Public relations sophomore Larissa Boring first entered the Moody College of Communication as undeclared, looking for an area of study that clicked with her. During orientation, she found an interest in public relations and later claimed it as her major, but felt lost trying to find classes she needed for it.
“I didn’t know what communication classes I could take that would still relate to my major and not waste my time,” Boring said. “It was really hard to filter through classes that would be beneficial versus a waste of time.”
Economics junior Shalev Widen‘s website, called DegreeView, could help students like Boring. The site, published on July 24, showcases the required classes and hours for every undergraduate degree in a flowchart format, breaking down an example of a student’s schedule by semester.
“I thought this website could be good because it appeals to basically the entire undergrad UT population,” Widen said. “Since it’s all 141 degree programs, I figured you might as well just go look at your degree plan, if you’re a student at UT (and) see it in a different way.”
Widen said he made the website user-friendly for groups of incoming students who wish to see what their intended degree program entails and requires. However, he said he also wanted to make a website with useful information for current students.
Boring said a website like DegreeView would have helped her when picking out her classes and planning for her major, as she felt confused about her direction after coming in as undeclared.
“A flow chart that gives you a full, clear roadmap that you can look at from start to finish would be beneficial,” Boring said. “Entering your first couple semesters, it’s super overwhelming to hear all of these classes you have to take, and you don’t know when you have to take them, and you don’t know what courses you have to take before it.”
In addition to user-friendly information about degree plans and requirements, DegreeView also publishes visual data about the University, such as bar charts of required hours for degrees and pie charts showing the number of degree programs each individual college offers.
Widen said he hopes to grow the impact of his website to benefit more students.
“I want to expand this to as many schools as I’m thinking, which is four or five total,” Widen said. “I would be happy to give the files to UT to host on their own website.”
