About Atlas

Recent work by various higher ed and community college groups, as well as board initiatives focused on enabling student success, have focused on improving processes to make it easier for students to navigate the system of higher education. During their analysis, one working group learned of software used at Portland State University that can be used by both students and their advisors to help plan and map a successful path toward degree. The software, dubbed “ATLAS,” allows its users to know which courses at one institution are equivalent to courses at other institutions, even though course numbers
and titles differ.

The system’s ease of use and capacity to give students full access to Oregon’s rich curricula intrigued both the members of the Working Group and representatives of the OUS campuses. PSU and UO suggested that all seven OUS campuses develop and install the system so that all OUS students (and those community college students thinking of enrolling in OUS institutions) could benefit from it. The Provosts’ Council, after careful consideration, has endorsed ATLAS as a powerful tool that will help
advisors guide students through to degrees. The system has also been demonstrated for interested Board members and members of the legislature and both groups have noted its flexibility and ease of use.

How ATLAS Works

At the root of the system is the course-by-course equivalency analysis that is currently used to determine the transferability of courses that students have taken at diverse institutions. Although this equivalency information exists, it is not readily accessible to students and advisors and even if it were, few individuals have the patience to read enough of the tables to determine exactly how a partially completed undergraduate program would transfer. The key contribution of the new software is to link the equivalency information of individual institutions and to make it both easy to find and convenient to use. Instead of the cumbersome manual system that is now in use, a computer will read the tables and determine matches among as many courses and programs as a student and advisor wish to consider.

All OUS campuses utilize the BANNER software for their Student Information Systems (SIS), and several have implemented either DARS (Degree Audit Reporting System) or CAPP (Curriculum Advising Program Planning) to interface with SIS and track students’ progress toward baccalaureate degrees. ATLAS software acts at an even higher organizational level, drawing information from DARS or CAPP and making comparisons between a student’s completed or planned coursework and any degree program offered by a linked school. When all OUS institutions and community colleges are connected,
ATLAS will allow students and their advisors to use coursework at any of the 24 public postsecondary institutions in Oregon to plan efficient paths to bachelor’s degrees.