Topic suggestions for future SR Help Workshops

If you’ve been to a previous Student Record workshop, you know we tackle topics that can be complicated. What new topics would you like to learn more about? What haven't we covered?

Previous topics have included grades, wait lists, class permissions, big picture, and CCS advanced topics. Share your new ideas with us!

CCS consultations

When a recent Collaborative Class Scheduling (CCS) training class happened to consist of only two staff from a single department who were there for refresher training, we changed the topic and turned the class into a CCS consultation. We spent the time working through different questions they had about CCS. We covered wait lists, prerequisites, combined sections, how ECAS and CCS interact, multiple component setup, and grading—a good morning's work!

If you are a trained CCS scheduler who, along with other schedulers in your department, would like a similar session with one of the trainers, just let us know. CCS can be a thorny, complicated system. We are happy to help you understand it more fully.

Designating classes eligible for freshman full year registration

Freshman Orientation is well underway on the Twin Cities campus, at which students will register for both Fall 2016 and Spring 2017.

Spring 2017 classes eligible for Freshman Full Year Registration are designated by the Course Attribute, “FRFY Freshman full year reg,” in the CCS Basic Data tab.

 

Classes with the attribute are open for registration, but only to students with the “FRFY Freshman Full Yr Registration” Student Group on their record.

Classes without the FRFY Class Attribute are restricted by the temporary use of a class requisite that prohibits registration. If you discover your department missed applying the FRFY attribute to a class, the CCS scheduler should add the attribute in CCS. A daily query identifies those with a newly added FRFY attribute and the requisite is removed to allow freshmen to register.

Auto-enroll from wait list emails sent to students

The auto-enroll process generates emails to students on a class’ wait list each time auto-enroll runs for the class. The PeopleSoft UM Waitlist Email History page (Main Menu > Records and Enrollment > Term Processing > Waitlist > UM Waitlist Email History) keeps records of the email messages generated to students in this process. Messages include:

• notification of enrollment in a class for which a student had been waiting,
• notification enrollment was attempted but not successful due to a time conflict or maximum credit limit, or
• notification that auto-enroll ran for a class, but that a student was not yet enrolled because other students were ahead of them on the wait list.

Class schedulers and wait list managers may visit the UM Waitlist Email History page to view the system-generated emails. On this page, the system creates a row for each email sent to the student for the selected term. Note that the emails are listed in chronological order starting with the earliest email sent.

Watch the June workshop on CCS Advanced Topics

Our June 15 SR Help workshop focused on CCS advanced topics including: session codes, special use pages, and combined sections. Lots of good tips and tricks were discussed. Thanks to everyone who attended!

Collaborative Class Scheduling users who couldn’t make it to the workshop are invited to view a recording of the workshop. (Tip: After clicking the link, it may take few minutes for the recording to load.)

Housekeeping tip for Astra Event schedulers

Events in Astra Schedule must have an event status of “Scheduled” in order for them to appear on the Astra calendars. Events with a status of “Incomplete” (i.e., those missing Event Type, Customer, Customer Contact, or a room assignment on any meeting) will not display on the calendars, causing the room to appear available. If, however, the scheduler attempts to book that room for another event, they find the room is unavailable. The “Incomplete” event is holding the room.

To avoid this, event schedulers should ensure they complete their event records so that the status is “Scheduled” and the event displays on the calendars. Additionally, schedulers can proactively screen for “Incomplete” events they have unintentionally created by periodically filtering for and resolving “Incomplete” events. Instructions for how to find incomplete events in Astra are available at the Astra iCoP website.

Course and class changes approval process

It is imperative to make changes to credits and/or changes to the grade basis of a class or course prior to the start of registration.

• To change the number of credits for which a class is offered, from a variable number to a set number, email ocmsched@umn.edu to make the change.
• To make a permanent credit change for a course and/or to make a change to the grading basis of a course, submit changes directly through ECAS. 

After registration starts, the Office of the Registrar (OTR) & Office of Classroom Management (OCM) will still make the following changes to courses and class sections:

• Credit changes: Will make changes as requested, but will conduct internal review to determine how enrolled students are affected
• Grading basis: Will add grading basis options (e.g., from A-F to A-F/S-N Option), but departments will not be allowed to eliminate grading basis options (e.g., from A-F/S-N Option to S-N only)

After registration starts, the department will be expected to contact students about these changes. To minimize impact for students, however, these changes should be made before registration starts.

After financial aid is disbursed (typically 10 days prior to the start of term), no credit or grade basis changes will be permitted. If the department insists upon a change and has a legitimate reason, an internal committee including the Office of Undergraduate Education will review.