On Feb. 8, Colorado State University launched a new tool for students to use that will allow them to change their program of study — including their major, minor, concentration or certificates — completely online and on any device. 

“They can also use the tool to review and approve any pending program additions (new majors, minors, concentrations and/or certificates) that are submitted by advisors/academic success coordinators,” Student Information System Support Manager for the Office of the Registrar Marianna Walsh wrote in an email to The Collegian.

Students can access the tool through RAMweb. To find it, navigate through the “records” tab, and select “manage student record” to view the new “academic program change” page. 

“The Academic Program Change tool that launched on February 8 is the culmination of many years of effort.” –Marianna Walsh, Office of the Registrar student information system support manager 

Previously, students wanting to change their academic program had to fill out a form and get it signed by the new department before physically turning it in to the Office of the Registrar.

“This required the paper form to be submitted physically to our office or for students and departments to rely on printers and scanners to be able to submit via email,” Walsh wrote.

The University wanted to create a simpler electronic solution for program changes, Walsh wrote. 

“As we’ve experienced in so many ways, this process had to be adapted in response to COVID-19, which opened up the opportunity for us to revisit how we could make the process easier for everyone at each step,” Walsh wrote. 

The academic program-change process includes approval from the adviser of the new department, approval of the change by the student and the processing of the change by the Office of the Registrar. Now, this may be achieved entirely online. 

“The only ‘difficult’ thing was having to go to the registrar’s office to turn in the paperwork,” student Jayden Russell said about the major-change process before the new tool was implemented. Russell is a freshman who changed his major from electrical engineering to tourism and hospitality management at the beginning of the 2022 spring semester. 

The new process allows students to work with department advisers (remotely, if they choose) to express interest in a change in their academic program; the advisers then initiate the change in their portal, which then appears on RAMweb, according to a CSU SOURCE article. There is no longer a requirement for any physical forms or in-person interaction. 

“The Academic Program Change tool that launched on February 8 is the culmination of many years of effort,” Walsh wrote. “Behind the scenes, it’s a relatively complex process (we have 362 different fields of study right now across major, minor, concentration and certificates), so the tool is based on other efforts over the years, as well as feedback and ideas that we’ve collected over time from across our office and campus.”

The tool is predicted to make life easier for a significant number of students. Walsh wrote that the Office of the Registrar processed 19,194 academic program changes in 2021.

“We hope that this new tool makes the academic program-change process easier for each of our community members who are involved and to provide a solid foundation for us to continue building on in the future,” Walsh wrote. 

Reach Samy Gentle at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @samy_gentle_.