Helping Students with the OD Application

BYU PATHWAY WORLDWIDE

Introduction ​ 

Several articles have been added or updated in the last few weeks to include information we can use to help students who are working on the OD Application​

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This training will go over some, but not all, of the new information. Make sure you are checking the articles each time you help a student. ​

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If you still cannot help a student after reading through the articles, create a ticket and escalate it to OD – Admissions. We should no longer use the matriculation help form or give it to students. ​

OD

• Online Degree Program. OD includes PWOL and ECOL (Ensign Online students)​

PWOL

• BYU-I Online students who are serviced by BYU-Pathway Worldwide and who use BYU-Pathway tools (portal, degree planner, advising, etc.)​

ONLN 

• BYU-I Online students who are serviced by BYU-I and use BYU-I tools. ​

ECOL

• Ensign College Online students who are serviced by BYU-Pathway Worldwide and use BYU-Pathway Tools​

OD Admissions

• Formerly known as Enrollment Services – Online Degree (ES-OD.) This team helps students with application issues that support cannot resolve. They also make admission decisions. 

OD – Starting the Application ​ 

OD – Application Background Section​ 

OD – Account Linking​ 

OD – Applicant Type Section​ 

1. Applicant type​

• In this section, students will select what type of student they are​

• Students will go through a series of questions that determine which type of student they are​

• To see the questions, go to the article​

2. Start Building Your Degree​

• Ensign College programs will be available to students in different semesters based on their student types. If you or a student wants to know when Ensign College will be available, direct them toward the Ensign College Landing page in this section of the article​

• https://www.byupathway.org/ensign-college-partnership​

3. Choose Your Certificate​

• Students must choose an available certificate to complete this section​

OD – Applicant Ecclesiastical Endorsement​

• There are two types of Ecclesiastical Endorsements students will have to get:​

• When they apply to the OD program, they will need an applicant (new student) ecclesiastical endorsement. ​

• They will need to be endorsed by their bishop and stake president​

• Students will need to make sure they are requesting a new student application​

• Bishops and stake presidents will use this link to go to the endorsement: https://endorse.byu.edu/​

• Each year, students will receive a continuing endorsement hold on their account​

• For more information about how to remove this hold, see OD – Holds on Student Accounts​

Troubleshooting Endorsement Errors: ​

• Ask the student to make sure that it’s been requested and that it is not for a continuing student or for an expired one.​

• If the student has requested a continuing endorsement, ask the student to cancel their Endorsement and request a new one as an applicant. ​

• If the student has an expired endorsement, they have to re-request their endorsement.​

• Make sure that students are searching for their ward unit without using special characters such as ¨Ñ¨.​

• If a student is having an issue with trying to find their unit, it is most likely because they filled out all of the boxes. They should either fill out the unit box or fill out the leader name box, never both. Once they fill out one of those boxes, they need to click the "Search" button and then the unit should have a "select" button next to it that they need to click.​

Helping Leaders with the Endorsement​

• Leaders will endorse applicants on endorse.byu.edu and sign in as “Leader.” Leaders should endorse the applicant at the time of the interview.​

• When a bishop/branch president is in need of an endorsement, they will endorse themselves for the first interview. They will need to be interviewed for the second part by a member of the stake presidency.​

• When a stake president/district leader is in need of an endorsement, they will need to be endorsed by their bishop/branch president for the first interview. They can endorse themself for the second interview.​

Other endorsement situations:​

• Students who are not members have two choices for their endorsement: ​

• Choose to use their own ecclesiastical leader. The student will select “I am not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ and will interview with my own ecclesiastical leader." They will then print out the form and take it to their leader. Once filled out, the form will be sent to the University Chaplain and the student will be contacted for an interview.​

• Choose to receive an ecclesiastical endorsement from a local Latter-Day Saint bishop. The application will help the student find the local ward and leader for them to contact.​

• In some countries, applicants struggle with endorsement technology. If you have an interaction with a Russian student or some students from the Middle East, make a ticket for OD Admissions. ​

OD – Accepted/How to Accept Your Offer ​ 

• Students will receive an email once their decision has been made​

• If they can’t find the email, have them check their junk and spam folders​

• If they still can’t find the email, they can go to their application and check their status. If an offer has been given click on 'view decision.’  ​

• We can give students a direct link to accept their decision if they need it. (link is found in the articles)​

• PWOL students can wait two semesters to begin classes before being marked as a “No Show”​

• ECOL students will need to begin the semester they are accepted. If they cannot begin that semester, they need to update their application to the next semester. ​

Requesting a Reevaluation​

• If a student’s application is denied because of an unpaid debt, they will need to pay that debt before they can be accepted to the OD Program​

• If a student is denied because of a low GPA in PathwayConnect, that student will need to retake courses and raise their GPA before they can be accepted to the OD program​

• If a student is applying during the semester they are retaking a PC course, they will need to wait until grades are posted for their application to be reevaluated​

• Once a student has taken care of the reason for their denial, they can request that their application be reevaluated. ​

• If a student requests a reevaluation, create a ticket for OD Admissions​