Sample plans of study always have a fall start session and are expected to match program requirements as reflected in the General Catalog in the corresponding fall (e.g. a Fall 2023 sample plan must match the 2023-24 General Catalog).

If you are creating a brand new plan (not updating an existing plan) for an existing program of study, you'll typically select the upcoming fall session.

If you are creating a plan for a future program of study or in anticipation of future changes to an existing program of study, you might choose a later session.

You will not be able to choose a past or current fall session.

When the program college and curricular college are different, select the program college. This will cause all available programs of study in that college to appear in the next drop-down menu.

Select the program of study for which you are creating a plan.

If a program has subprograms, these will be reflected in parentheses. A sample plan will only be tied to a single program of study. For example, the Mathematics (Program A) BA sample plan is separate from the Mathematics (Program B) BA sample plan.

If the program of study has multiple learning centers, the Learning Center box will appear after the program of study has been selected.

If the program has multiple possible locations (e.g. on campus and online) and you want to make one plan that is applicable to all students, you should leave Learning Center blank here. If you want to create individual plans for students in different locations, you could create a plan for each by selecting different Learning Centers on each Create form.

Most plans will not have a plan description.

If you want to create multiple plans for a single program of study (with the same start session and learning center), you must use the plan description field to distinguish between plans.

This field is open text entry, but examples of how it is used include:

• to identify a specific interest or companion program:
  • “Business Majors”
  • “Interest in Graduate Level Work”
  • "Combined Degree: Book Arts MFA/Library and Information Science MA"
• to identify tracks that are not official MAUI subprograms, such as specific cognate areas:
  • "Medical Physics Concentration"
  • "Literature Emphasis"
  • "Literatures/Cultures Track"
• to indicate course sequencing or plan structure:
  • “Two Year Plan”
  • “Starting with General Chemistry”
  • “Fall Admission”
  • "Standard Admission"
  • "Entering with an MA"

Select the number of years you want represented on the plan. You may select any number from 0-9.

Select 0 if you would like to place all requirements in one block, not in a specific year.

Keep in mind when selecting number of years that your plan does not have to begin with the student's first year. For example, undergraduate plans for minors, certificates, or transfer students often represent fewer than four years.

The start term may be any of summer, fall, winter, or spring, although most will be fall.

Start term will be the first term listed on the plan of study, whereas start session must be a fall semester because it represents the session during which the plan starts being a valid way to complete program requirements.