By Nicole Parker, Degree Works Consultant, David Kent Consulting
Why Functional Teams Should Review Every Ellucian Degree Works Upgrade
After attending the 2025 CoHEsion Summit, I came away with a familiar realization that many higher education institutions share: the technical teams at our institutions are doing an amazing job keeping Ellucian Degree Works upgraded and running smoothly. Quarterly releases, patches, and fixes roll out like clockwork – a testament to their behind-the-scenes diligence.
Quick Takeaways
Key Point | Action Item |
Upgrades = Opportunities | Review new features quarterly, not just test for breakage |
Customization Powers Efficiency | Leverage dashboards, user classes, and local configurations |
Bridge the Gap | Hold 30-minute IT-Functional reviews after each release |
Institution-Specific Setup | Tailor Ellucian Degree Works to your policies and programs |
Expert Support Available | Kent offers post-upgrade health checks and functional reviews |
Degree Works Upgrades Aren’t Just Maintenance – They’re Momentum
Every Ellucian Degree Works quarterly release brings more than bug fixes – it brings opportunities to streamline processes, improve registrar efficiency, and align the system more closely with your institution’s culture and goals.
Features like customizable dashboards, refined search filters, and adjustable audit layouts aren’t just technical tweaks – they’re registrar efficiency tools that make advising, compliance, and graduation processing smoother for your team.
If you only test for breakage after an upgrade, you might miss the features that could save hours of staff time or make audits clearer for students and advisors alike.
Ellucian releases Degree Works updates on a predictable quarterly schedule, with each version introducing functionality designed to address real-world institutional needs. Taking time to review these enhancements ensures your investment in Banner student systems consulting delivers maximum return.
Ellucian Degree Works Customization Is Power
One of the most powerful aspects of Ellucian Degree Works is its flexibility for customization. You can tailor the experience by:
- Adjusting user classes and link visibility to fit how your registrar and advising offices operate
- Tweaking dashboard layouts to highlight what matters most to your advisors or students
- Configuring exception processing to match your institutional approval workflows
- Customizing audit display settings to align with your degree requirement presentation preferences
- Using local configuration options to bring branding, clarity, and workflow efficiency together
Ellucian Degree Works is designed to adapt – but only if someone takes the time to explore what’s new and align it with institutional goals. That’s not a purely technical exercise; it’s a functional one that requires input from registrars, advisors, and student success teams.
Bridging the Technical-Functional Gap
At CoHEsion, I heard a consistent theme from higher education IT teams and registrar offices:
“The upgrades get installed, and if nothing breaks, we move on.”
That’s understandable – higher education IT teams and registrar offices face constant demands. But this mindset leaves potential on the table. The technical side ensures the engine runs, but the functional side determines how well it drives.
Each Ellucian Degree Works upgrade deserves a quick collaboration checkpoint:
- What’s new that could make advisors’ or registrars’ jobs easier?
- Are there configuration options we’ve never turned on?
- Do the functional users even know these new tools exist?
- Which enhancements align with our current strategic initiatives?
A 30-minute joint review after each quarterly release can uncover small changes that lead to big results. This is where the value of Banner student systems consulting becomes clear – when technical expertise meets functional insight, institutions maximize their return on technology investment.
Your Institution, Your Version of Degree Works
No two institutions use Ellucian Degree Works the same way – and that’s the beauty of it. When you take advantage of configuration and customization, your environment becomes uniquely suited to your policies, programs, and student needs.
That’s where the platform truly shines: not as a one-size-fits-all system, but as a customized academic roadmap that reflects the personality and priorities of your campus. Whether you’re a small liberal arts college with flexible interdisciplinary programs or a large state university with structured professional degree paths, Degree Works customization options let you create the experience your students and advisors need.
Further Ellucian Degree Works Reading from the Kent Blog
If this topic resonates with you, explore a few of our other Degree Works insights:
- Accurate Banner Data: Key to Optimizing Degree Works – why clean Banner data is the foundation of every reliable audit
- Summer Is the Perfect Time for Degree Works Housekeeping – a practical guide to off-term cleanup that keeps your Degree Works audits running smoothly
- Common Issues with Degree Works Audits Explained – how to identify, troubleshoot, and fix the problems we see most often
- The Importance of Degree Works in Enhancing Graduation Rates – a closer look at how effective configuration supports student success
Each of these posts builds on the same theme: when technical and functional expertise come together, Ellucian Degree Works becomes more than a compliance tool—it becomes a strategic asset.
Frequently Asked Questions: Degree Works
Not necessarily a comprehensive review after every quarterly release, but even a brief 30-minute discussion between your technical and functional teams helps ensure you’re not missing valuable enhancements. Think of it as a “feature checkup” that takes minimal time but uncovers significant opportunities. For major version upgrades (such as moving from 5.0.x to 6.0.x), a full functional review is strongly recommended.
It’s never too late to start optimizing your Ellucian Degree Works configuration. Begin with small, high-impact changes like adjusting dashboard layouts, refining user access permissions, or enabling optional features that streamline day-to-day workflows for advisors and registrars. These incremental improvements often deliver immediate efficiency gains without requiring extensive technical resources.
Ideally, this is a collaborative effort between your IT or technical team, Registrar’s Office, and Academic Advising department. Each group brings unique perspectives on how Degree Works impacts students, advisors, and administrative staff. A cross-functional review team ensures both technical stability and functional value are maximized. Consider rotating leadership to ensure all voices are heard.
Ellucian publishes detailed release notes each quarter that document new features, enhancements, and resolved issues. Pair these release notes with a guided walkthrough from an Ellucian Degree Works consultant or your internal technical lead to identify which changes matter most for your institution’s specific workflows and goals. David Kent Consulting can help translate technical release notes into functional value propositions.
A basic functional review typically takes 1-2 weeks: one week for your team to explore new features and identify opportunities, followed by collaborative sessions to prioritize implementations. Comprehensive reviews or institutions implementing multiple new features may require 3-4 weeks. The investment in time is modest compared to the efficiency gains realized.
Absolutely. Many institutions successfully conduct internal reviews by dedicating time for cross-departmental collaboration and thoroughly reviewing Ellucian release notes. However, an experienced Ellucian Degree Works consultant brings expertise on industry best practices, configuration options you might not know exist, and efficient implementation strategies that can accelerate results. We often see institutions uncover 3-5 high-value features they didn’t know were available.
Institutions frequently overlook dashboard customization options, new reporting capabilities, enhanced search filters, updated student planning tools, and refined exception processing workflows. These features often remain disabled by default and require intentional configuration to activate, which is why post-upgrade functional reviews are so valuable. Other commonly missed enhancements include updated what-if analysis tools, new bulk processing capabilities, and improved mobile responsive features.
About the Author
Nicole Parker is a Degree Works Consultant at David Kent Consulting with extensive experience helping higher education institutions optimize their Ellucian Degree Works environments. Nicole specializes in functional configuration, post-upgrade optimization, and bridging technical-functional collaboration gaps. She regularly attends higher education conferences to stay current on emerging features and industry best practices, bringing that knowledge directly to institutional partners.
Let’s Make Degree Works Work for You
At David Kent Consulting, our experienced Ellucian Degree Works consultants help higher education institutions connect the dots between upgrades, functionality, and institutional goals. Whether you want a functional feature review, configuration refresh, or a post-upgrade health check, our team of seasoned experts can help you uncover what’s possible.
Because staying current is great – but staying curious is where the real power lies.
Ready to see what you might be missing?
Contact David Kent Consulting to schedule a conversation today.
