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DEGREE PURSUAL Table/View

(dwadmin.degree_pursual_all_v)

Explanation

A "degree pursual" pertains to any program in which students can be matriculated in the Student Records System, whether or not the pursual results in the awarding of a degree, a certificate, or simply the completion of the program. A program is defined in this table as the combination of the division code and degree code. For example, the matriculation of a student in the division "WH" and the degree "BS" is a degree pursual in a program. The matriculation of a student in the division "CGS" and the degree "NON" is also a degree pursual in a program; the program does not have to be one that ultimately results in the awarding of a degree to be considered a degree pursual. This table also contains information about the specific degree pursual, such as when it started and ended, when the student expects to graduate, whether the student is currently on leave, how many credits they have completed to-date, the last term they were enrolled in the program.and which degree was awarded, if any. For many uses current students are those with an Exit_Action of null (but see Cautions). Exit_Term will also be null when the Degree Pursual is still "active" or "open" or when the student is on leave of absence from the University. When a student receives a degree (Degree_Awarded) it may be different from the degree the student pursued (Degree_Pursued).

Note that students can pursue multiple degrees. Sometimes the degree pursuals are concurrent, such as dual degrees (see also the Degree_Term table). Student can also return, after receiving a degree, to pursue another degree or program. In some cases, students pursue multiple degrees of the same type from the same division. For example, a student can pursue and complete a Certificate program in the Nursing School, then later matriculate into another Certificate program in the Nursing School. The division code and degree code will be the same for both of the student's rows in the Degree Pursual table. For this reason, ssn/division/degree do not uniquely define a row in this table. The index column, DP_LINK_ID, is a system-generated number that is the unique record key to a row in this table. (but see the Cautions, below, about DP_LINK_ID!)

Common Uses

• Narrowing a search to students who have not yet finished work on a degree.
• Narrowing a search to students in a particular type of degree pursual. (see cautions below; when searching for graduates, use the DEGREE_RECEIVED table).
• Analyzing the amount of time a student takes to complete a degree.
• Dividing a group of students into those who are on leave and those who are not.

Cautions

• This table is NOT equivalent to the SRS Academic Program Segment (APS) even though it looks similar. Several APS's in SRS may have been combined into one DEGREE_PURSUAL if the division and degree of all are the same -- for example, if a student has been on leave and then returned to the same degree program.
• Students on leave of absence (exit actions in SRS of AL, FL, LV) have an Exit_Action and Exit_Term of null in DEGREE_PURSUAL_ALL_V, so determine whether students on leave should be included in your query or not. Check if Leave_Flag is 'Y' to find records for students on leave. Students not on leave will have a null Leave_Flag.
• This is not a good table to use for finding information about all degrees received at Penn. It is possible for a student to pursue one degree (PHD) and earn another (AM) while continuing work on a Ph.D. The information about the master's degree is recorded only in the DEGREE_RECEIVED table.
• Many students will have only one DEGREE_PURSUAL_ALL_V record, such as students who attend, graduate and never return. However, allow for students with multiple records, such as undergraduates who return to do graduate work or who pursue Master's degrees at the same time as their undergraduate degree.
• The DP_LINK_ID uniquely identifies a row in Degree_Pursual. Related records in the term tables that contain degree information (Degree_Term, Degree_Received, Hiatus, Internal_Course_Equiv, Assignment, and Major_Minor_Term) will have the DP_LINK_ID that corresponds to the correct row in Degree_Pursual. This index column should be considered for internal Data Warehouse use only. It is used to join tables together, so that the term records can be mapped to the correct program in Degree_Pursual. It does not, in and of itself, represent an attribute of anything. It is a system-generated number, but it cannot be used to sort the rows in Degree_Pursual. It should not be used in external reports, and should not be copied and stored outside of the Data Warehouse, because it is not static. Every time a student's records are refreshed, the DP_LINK_ID will be re-created, and the old value over-written in all of the tables where it is found. For this reason you should not use the DP_LINK_ID as a meaningful data element in and of itself.
• Use Last_Degree_Term to find the most recent DEGREE_TERM or MAJOR_MINOR_TERM records.
• Students should be considered 'away without leave' if they are not on leave but have not registered for classes for the current term. Such students will have Exit_Term of null, but Last_Degree_Term will not be for the current term; it will be whatever the last term the student was registered instead.
• While SSN is part of the key, it is not visable to most queries and users. Use PennID for identification of individuals in this table. Joins in the Business Objects universes are done on PennID, instead of SSN.

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