The State Board of Education shall establish and maintain within the Department of Education a single, statewide computer-assisted student advising system, which must be an integral part of the process of advising, registering, and certifying students for graduation. It is intended that an advising system be the primary advising and tracking tool for students enrolled in public postsecondary educational institutions and be accessible to all Florida students. The state universities and community colleges shall interface institutional systems with the computer-assisted advising system required by this section. The State Board of Education shall prescribe by rule the roles and responsibilities of the department, the state universities, and the community colleges in the design, implementation, promotion, development, and analysis of the system. The system shall consist of a degree audit and an articulation component that includes the following characteristics:

1. (1) The system shall constitute an integral part of the process of advising students and assisting them in course selection. The system shall be accessible to students in the following ways:

   1. (a) A student must be able to access the system, at any time, to identify course options that will meet the requirements of a selected path toward a degree.
   2. (b) A status report from the system shall be generated and sent with each grade report to each student enrolled in public postsecondary educational institutions with a declared major.

2. (2) The system shall be an integral part of the registration process at public postsecondary educational institutions. As part of the process, the system shall:

   1. (a) Provide reports that document each student's status toward completion of a degree.
   2. (b) Verify that a student has completed requirements for graduation.
3. (3) The system must provide students information related to career descriptions and corresponding educational requirements, admissions requirements, and available sources of student financial assistance. Such advising must enable students to examine their interests and aptitudes for the purpose of curricular and career planning.
4. (4) The system must provide management information to decisionmakers, including information relating student enrollment patterns and course demands to plans for corresponding course offerings and information useful in planning the student registration process.

History.--s. 359, ch. 2002-387.