At Baruch, on the undergraduate level (Career = 'UGRD'), there is only one program through which a degree can be earned. That program is 'UGRD' (same as the career). There are two other undergraduate programs, 'NDEGU' and 'CBUIS', but students cannot earn a degree through them. At Baruch there are three schools or, in CUNYfirst terms, the three academic groups, issue degrees. 'SPA' – School of Public Affairs, 'WEISS' – Weissman Arts and Sciences and 'ZICK' – Zicklin School of Business which will be discussing in this article.
When undergraduate students enter Baruch with a declared major, those students are considered to be in their 'intended' major until they are formerly 'accepted' into one of the three academic groups. Because the undergraduate career has but one degree-seeking program, there needs to be a means of distinguishing those students who are 'intended' from those who are 'accepted'. This is done through the means of Service Indicators and Student Groups.
| Service Indicator | Description | Pos/Neg | Reason Code | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACP | Accept in Major | Y | SPAF, WEISS, ZICKL | Admitted to School of Public Affair, or to the Weissman School, or to the Zicklin School |
| APS | Academic Plan Status | N | INTND | Intended Plan : Must apply |
All undergraduate students who enter Baruch have a negative service indicator assigned. This indicator, 'APS' (Academic Plan Status) is accompanied by a service indicator reason of 'INTND' (Intended Plan: must apply). When students apply and are accepted into one of the three academic groups, the 'APS' service indicator is removed and is replaced by the positive service indicator, 'ACP' (Accepted in Official Major) with one of the following three service indicator reasons. For those students accepted in the School of Public Affairs, the service indicator reason is 'SPAF' (Admitted to SPAF); for those students accepted in the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences, the service indicator reason is 'WEISS' (Admitted to Weissman School); for those students accepted in the Zicklin School of Business, the service indicator reason is 'ZICKL' (Admitted to the Zicklin School). These service indicator reasons are mutually exclusive, meaning that the same 'ACP' service indicator should not be assigned with more than one service indicator reason.
In addition to the service indicators, those students, who are officially accepted into one of the three academic groups, must be activated in one of the following student groups; 'SPAF' (Admitted to SPA); 'WEISS' (Accepted to Weissman School); 'ZICKL' (Admitted to Zicklin). Adding a student group to the students' records allows for registration restrictions.
The following image Illustrated the flow of intended and accepted student in academic platform:
Proposal to eliminate use of service indicators and student groups for major assignment
A proposal is being discussed to create new programs and eliminate the service indicators and student groups. For example, create a program 'UGWS' (undergraduate Weissman), with the owning academic group of Weissman, not Baruch. By default, the 'UGRD' program would mean 'intended'. When students are officially 'accepted' into the Weissman School, change their program to 'UGWS'. Then use the program, 'UGWS', to identify students officially 'accepted' into Weissman and to restrict registration to Weissman courses.