Course Maintenance

Tips when updating an existing, regular course in Coursedog:

• Course descriptions should be robust and descriptive.
• Course title
  • Course name: appears in the Class Schedule and Schedule Builder, where students search and register for courses.
  • Course name for transcript: appears on the student transcript. Avoid abbreviations when possible..
• Syllabus:
  • No more than 2 years old
  • Indicate sample course meeting pattern that meets the credit hour expectations (1 credit = 1 hour (50 minutes) per week over 15 weeks)
• Ensure the “curriculum contact name name” is accurate, reflecting the faculty member currently responsible for the course.
• All cross-listed versions must come into Coursedog simultaneously, with identical updates. They will be reviewed at the college and provost level for parity.
• Any changes to equivalencies must be made to all courses in the equivalency group. The equivalent courses should come into Coursedog for review at the same time.
• Prerequisites should be entered in the prerequisite field, not only the course description.
• If a course is made inactive, the noted equivalencies should remain. Courses marked with an equivalency code will do two things:
  • Add a statement to the course description in Class Search/Schedule Builder listing all other courses which use the code:  “Credit will not be granted if credit has been received for: XXXX, YYYY, ZZZZ”
  • Add an enrollment message to a student attempting to register for any course using the code if credit was received for any other course using the code: “You have already taken this class. When graded this course may be subject to repeat rules. Verify that the class will apply toward your course of study.”
• When a course in an equivalency group is deactivated, the equivalency group automatically updates in PeopleSoft to reflect the course inactivity, including an effective date. The inactive course remains in the group. ASR will generally update the display to reflect the most relevant courses. 
• A summary of updates should be included in the “ongoing proposal information” field including date, edits made, and the Coursedog author’s initials.

Equivalencies

This document defines U of M Twin Cities internal equivalent courses and describes how equivalent courses must be maintained in Coursedog. The focus of this document is on equivalent courses which are distinct academic offerings (and are not cross-listed).

Student impact

When a student registers for a course (or its equivalent) which has previously been taken, they receive a warning message that the class is subject to repeat policy. Students do not always recognize the weight of the message:

• Prior attempts in equivalent courses will be bracketed so that only the most recent attempt counts for credit and towards the GPA (regardless of grade).
• Tuition is charged even though credit will not be earned.
• The missed opportunity to select another course that will advance their academics.

To learn more about bracketing, see the Definitions page and reference the Grading and Transcripts Policy.

Process

1. Faculty review
   • Faculty review equivalent courses in consultation with one another; within a department, across departments, and across colleges.
   • When faculty determine that two or more courses contain enough course overlap to be considered equivalent, they notify the staff who oversee the courses and who update Coursedog.
   • If a course changes focus or evolves, all parties should be consulted (maybe encourage regular check-ins to ensure courses are still equivalent). Any significant change to a course should trigger a review.
2. Coursedog entry
   • The Coursedog staff from each course would update their respective course in Coursedog during the same time frame.
   • The "Define new prerequisite or corequisite" field must be updated to list all courses determined to be equivalent. For example; ECON 1101, ECON 1104, ECON 1111, ApEc 1101.
   • The Coursedog PeopleSoft Updates workflow step is where staff in Academic Support Resources (ASR) creates an equivalency course group with number with description. For example; 00019 -  Econ 1101/1104/1111/ApEc 1101
   • Then the  group becomes available in the Coursedog “Assign existing prerequisite or corequisite" field.
   • If a course is made inactive, the noted equivalencies should remain. Courses marked with an equivalency code will do two things:
     • Add a statement to the course description in Class Search/Schedule Builder listing all other courses which use the code:  “Credit will not be granted if credit has been received for: XXXX, YYYY, ZZZZ”
     • Add an enrollment message to a student attempting to register for any course using the code if credit was received for any other course using the code: “You have already taken this class. When graded this course may be subject to repeat rules. Verify that the class will apply toward your course of study.”
   • Note: The "Assign existing prerequisite or corequisite field" in Coursedog view mode is limited by characters and there may be more courses involved than you see there. To view all equivalent courses, please check the class schedule or email [email protected] to request the full list.
3. Ongoing system maintenance for equivalent courses
   • Any time the equivalency group changes in nature (e.g., adding a course, removing a course, deactivating a course), the Coursedog "Define new equivalent course group" field should be updated for all of the courses in the group. For example, if an Honors version of ECON 1101 is created, all three courses should be updated to say ECON 1101/ECON 1101H/ApEc 1101. This ensures that Coursedog records are accurate for all three courses and all parties involved with the course have agreed on the equivalency.
     • The "Equivalent course group" field in Coursedog view mode is limited by characters, there may be more courses involved than you see there.  To view all equivalent courses, please check the class schedule or email [email protected] to request the full list.
   • When a course is added, removed, or deactivated, the course group equivalency code may stay the same, its contents will be updated by a staff member in ASR to reflect the new group. If the changes are significant, a new code may be created.
   • When a course in an equivalency group is deactivated, the equivalency group automatically updates in PeopleSoft to reflect the course inactivity, including an effective date. The inactive course remains in the group. ASR will generally update the display to reflect the most relevant courses.  
   • Reminder: equivalent courses are not necessarily cross-listed. Equivalent courses that are not cross-listed do not have to match in Coursedog like a pair of cross-listed courses does. When one course is updated, they do not all need to be, unless the equivalency field is changing. See cross-listing resource below for more information.

Cross‐listing

The below information outlines how cross-listing works with Coursedog and PeopleSoft.

Cross-listing is recommended when the difference in course identity is needed to indicate the difference in expectations of students and to track how they satisfy requirements for students. Typically this is limited to dual-level courses (e.g., 3xxx/5xxx). Cross-listing across course subject (or designator) is not a transparent practice for students, because it obfuscates the identity of the department that is responsible for the instruction.

Topics courses cannot be cross-listed

• Topics courses are transient, exploratory offerings, expected to be transitioned to regular courses if they continue beyond two offerings.
• Cross-­listing topics shells is not accepted because the cross­list would have to permanently apply to all titles under the shell.

System maintenance for cross-listed courses

Cross-listing creates an administrative burden in course and curricular program management, and it is not recommended if there is no difference in expectations of students across different identities of the course.

• Course
  • One unit should be identified as the primary owner of the parent course (indicated in the Coursedog "Ongoing proposal information" box for all identities of the course).  
  • The primary unit/department is responsible for keeping all identities of the course aligned. This means that anytime one identity of a course is updated, all cross-listed identities must also be updated and be submitted in Coursedog at the same time. This can be particularly challenging when courses are cross-listed across colleges.
  • Updates to cross-­listed courses will not be approved in Coursedog until all cross­-lists are submitted with identical changes.
    • Exception: When a cross-­listed course is being proposed for an LE (or WI) designation, only the parent course should be proposed for LE with an indication in the "Ongoing proposal information" box that cross-­listed versions will be updated when the LE designation has been approved. When approved, all courses should be updated and pushed forward in Coursedog.
• Program
  • A curricular program that counts or requires a course with a cross-listed relationship with other courses must list all identities of the course.
    • Exception: Dual-level cross-listings can be excluded if the requirement requires a course of a specific level (e.g., an upper-division requirement could list the 3xxx-level version of a course and not the 1xxx-level of a course).
• Schedule of Classes
  • In order to ensure all sections of a cross-listed course match and are accurate, cross-listed courses should be set up as “Combined Sections.”  
  • Combined Sections user guides

Provost-level Coursedog Review

Every field of a cross-listed course should align. Pay special attention to the following fields:

• Course name and Course name for transcript
• Course description
• Grading basis
• Credits
• Cross-listings
• Equivalency
• Liberal Education information
• Student Learning Outcomes
• Syllabus
• Non-parent courses do not need to respond to the Strategic Objectives & Consultation prompts

Cross-listing FAQs

Bracketing

Repeated courses in APAS (bracketing) | Overview guide

APAS team process for repeated courses (bracketing)

Modality

When adding an online, remote or blended option, even for one term out of several, update the following fields:

• Will this course ever be offered online or primarily online? “Yes”. This is the only way students will see that there is an online option when searching, and it is key for being able to document the institution’s online offerings.
• Ongoing proposal information: Describe the intended change and the pedagogical reason for this change. For example, indicate if only summer offerings will be online, and whether other changes are in response to enrollment capacity or particular pedagogical innovations in the online environment.
• Syllabus: Add an example of the online, remote or blended course syllabus with sample meeting pattern, if appropriate. Make sure a syllabus for asynchronous instruction still includes information about instructional time and student work per credit.
• Liberal Education/Writing Intensive: Describe how the Liberal Education or Writing Intensive criteria will be delivered in the new modality. It is suggested that particular attention be paid to how small group discussions will take place in an online, remote or blended format. The Center for Educational Innovation has created a resource to assist faculty in best practices surrounding online discussions.