By Elise Ong, September 1, 2025
Cal Poly Pomona relaunched a new tool this academic year to help students build potential road maps of what their college careers could look like.
Located on the home page of the BroncoDirect Student Center, the new academic planner allows students to plan which courses they want to take and in which term. The planner aligns with a student’s road map, major requirements, degree progress report and schedule builder to create a carefully curated layout.
While CPP had academic planning tools before, they were not as adaptive as the new and improved planner, according to Executive Director of University Advising Erin Lion DeRosa. This planner is beneficial for both short- and long-term use, in case students want to plan solely for the upcoming semester or their remaining academic years as well, said the Office of Student Success team.
Students can make up to 10 “what if” schedules to test what their semesters might look like under certain circumstances. It will work around set obstacles such as if students want to avoid having class at a certain time or during their work schedule, according to Associate Vice President of Student Success Cecilia Santiago-González.
The planner also automatically updates after students take a new course or change a major/minor.
Although this tool is particularly helpful during registration periods, the student success team recommends not limiting its use solely to that time. Using it throughout the year ensures students stay on track, especially as changes may occur.
“Checking in on it every year or even every term is really valuable,” DeRosa said. “It’s not as helpful if you just kind of set it and forget it.”
Use of the academic planner should not replace meetings with your adviser. After students set up their planner, advisers can confirm they are on the right track or help adjust their schedules as needed. Advisers also have the ability to go in and make suggestions in the program for you.
According to Santiago-González, the academic planner not only benefits students but also helps faculty predict and adjust seat availability for upcoming class sessions, which in turn gives students better chances of getting into the classes they need.
“It’s really important for us as campus leaders and folks who care about students making timely progress,” Santiago-González said. “It provides information around projected course demand to departments.”
According to Santiago-González, there have been around 12,105 logins to the planner since June 4.
If students need assistance navigating this resource, the academic planner and schedule builder page on the CPP website provides instructional videos on how to use the tool. Students may also reach out to the Bronco Advising Center for guidance.
Additionally, there will be in-person and virtual workshops held during the upcoming advising periods according to Pedro Navarro, the associate director of University Advising.
“Our goal is to ensure that students feel very comfortable utilizing the tool itself,” Navarro said.
Feature image courtesy of Elise Ong
