composite grades will be listed with a “V” or “VT” (if transfer credit contributed to the composite course). The original grades earned will continue to be calculated in your accumulative grade point average and used for meeting requisites. The combined (average) grade does not alter your accumulative GPA and will not appear on your official transcript.  

Example: 
In the example below, three quarter courses with different grades have combined to form the semester equivalents of SPAN 2110 and 2120. The reported term (Sp11) is the term in which the last course in the sequence was completed. The reported grade is based on the average (denoted with V) of the three quarter courses. The reported title is the quarter title of the first course in the sequence. The "++" reported after the course title indicates that there are additional course titles not reported.  

Sp11 SPAN2110 4.0 B V INTERMEDIATE SPAN ++ 
                         QTR : SPAN211,212,213  

Sp11 SPAN2120 4.0 B V INTERMEDIATE SPAN ++   
                         QTR : SPAN211,212,213  

The average grade is calculated by taking the numerical equivalent to the final letter grade (e.g. A = 4.00, A- = 3.67, B+ = 3.33, B = 3.00, etc.) and computing the average. The numerical value is used in accumulative GPA calculations. The reported grade is assigned based on the numeric value.  

In the example above, the grades were as follows:  

SPAN 211 4 hours A (4.00)  
SPAN 212 4 hours C (2.00) 
SPAN 213 4 hours B+ (3.33) 

Calculation: (4*4 + 4*2 + 4*3.33)/12 = B

The semester DARS requirements might not be the same as the quarter requirements. You should contact your academic advisor, using your TDCP as a guide, to determine the courses you should take to complete your degree. If you previously received a course waiver or substitution that is not reflected on your DARS report, please contact your college student services office and ask for a review of your record.

No, your quarter courses will not be converted to their semester equivalents on your transcript. The transcript will show coursework and grades as originally completed. For example, if you took PSY 101, it will appear on your transcript as PSY 101 and not PSY 1010.

Work with your academic advisor using your TDCP to determine what courses you still need to graduate. The department that offers the semester course should be able to tell you if credit will be deducted.