For all those students having difficulty deciphering their SAPR, help is on the way.

Six, 50-minute SAPR workshops will take place in the UofA Bookstore today, Oct. 30 and Nov. 6.

The SAPR, or Student Academic Progress Report, is intended to help students choose which courses to take in order to fulfill their major requirements.

But the elaborate rows of numbers and figures found on a typical SAPR often pose a problem for students who have never read it before, said Wendy Jabbour, an advising specialist for University School.

Jabbour said that learning how to use a SAPR early in one's UA career makes figuring out major requirements easier. All students' need is a little instruction and then they are usually able to make sense of it, she added.

"If you learn to use it from the beginning, then you'll be more familiar with it," Jabbour said, adding that previous SAPR classes drew meager crowds.

"I think last year they offered it, and they weren't that well-attended," Jabbour said.

Jessica Wertz, a biology freshman, said she most likely wouldn't attend a SAPR workshop.

"I think it's pretty self-explanatory and if it's not then you ask people around you that know what to do," Wertz said.

Lorraine Rivera, a journalism senior and a resident assistant at Kaibab/Huachuca Residence Hall said that the only way SAPR classes might see a good attendance is if they were promoted within the halls.

"I think programs like that in the dorms would be helpful because I think we could program that through the RAs to advertise," Rivera said. She added that the key to having a successful SAPR class is to know that they're available.

"I know I've never heard of a SAPR workshop, and I've been here for the past three years," she said.

Louis Shannon, an undeclared freshman, agreed that if classes were held in the residence halls, he would attend.

"That could be good," he said. "I'd do it then."

Ann Parker, director of the advising resource center, said that the high volume of students going to advisors with SAPR questions demands a solution.

While Parker said that UA is in the process of moving SAPR workshops in the residence halls as a response to student interest, she also said that the SAPR workshops in the bookstore would be beneficial for confused students. She added that the SAPR should be more accommodating to students.

"If you have to have a class on how to read your SAPR, then there's probably something wrong with the SAPR," Benedict said.

Cassiopeia Sonn, ASUA academic affairs director, wants to find an alternative for students who have a tough time reading their SAPR.

It's ridiculous that they need a workshop to teach people how to understand their SAPR, said Sonn, a pre-physiological sciences junior.

Sonn, along with fellow ASUA academic affairs director Kim Bui, would like to see the SAPR supplemented by another similar program.

Bui, a business and psychology junior, said that she and Sonn are working to promote the "Finish in Four" program to students through banners, fliers and listserv announcements.

"Finish in Four" is a program that helps students graduate in four years.

"Our goal is to make these charts much more accessible and much more advertised on campus," Bui said.

The program provides students with much of the same information they garner from the SAPR but is not as complete as the SAPR itself.

Student information contained in the "Finish in Four" program is listed in easy-to-read quadrants.

Bui noted that while the "Finish in Four" format could be used to supplement the SAPR, it would not completely replace it because the SAPR contains more detailed student information.

"Students should be aware that there is an alternate version of the SAPR that is much, much easier to comprehend," she said.

Parker said students need to understand how their SAPR works. She added that SAPR workshops will be held even if turn-out is low.

"Even if just one student comes then we'll have met a need on campus," she said.