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 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 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 catalo years in DARS.
- General Catalog Year Information
- College of Agriculture 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], users can run “What-If” degree audits with different catalog years than those automatically assigned to a student.
Advisors may choose to run an “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.
When running a What-If degree audit for a plan in different school/college, the catalog year fields that are being entered/changed should align with the catalog year rules for the school/college of that plan.
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
Catalog Year
Purpose: Determines the primary school/college-specific catalog year requirements
DARS Audit: Catalog Year
What-If Field: Catalog Year and Term
Alternate Catalog Year 1
Purpose: Determines additional school/college-specific catalog year requirements, if applicable
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 Agriculture and Life Sciences
In CALS:
- University requirements and Core General Education requirements are governed by the Core General Education Catalog Year
- School/College requirements are governed by Catalog Year 0
- Major requirements are governed by Alt Catalog Year 1
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:
- 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 a Business plan, Catalog Year should be an earlier term than Alt Catalog Year 1.
When running a What-If DARS in Business, Catalog Year will auto-populate with the current term. If a student is admitted to the School of Business, Alt Catalog Year 1 should be the first term of Admittance to School. If a student is not admitted to the School of Business, Alt Catalog Year 1 is the current term.
The Core GenEd Catalog Year should be the same term and Catalog Year.
School of Education
In Education:
- 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 and Catalog Year.
College of Engineering
- 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 Engineering plan, Catalog Year should be a later term than Alt Catalog Year 1, or both fields should have the same term.
The Core GenEd Catalog Year should align with the rules stated in Regent Policy “Core General Education Requirements”.
School of Human Ecology
In SoHE:
- 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 a SoHE plan, Catalog Year and Alt Catalog Year 1 should always be the same value.
College of Letters & Sciences
In L&S:
- 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 and Catalog Year.
School of Nursing
In Nursing:
- 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 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:
- 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 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/