Grade entry deadlines and reminders

Fall 2018 grades (regular session) are due on Thursday, December 27, 2018 at 11:59 p.m. A complete list of grading due dates, how-to guides, and policies are available on the ASR website >>>

Grades that have been entered but have not yet been approved by the instructor or proxy will post immediately after the due date for grades.

Any grades left blank that instructors/proxies do not report before the due date will receive a grade of “NR” (Not Reported). After that, the grades cannot be uploaded or imported. To change an NR grade to the grade earned, instructors/proxies must submit a grade change in Faculty Center (see the how-to guide).

Instructor assignment reminders for spring 2019

CCS schedulers should review instructor assignments for spring 2019 classes to ensure that appropriate individuals have the correct access to class rosters and grade rosters.

On CCS Maintain Schedule of Classes > Meeting tab, check that:

• Instructors and proxies (if applicable) are assigned to all class sections with enrollment.
• Graduate assistants have an “Instructor Role” of “TA.”
• Instructors and proxies have been given the correct grading “Access”:
• Approve access allows one to enter, save, and submit grades. 
• Grade access allows one to only enter and save grades.
• Undergraduate students assigned as TAs can not have “Approve” or “Grade” access.

Adding a new course to ECAS

When an ECAS editor is adding a new course to ECAS, all fields on the Set Up (first) tab must be completed in one session. This is necessary to save your work. It is also necessary for the system to determine the values to populate in subsequent drop-down fields.

Notice that once the new course’s effective term is selected on the Set Up tab, the subject code and catalog number fields will display beneath. A common error is that users overlook the Subject Code field.

ECAS rewrite goes live October 28, 2018

A rewrite of the Electronic Course Authorization System (ECAS) is underway. The changes will improve system stability, streamline future development, and improve accessibility. The course add/update page will have a new look and feel, which includes informative error messaging, improved troubleshooting tools, and a user-friendly design.

The ECAS home page, search page, topic title page, and view mode will retain the old look and feel. Changes go live on October 28, 2018.

Training materials are under development and preview sessions for ECAS users are planned for the following:

• October 9, 1:30-2:30 p.m. St Paul
• October 16, 1:30-2:30 p.m. East Bank
• October 17, 10:00-11:00 a.m. East Bank

Room locations to be announced.

[9/20/18 - Correction: the go-live date for the ECAS rewrite is October 28, 2018, not October 21, 2018, which was indicated in the September Training Update newsletter]

Fall 2018 Expected Graduation Term (EGT)

On September 18, 2018, an Expected Graduation Term (EGT) was entered into the Student Program/Plan for all new Twin Cities undergraduate admits. Both New High School (NHS) and New Advanced Standing (NAS) students now have an EGT applied to their records.

On November 12, 2018, the degree checkout status of “applied” will be added to the Student Program/Plan for any Twin Cities undergraduate who has achieved 75 percent progress toward their degree.

Several reports were updated to add the degree checkout status data:

• Major/minor roster
• Student group roster
• Student roster detail list
• My advisees with confirmed education abroad programs
• Education abroad confirmed students by college

A query is being developed to help identify students who have a missing EGT. It is currently in the testing phase and will be available in Reporting Center.

PeopleSoft and MyU upgrade September 22 - 23, 2018

On Saturday, September 22, 2018, PeopleSoft and MyU applications will be unavailable from noon to midnight due to a scheduled upgrade.

On Sunday, September 23, 2018, PeopleSoft core applications (CS, HR, FS) will be unavailable from 6:00 a.m to noon due to normal maintenance. PeopleSoft Financials and Financial UM Reports will come back online at 2:00 p.m. according to the normal maintenance schedule.

You can check the IT Service Status page for updates.

Academic calendar changes for Twin Cities/Rochester

The Faculty Senate has approved moving spring break one week earlier, starting in March 2020, for the Twin Cities and Rochester campuses. This results in the final Monday of the first seven-week session falling after spring break. Syllabi may need to be reviewed due to this adjustment, so communicate these changes to your departments. As a reminder, spring 2019 for UMTC and UMR will change from 74 instructional days to 70. Fall and spring semesters will have the same length from then on. Full academic calendars for 2018-22 can be viewed on the University Senate page.

Minimum credit limits

Starting in fall 2018, all Twin Cities and Rochester degree-seeking undergraduate students will have a six-credit minimum credit applied to their records the day after the 100% refund period. If a student subsequently attempts to drop below the threshold, they will receive an error message prompting them to contact their academic advisor/college office.

This change gives advisors an additional opportunity to talk to students about their academic plans and the impacts of their enrollment change. An advisor and/or college office can adjust the students minimum credits to allow a student to drop additional or all classes. This following guide was created to assist with this process: How to adjust enrollment limits.

Auto-enroll from waitlist reminders

Auto-enroll from waitlist stops running for each term/session on a date specified per campus. For the fall 2018 regular session, the last waitlist run for the Twin Cities campus will be at 11:58 p.m. on September 4, 2018. Staff from system campuses are encouraged to check with their Office of the Registrar to confirm campus-specific dates.

Following the last run, those classes which still have waitlists will typically have an Enrollment Status of “Closed”. A common question is, how do you fill any seats that may subsequently open due to enrolled students dropping the class? You have two options to consider, and each department can decide which option is best for their situation:

Option 1



Give students a permission number to override a closed class using the Closed Class checkbox on the Class Permissions page. This option allows you to give permission to waitlisted students, when appropriate. To assist in determining which students to provide permission, the waitlist will be available for your reference until the end of drop/add period.

Option 2



On the Enrollment Control tab, uncheck the Auto Enroll from Waitlist checkbox, which changes the Enrollment Status to “Open” and allows any student to register for the remaining seat(s) up until the second week, when instructor approval is required.

Check fall term instructor assignments

You can have a positive impact on your classes when you enter complete and correct instructor information. Listing Instructors gives them access to their online class rosters, Canvas or Moodle, as well as their grade rosters (at the end of the term). Students also benefit from knowing who their instructors will be as they begin their semester.

CCS schedulers should please verify instructor information for fall (1189) on the Meetings tab for:

• Correct Instructor
• Accurate instruction role 
• Appropriate grading access 

Note, all teaching assistants should be entered with a role of “TA.” Undergraduate teaching assistants cannot have grade access.

Who was the last person to register for your class?

Enrollment Request Search in PeopleSoft Campus Solutions is a page commonly used to audit a student’s enrollment history for a particular term or a particular class. Did you know that the page can also be used to see the history of enrollment activity for a particular class section? For example, you can find who was the last person to register for your class.

1. Go to Records and Enrollment > Enroll Students > Enrollment Request Search 
2. Enter Academic Institution (e.g. UMNTC)
3. Enter term and 5-digit class number and then hit search
4. Use the column headers to sort the data

The page contains 48 columns. The data may be easier to view by downloading it to an Excel spreadsheet via the download icon .

TIP: Select see all columns icon before you download to Excel.

Twin Cities beginning of term important dates

8/31/18

• Reserved seats released for fall term (Twin Cities)

9/04/2018 

• Fall regular session (Twin Cities)
• Last day for students to be added to a waitlist
• Last day for auto-enroll from waitlist to run (11:58 p.m.)

New! How to change the Expected Graduation Term in PeopleSoft

Effective spring 2018, the Office of the Registrar will add an Expected Graduation Term (EGT) to all New Advanced Standing (NAS) and New High School (NHS) students upon admission. Colleges and departments are responsible for updating EGT when needed. Refer to our Expected Graduation Term How-to guide for instructions.

Coming soon! ULearn is moving to Training Hub

The University's learning management system, ULearn, is moving to the new Training Hub. This is what you need to know to be prepared:

• ULearn will close for access beginning Friday, June 1, 2018.
• Any in-progress training will not transfer into the Training Hub.
• Any online training you begin before the transition must be completed before June 1.
• Registration for summer training sessions will transfer to the Training Hub. 
• The Training Hub will be available beginning Tuesday, June 5, 2018.

Tip: Training History Report
Use this path to find a training transcript in Reporting Center:
MyU > Key Links > Reporting Center > Human Resource Management > Human Resources > Training History

NR grades and the grades due date for spring 2018

The deadline to submit grades for the spring 2018 regular academic session and second half term was Wednesday, May 16, 2018*.

Overnight, NR (Not Reported) symbols are assigned as the official grade to all missing grades. The grades upload does not work once an official grade is entered.

To assign grades after NR’s are posted, use the Request Grade Change button on the Grade Roster. Learn more about this with our How to Change a Grade guide.

Remember, missing grades can negatively affect a student for:

• Academic standing
• Financial aid
• Scholarship, employment, and educational opportunities

*Staff from system campuses are encouraged to check with their Office of the Registrar to confirm campus-specific dates.

Reminder about system access

Staff transferring departments

When staff transfer departments within the University, a Change of Employment Status (COES) form should be submitted to remove student system access from the former department. This is the approved policy of the Student Systems Data Custodian. If system access is required in the new department, Access Request Forms (ARFs) must be submitted based on the new job responsibilities. Please talk with your supervisor if you have questions.

Student worker access over summer
If you have any student workers with PeopleSoft access who will be gone over the summer, it is good practice to suspend their access until they return. Submit a COES form to do this.

• In the "Indicate the employee's new status" field, choose "Leave of Absence”
• Enter the LOA start and return dates
• Enter personal internet ID and any relevant sponsored account in Additional Information
• Click “Order Now” in the upper right corner
• Create a reminder to yourself to email x-secur@umn.edu a few days before the return date to ask for their access to be reactivated.

Note
Any training required for access does not need to be repeated if already completed.

Planned system maintenance April 21 and 22, 2018

Update: As of Friday, April 20, the PeopleSoft outage will NOT take place on April 21 and will be rescheduled. Updates to Ad Astra will continue as planned.
---------------

MyU will be unavailable for use on Saturday, April 21, 2018 for a planned database upgrade. This outage also includes all other PeopleSoft applications, including CCS and the Class Schedule. Ad Astra also plans to perform cloud server maintenance this weekend that will cause intermittent unavailability for Astra Schedule. During this time, users will still be able to access Moodle, Canvas, and University mail. For more information and progress updates, please visit the OIT Service Status page.

Planned PeopleSoft Database Upgrade (12 hours)
Saturday, April 21 at 12:00 p.m. (noon) to 11:59 p.m.

Planned Astra Cloud Maintenance (24 hours)
Saturday, April 21 from 10 p.m. to Sunday, April 22 at 10 p.m.

Changes to the Class Roster in MyU

Class rosters in the MyU Teaching Tab have a been changed slightly. The Related Content information, including student emails and class photos, now appears at the bottom of the page. Our how-to guides have been updated to reflect the new location of the Related Content.

ULearn to Training Hub transition: 5 things you need to know

The University's learning management system, ULearn, is moving to the new Training Hub. This is what you need to know to be prepared:

1. ULearn will close for access beginning Thursday, May 31, 2018. 
2. Any in-progress training will not transfer into the Training Hub.
3. Any online training you begin before the transition must be completed before May 31.
4. Registration for summer training sessions will transfer into the Training Hub. 
5. The Training Hub will be available to you beginning Monday, June 4, 2018.

Twin Cities (TC) registration reminders for fall 2018 (1189)

Registration dates for fall 2018 classes are now available on the One Stop website.
Below are some enrollment highlights:

• Registration began April 12 for TC admitted students.
• Students can find their appointments in the MyU: Academics tab. 
• Auto-enroll from waitlist begins running on April 25. 
• Open Enrollment begins May 4 for non-degree students.
• Unfilled, reserved seats will open for general registration on the Friday before the session/term begins, or August 31 for full term classes.

*Staff from system campuses are encouraged to check with their Office of the Registrar to confirm campus-specific dates.

Working with waitlist and class permissions

New and experienced CCS schedulers may be interested in checking out our new training handout on Working with Waitlists and Class Permissions. It contains information on how these processes work as well as troubleshooting tips.

Using the auto enroll from waitlist checkbox in CCS

There are a number of classes for summer and fall 2018 with a waitlist capacity greater than zero, but they do not have the Auto Enroll from Waitlist checkbox checked.

As a reminder, the Auto Enroll From Waitlist checkbox must be checked on both the enrollment and non-enrollment sections of your class for it to be included in the auto enroll from waitlist process. Collaborative Class Scheduling (CCS) department schedulers can find this checkbox on the UM CCS Maintain Schedule of Classes page > Enrollment Control tab.

The checked box serves two functions:

• It triggers the Auto Enroll from Waitlist process if a seat is available.
• It gives priority to students on the waitlist, so open seats are not taken by other students (before Auto Enroll from Waitlist runs).

CCS schedulers: please review the Auto Enroll from Waitlist checkbox on your classes.

Twin Cities registration for fall 2018 (1189)

Registration begins April 12, 2018 for Twin Cities students admitted to degree or certificate programs. Students will be able to find their specific registration times by logging into MyU, selecting the Academics tab, and going to the Registration sub-tab. Staff on other campuses may check with their Office of the Registrar for specific dates on their campus.

Change of Employment Status form reminder

If an employee no longer needs access to certain systems, supervisors or key contacts must submit the Change of Employment Status (COES) form to OIT Provisioning and Requests (PAR). Removing someone’s PeopleSoft access will also remove the individual from the Training Update query. A change of status includes:

• Termination of employment
• Retirement
• Death
• Transferring to a new department
• Changes in job duties making certain access unnecessary
• Leave of Absence

Reminder: Submitting ARFs on behalf of others

When an Access Request Form (ARF) is submitted by one person on behalf of another (e.g. a supervisor submits an ARF for a new employee), the ARF is routed for first approval to the person who needs the access. That person will receive an email prompting their approval. This includes access requests for student workers. Please ask the staff member to watch for these emails, because they will need to approve the request for access before it moves forward.

Twin Cities Summer 2018 registration begins earlier this year

Registration begins March 1, 2018* on the Twin Cities campus for students admitted to a degree or certificate program. Open enrollment begins March 8, 2018*. This is a month and a half earlier than previous years.

CCS schedulers should cancel any class sections that will not be taking place and update any class sections that require changes. Classrooms have already been assigned, and the Office of Classroom Management will continue to monitor new sections added.

Mid-term grade rosters available

Mid-term grade rosters are currently available in Faculty Center for spring 2018 regular session classes.

Twin Cities, Crookston, Morris, and Rochester instructors of 1xxx-level courses are required by the Providing In-progress Notifications on Academic Performance policy to provide mid-term notifications to students who, based on performance in the course thus far, appear to be in danger of receiving a grade of D, F, or N. This notice must be provided to students in time to allow them to improve their academic performance or to withdraw by the withdrawal deadline.

Instructors who have questions may be referred to the How to enter mid-term grades guide, the In-Progress Notifications FAQ, or may email the ASR Training & Support team at srhelp@umn.edu.

Duplicate ID tool and process enhancements

Part of the PeopleSoft Campus Solutions 9.2 upgrade, the Duplicate ID tool had enhancements added on January 28, 2018 that allow functional users to more easily manage cases, track case history, and provide transparency to University staff about duplicate ID case resolutions. For example, Person Comments on related records will now be added automatically when a case is complete. Additional work is still under development to further create efficiencies. Email communications that notify students and staff once a case is opened and when it is resolved are planned to roll out in March.

Preferred name - class permission numbers and waitlist management

A student’s preferred name (instead of legal/primary name) is now being used for class permission numbers and waitlist management. Students and staff may indicate a preferred name through the My Info tab of MyU. Indicating a preferred name is optional. This functionality was implemented as part of the University’s PeopleSoft 9.2 upgrade.

Registration training available online

We are excited to announce that SR310T Registration training for staff who register students is now available online! Employees can complete the new online registration course when it is convenient for their schedule instead of attending an in-person training class.

The SR310T Registration course can be accessed from the ASR training website, under Student Records Training. The course can also be accessed by searching for it in ULearn. The Access Request form and process remains the same as before.

Auto-enroll from waitlist reminders

Auto-enroll from waitlist stops running for each term/session on a date specified per campus. For the spring 2018 regular session, the last waitlist run for the Twin Cities campus was late evening, January 16, 2018. Staff from system campuses are encouraged to check with their Office of the Registrar to confirm campus-specific dates.

Following the last run, those classes which still have waitlists will typically have an Enrollment Status of “Closed”. A common question is, how do you fill any seats that may subsequently open due to enrolled students dropping the class? You have two options to consider, and each department can decide which option is best for their situation:

Option 1



Give students a permission number to override a closed class using the Closed Class checkbox on the Class Permissions page. This option allows you to give permission to waitlisted students, when appropriate. To assist in determining which students to provide permission, the waitlist will be available for your reference until the end of drop/add period.

Option 2

On the Enrollment Control tab, uncheck the Auto Enroll from Wait List checkbox, which changes the Enrollment Status to “Open” and allows any student to register for the remaining seat(s) up until instructor approval is required.

Permission number expiration reminder

Permission numbers expire and are deleted at the end of the term/session’s add and drop period. After this time, unused permission numbers will no longer permit students’ enrollment.

Earlier summer 2018 registration

For summer 2018 registration in the Twin Cities, degree-seeking students will be able to register on March 1, 2018. Open registration for non-degree and visiting students starts a week later on March 8. Staff from system campuses are encouraged to check with their Office of the Registrar to confirm campus-specific dates.

Earlier registration before spring break extends the regular registration period one and half months, which gives students more time to plan and spreads out appointment times for advisors. The change could help increase classroom utilization and enrollment during the summer term. In turn, a higher enrollment rate during summer may help students with timely degree progress.