DARS/Advisors - Changing Catalog Years in the DARS Request App
Overview
Catalog year rules govern which curriculum applies to each student. Each school/college has their own catalog year rules. When a "What-If" degree audit is run, catalog year and term fields should be adjusted to reflect the rules of the selected school or college. This ensures the audit displays an accurate combination of requirements and avoids showing requirement combinations that would never occur under that school's or college's catalog year rules.
Table of Contents
Use the links below to view the catalog year rules for the school or college associated with the What-If degree audit you are running. Before selecting a school or college, review the General Catalog Year Information section for important guidance and tips on working with catalog years in DARS.
- General Catalog Year Information
- College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
- School of Business
- School of Education
- College of Engineering
- School of Human Ecology
- College of Letters & Sciences
- School of Nursing
- School of Pharmacy
- Contact your DARS Liaison
General Catalog Year Information
Catalog year rules govern which curriculum applies to each student. Each school/college has their own catalog year rules.
An individual student’s catalog year values appear in the header of their degree audit.
In the DARS Request App (dars.wisc.edu), advisors can run “What-If” degree audits with different catalog years than those automatically assigned to a student.
Advisors may choose to run a “What-If” degree audit to see how the courses taken by a student may satisfy different curriculum requirements. Catalog year and terms fields should be adjusted to reflect the rules of the selected school or college. This ensures the audit displays an accurate combination of requirements.
The Core GenEd Catalog Year should align with the rules stated in Regent Policy "Core General Education Requirements". If the Core GenEd term is Summer 2026 (20263) or later, the student will have Core General Education requirements on their DARS report.
Catalog Year Names
The screenshot below shows the DARS report header on top and the DARS Request App What-If catalog year fields on the bottom:
- "Catalog Year" on the DARS header correlates to the "Catalog Year and Term" field on the DARS Request App What-If section
- "AltCatYr 1” on the DARS header correlates to the “Alternate Catalog Year and Term” field on the DARS Request App What-If section
- “AltCatYr 9” on the DARS header correlates to the “Core GenEd Term” field on the DARS Request App What-If section
Determining Year and Term Values
The term code is a 5-digit code (YYYYT) where:
YYYY = Academic year
T = Term within that academic year
1 = Fall
2 = Spring
3 = Summer
The four-digit YYYY represents the academic year ending year.
For example:
Academic Year 2026 begins with Fall 2025:
Fall 2025 = 20261
Spring 2026 = 20262
Summer 2026 = 20263
Catalog Year
DARS Audit: Catalog Year
What-If Field: Catalog Year and Term
Alternate Catalog Year 1
DARS Audit: AltCatYr 1
What-If Field: Alternate Catalog Year and Term
Core General Education Catalog Year
Purpose: Determines whether a student follows the previous UW-Madison General Education requirements or the Core General Education requirements
DARS Audit: AltCatYr 9
What-If Field: Core GenEd Term
College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
In CALS:
Catalog Year is initially determined by the term of the student's plan declare date
- University requirements and Core General Education requirements are governed by the Core General Education Catalog Year (Alt Catalog Year 9)
- School/College requirements are governed by Catalog Year
- Major requirements are governed by Catalog Year
When you adjust a What-If degree audit for a student in a CALS plan, Catalog Year 0 and Alt Catalog Year 1 should always be the same value.
School of Business
In Business:
Alt Catalog Year is initially determined by the student's first term of admittance to the School of Business
- University requirements and Core General Education requirements are governed by the Core General Education Catalog Year (Alt Catalog Year 9)
- School/College requirements are governed by Alt Catalog Year 1
- Major requirements are governed by Alt Catalog Year 1
When you adjust a What-If degree audit for a student in a Business plan, Catalog Year should be an earlier term than Alt Catalog Year 1, or both fields should have the same term.
When running a What-If DARS in Business, Catalog Year will auto-populate. If a student is already admitted to the School of Business, Alt Catalog Year 1 will auto-populate with the first term of Admittance to School. If a student is not yet admitted to the School of Business, Alt Catalog Year 1 will display the current term.
The Core GenEd Catalog Year should be the same term as Catalog Year.
School of Education
In Education:
Catalog Year is initially determined by the earliest value of the term of today's date, the first term the student matriculated to UW-Madison, or the earliest post-high school attendance anywhere (for transfer students)
Alt Catalog Year is initially determined by the student's admit term of the academic program
- University requirements and Core General Education requirements are governed by the Core General Education Catalog Year (Alt Catalog Year 9)
- School/College requirements are governed by Catalog Year
- Major requirements are governed by Alt Catalog Year 1
When you adjust a What-If degree audit for a student in an Education plan, Catalog Year should be an earlier term than Alt Catalog Year 1, or both fields should have the same term.
Core GenEd Catalog Year should be the same term as Catalog Year.
College of Engineering
In Engineering:
Catalog Year is initially determined by the student's admit term of the academic program
- University requirements and Core General Education requirements are governed by the Core General Education Catalog Year (Alt Catalog Year 9)
- School/College requirements are governed by Catalog Year
- Major requirements are governed by Catalog Year
When you adjust a What-If degree audit for a student in an Engineering plan, Catalog Year should be a later term than Alt Catalog Year 1, or both fields should have the same term.
School of Human Ecology
In SoHE:
Catalog Year is initially determined by the student's first term of admittance to the School of Human Ecology
- University requirements and Core General Education requirements are governed by the Core General Education Catalog Year (Alt Catalog Year 9)
- School/College requirements are governed by Catalog Year
- Major requirements are governed by Catalog Year
When you adjust a What-If degree audit for a student in a SoHE plan, Catalog Year and Alt Catalog Year 1 should always be the same value.
College of Letters & Sciences
In L&S:
Catalog Year is initially determined by the earliest value of the term of today's date, the first term the student matriculated to UW-Madison, or the earliest post-high school attendance anywhere (for transfer students)
Alt Catalog Year is initially determined by the term of the student's plan declare date
- University requirements and Core General Education requirements are governed by the Core General Education Catalog Year (Alt Catalog Year 9)
- School/College requirements are governed by Catalog Year
- Major requirements are governed by Alt Catalog Year 1
When you adjust a What-If degree audit for a student in an L&S plan, Catalog Year should be an earlier term than Alt Catalog Year 1, or both fields should have the same term.
Core GenEd Catalog Year should be the same term as Catalog Year.
School of Nursing
In Nursing:
Catalog Year is initially determined by the student's admit term of the academic program
Alt Catalog Year is initially determined by the first term the student matriculated at UW-Madison
- University requirements and Core General Education requirements are governed by the Core General Education Catalog Year (Alt Catalog Year 9)
- School/College requirements are governed by Alt Catalog Year 1
- Major requirements are governed by Catalog Year
When you adjust a What-If degree audit for a student in a Nursing plan, Catalog Year should be a later term than Alt Catalog Year 1, or both fields should have the same term.
School of Pharmacy
In Pharmacy:
Catalog Year is initially determined by the student's admit term of the academic program
- University requirements and Core General Education requirements are governed by the Core General Education Catalog Year (Alt Catalog Year 9)
- School/College requirements are governed by Alt Catalog Year 9
- Major requirements are governed by Catalog Year
When you adjust a What-If degree audit for a student in a Pharmacy plan, Catalog Year should be a later term than Alt Catalog Year 1, or both fields should have the same term.
DARS Liaisons
If you have questions regarding what you see on a degree audit, please reach out to the DARS Liaison in your School/College. A list of DARS Liaisons can be found here: https://registrar.wisc.edu/dars/.