Published August 15, 2014
FlightPath, the University of Louisiana at Monroe’s home-built student advising and
degree tracking system, has added a new feature called the Transfer Equivalency search—a
tool which allows transfer students considering ULM to understand how courses they
have taken at other institutions could be applied to a ULM degree.
Richard Peacock, the lead programmer of FlightPath, says perspective transfer students
will be able to know how much of their degree is completed by their credits, and how
many credits are needed to graduate.
He said, “The transfer student—or a ULM advisor—may select the student’s completed
courses from another university, then select a ULM degree the student is interested
in, and magically see those course equivalencies applied. Previously, this was a labor-intensive
process for the adviser, and could take a lengthy amount of time.”
“There was a strong desire to create a tool which students could use to make the most
informed choices when deciding on their academic futures,” he continued.
“Around the same time, a request was presented to me by eULM Director Paula Thornhill
for a similar solution, which needed to work with prospective online students, as
part of ULM’s new eULM initiative. I met with Barbara Michaelides and Angela Robinson
in ULM’s Student Success Center, and all agreed that such a tool would provide enormous
benefit to all prospective ULM students.”
Peacock said that although some courses may not have direct equivalencies at ULM,
when the student enrolls, there is a good chance that many of their transfer credits
could be applied toward their ULM degree.
FlightPath is described as a “home-built application,” created entirely by ULM programmers.
The platform was recently released as “open-source,” meaning other universities may
download, use, and modify the code for their purposes as long as it remains free.
FlightPath’s developers work to continuously grow and adapt the program to suit the
needs of ULM’s students and advisors. The team is currently working on a new tool,
which will assist with graduation check-out for ULM students approaching their graduation
dates.
To try the new Transfer Equivalency feature, prospective students may visit ulm.edu/flightpath
