Choosing a major is only the beginning of a student’s academic journey. Understanding what courses to take, when to take them, and how classroom learning connects to future opportunities can be just as important.
Mississippi State University’s new Major Maps tool helps make that journey clearer by providing students with a visual, year-by-year guide to their academic program. The university’s recent announcement introduced the tool and its benefits; this article takes a closer look at the technology, collaboration, and user-focused work that helped bring Major Maps to the MSU community.
For ITS, projects like Major Maps demonstrate how technology can support more than systems and infrastructure. It can help students make informed decisions, stay on track, and connect their academic goals with their future careers.
ITS partnered closely with the Provost Office to build a custom approval workflow that allows departmental communicators to create and maintain their own Major Maps. Those maps are then routed through their dean's office for review and approval before being sent to OPA for final approval and publication.
Another key component of the project was training the Provost Office after the workflow implementation was complete. They were then able to develop documentation and guidance for the various Major Maps administrators across campus, helping support long-term adoption of the tool through a train-the-trainer approach.
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