UM Report retirement updates

Please see below for ongoing updates related to student records reports being transitioned off of the UM Reports platform. The anticipated timelines may fluctuate based on ongoing testing.   

Reports moved to new platforms and available in Reporting Center:

• Major/Minor Roster
• Eligibility for lower tuition fringe rate assistantship

Reports with work currently in progress:

• Anticipated deployment in early January 2024
• Student Roster Summary Statistics/Detail
• Anticipated deployment in late January 2024
• Dean’s List
• Anticipated deployment in February 2024
• Graduate Education Student Report for Majors/Minors
• Degree Applicants

Reports that have been prioritized and analysis started:

• Student Group Roster
• Grade Selector

Reports that have been prioritized, but no work started:

• Rochester Student Roster
• Graduate Faculty Advising/Committee Summary by Field of Study
• Graduate Faculty Advising/Committee Summary by Faculty
• GE Student Non-Graded Course Enrollments 

Student Services Fee Waiver

The new Student Services Fee Waiver launched in Jadu on December 15. The former WorkflowGen process has been retired. This implementation allows for automated activation and deactivation based on tuition calculation and required deadline dates, and automatically routes UMR requests to Rochester One Stop. The Student Services Fee Assessment request, which is already in Jadu, also received updates to align with the new waiver process. The new Student Services Fee Waiver form can be found on the One Stop website forms page. 

FERPA Q&A

Q: A student has reported a potential FERPA violation to me. The student would like to remain anonymous. What should I do? 

A: This will depend on the nature of the violation and the student’s role in the situation. If the student is an employee, they are required to notify University Information Security (UIS) at security@umn.edu. UIS will research the situation and notify the student whose data was shared if needed. If the student is not an employee, they can submit a UReport anonymously. The University Compliance Program will contact the appropriate department to research and take action as needed. If a UReport is submitted, we will still need the names of the individuals impacted to conduct a thorough search and take action. 

 

FERPA Q&A

Q: Can I email a student their final exam or paper grade?

A: Yes, provided you are sending to the individual student’s umn.edu email account and no other students are copied on the message. You may also wish to review additional information on the safe handling of grading information. If you are using Canvas, encourage students to look up grade information securely there. Once you submit final grades in the Faculty Center, students will be able to view them securely in MyU.  

Planned Changes to Email Offerings (PCEO)

The Office of Information Technology’s Identity and Access Management (IAM) unit has been working on decisions and communications related to the Planned Changes to Email Offerings (PCEO) project (formerly “email for life”). Please note that these changes impact Google workspace, not just email. This will not impact systems where folks continue to log in with their Internet ID (e.g., MyU). 

More information regarding the project and FAQs are available on OIT’s website. Questions can be directed to iam@umn.edu.

2024-2025 FAFSA Update

The US Department of Education announced that the 2024-2025 FAFSA will be available no later than December 31, 2023. In previous years, the FAFSA was published on October 1. This delay is due to work being done to implement a newer, streamlined version for students. 

The Office of Student Finance sent communications to students about this announcement in September to prepare students for impacts of any delays. If you have students with questions about the 2024-2025 FAFSA, you can refer them to the FAFSA Simplification webpage or have them contact One Stop Student Services. 

View an APAS without in-progress courses

As we near the end of the fall semester, many advisors and staff will be reviewing students' APAS reports for degree clearance purposes. The APAS Team wants to remind everyone that an APAS can be run without in-progress courses. Please reference the View APAS without in-progress courses job aid.

Grade entry due dates

A reminder that the undergraduate and graduate regular session grading due date is 11:59 p.m. on Friday, December 29, 2023. Faculty and staff can find grading due dates for other careers and sessions on the ASR Due dates for grades webpage.

A grade entry best practices email will be sent to faculty and instructors on December 7 with more information.

Chatbot launch on One Stop website

The One Stop Student Services chatbot officially launched on October 2, 2023. This chatbot replaces One Stop’s live agent chat with conversational AI technology provided by Ivy.ai. The chatbot is designed to answer questions pertaining to the information on the Twin Cities One Stop website. This shift allows One Stop to move resources to other contact methods where they are better suited to answer student-specific questions. One Stop will continue to monitor the quality of the chatbot responses to ensure a positive user experience.

Spring 2024 registration

Spring 2024 class registration begins Tuesday, November 14. Registration appointment times will be posted for students in MyU on Monday, October 30. Students can find their appointment time by logging into MyU and selecting the "Academics" tab, then selecting the "Registration" sub-tab. Registration times and information on how to register for classes are available on One Stop.

If a student needs their appointment time adjusted because of a system error, contact One Stop Student Services. Include the student's internet ID, student ID, and name. 

2024-2026 Undergraduate catalog

Every two years, the University produces a catalog that requires all programs to review their curriculum and submit a proposal with a fall 2024 effective term. Any revisions necessary to reflect fall 2024 requirements should be entered, approved at the collegiate level, and ready for review at the Provost’s level by March 1, 2024. Undergraduate programs should review the Undergraduate Catalog Checklist. 

Program requirements should be rebuilt in Coursedog to minimize any formatting issues that may have occurred during the data import. See the Coursedog Catalog Guide for additional guidelines on how to enter this information.

New Major/Minor roster

The Major/Minor Roster UM Report was permanently replaced with a UM Analytics dashboard on Monday, October 9, 2023. Some improvements with this dashboard include:

• Data sourced directly without the business logic that was in UM Reports
• The ability to view more than 10 academic plans at one time

The academic level and graduation plan fields will no longer be available in the UM analytics dashboard. If you have access to APLUS, you should be able to find this information there. 

You can access the replacement dashboard by the same link in the Reporting Center that you have always used (Reporting Center > Student Services > Major/Minor Roster). Note: A similar report, “Graduate Education Student Report for Majors/Minors,” is not affected by this change.

If you have any questions, please email srhelp@umn.edu.

FERPA Q&A

Q: May a faculty member include a student’s grade in an email if the email is sent to multiple students?

A: Suppose a faculty member needs to communicate midterm grade information to two students. The faculty sends an email, with both students' email addresses on the “to” line, and in the body of the message gives information about both students’ grades. This would violate FERPA because it discloses private student data. Faculty and staff should never share information like this with multiple email recipients. Emails with private student data should only be sent to that particular student. Incidents such as these can be referred to abuse@umn.edu.

FERPA Q&A

Q: In light of the recent data incident, a student emailed me asking for a copy of their record. Should I provide the information? 

A: If a student is asking for a copy of their academic record, it is best to refer the student to the Data Request Center. The Data Access and Privacy Office will coordinate with the various offices and respond to the student. If a student is only asking for specific information from your subject area, you can fulfill that request. 

2024-2025 FAFSA

Normally available October 1, the 2024-2025 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) will not be available for students until December 2023. This is due to the FAFSA Simplification Act, which also resulted in following changes to the upcoming FAFSA:

• A streamlined and easier process to complete the FAFSA.
• A new method for determining financial need.
• New terminology added to the FAFSA.

For a complete list of changes, see the FAFSA simplification page on the One Stop website. Additional information is available on the Federal Student Aid website. 

Twin Cities One Stop Student Services to launch a chatbot

In early October, One Stop Student Services will replace the live agent chat on its website with chatbot technology provided by Ivy.ai. It’s the same chatbot technology the Office of Information Technology uses on its website. We hope the bot will help students and staff find answers to their registration, financial aid, academic records, billing, veteran services, and graduate student services questions. 

One Stop will continue to be available via email, phone, Zoom, and in person. You can find contact information on the One Stop website.

Coursedog update

Coursedog successfully launched on August 21. Thank you to the many people on all campuses who contributed to the success of this project! Moving forward, Coursedog will be managed by a support team in ASR and governed by a systemwide Curriculum Administration Best Practices Working Group. 

The Coursedog support site provides information like training courses, supplemental guides, access role information, and a link to the Coursedog ARF (Access Request Form). The support team can be reached at coursedog@umn.edu for any questions or issues.

Board of Regents Policy: Student Records Changes

Board of Regents Policy: Student Education Records was adopted in 1991 and last amended in June 2021. This policy sets forth the University’s implementation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), including what student information can be released to the public as “directory information” and what student information can be more narrowly shared as “limited directory information.” The limited directory information category includes “student’s physical addresses, University email address, telephone numbers, and University ID photos.” Directory information can be shared only with student groups and University officials without a student’s written consent.

In the most recent legislative session, the Minnesota State Legislature passed a bill including provisions to facilitate student voter registration. It requires that colleges and universities share student address information with county auditors prior to elections, to the extent permitted by FERPA. The statute includes deadlines for the sharing of this information based on election day.

The University of Minnesota supports the effort to facilitate voter registration. However, in order to provide the information to county auditors the requested student address information, the Student Education Records policy needs a minor edit to include limited directory information being available to county auditors for the purposes of voter registration. 

Several groups have reviewed this policy edit, including campus vice chancellors, the registrar’s offices from each campus, and student affairs offices on each campus. Campuses have committed to consulting with their student government leaders, and this consultation will be concluded prior to the October meeting.

Academic policy revisions available for review - feedback requested by October 11

As part of the academic policy comprehensive review process, proposed policy edits are posted for review by University program leadership, student governance leadership, advisors, and other faculty and staff who administer our academic policies. The University asks for your feedback by Wednesday, October 11, 2023 on the following policies:

• Makeup Work for Legitimate Absences: Twin Cities, Crookston, Morris, Rochester
• Mandatory Attendance at First Class Session and Consequences for Absence: Twin Cities, Crookston, Morris, Rochester
• Application of Credits for Students Earning Graduate Degrees

If you have any trouble accessing these policy materials or have general questions about this review process, please contact barne062@umn.edu. If you have questions about a particular policy undergoing review, please email the contact listed in the policy

U Card reminder

With the start of the term approaching, remember to bring your U Card to ensure access to campus buildings. You can find entrances with a card reader by reviewing Campus Maps and turning on the layer for Accessibility in the top right.

13-Credit exemption retired

The 13-credit exemption process has officially been retired. Here are a few things to consider to make this a smooth transition for students and staff:

• The exemption will no longer be entered into PeopleSoft. If you have relied on that data in the past (e.g., awarding scholarships), a change in policies and/or practices may be needed.
• Review your communications, websites, and printed materials to ensure that references to “13-credit policy” or “13-credit requirement” are removed or updated. References to tuition costs above the 13 credits are "flat rate tuition."
• 13 credits is not enough for most students to stay on track for timely graduation or maximize certain types of financial aid. We encourage you to promote 15 credits of enrollment where appropriate.

A full-time credit fact sheet will be included in the Advising Toolkit. For details on how APLUS has adapted to this change, please attend the Fall 2023 APLUS Training.

Policy reminders

As we near the start of the term, we wanted to share a few policy reminders. The Mandatory Attendance policy requires students to attend the first class meetings for all classes in which they are enrolled unless they have prior approval from their instructor to be absent. Please consult the policy FAQ for more details on how this policy applies to online classes or when students register after the first day of classes.

Please also consult the Makeup Work for Legitimate Absences policy and the Makeup Work FAQ. Reasonable accommodations must be made for students who have legitimate absences, including:

• Illness, especially for in-person or blended classes
• Religious holiday observance
• Pre-approved first-day absence
• Late registration

We recommend reviewing the Student Conduct Code, particularly its definition of scholastic dishonesty, which includes unauthorized use of learning support platforms. This information should be included in a course’s syllabus so students are able to understand the standards, expectations, and reference techniques appropriate to the subject area and class requirements, including internet use and group work.

FERPA Q&A

Q: A student emailed me asking for a copy of their record. Should I provide the information?

A: If a student is asking for a copy of their academic record, it is best to refer the student to the Data Request Center. The Data Access and Privacy Office will coordinate with the various offices and respond to the student. If a student is only asking for specific information from your subject area, you can fulfill that request. 

Coursedog launches August 21

Coursedog—the integrated course and program approval workflow system replacing ECAS, PCAS, and University catalogs—will launch Monday, August 21. All previous users of ECAS and PCAS will automatically have equivalent access in Coursedog and individual invitations to required training have been sent to them. Any new access will need to be requested after Coursedog launches. Post-launch information on requesting access, completing training, and support contact information can be found at z.umn.edu/coursedog-support.

ECAS and PCAS will be available as view-only for several months as a historical reference.

In addition to changes in the curriculum management workflow, there will be significant changes to the University catalog and the links to individual programs. The main page for catalogs will remain catalogs.umn.edu, but users will select which campus they want to view. The links for each program within the catalog (starting with https:/onestop2.umn.edu/pcas) will be different. Any website currently pointing to an individual program page in the catalog will need to manually update them to the new link. More information about this is on the Coursedog Project webpage.

If you have questions, please direct them to coursedog@umn.edu.

Destiny One Registration System support site update

The Destiny One (DORS) support website was recently redesigned to highlight the benefits of using DORS and to make getting started easier. This secure and cost-effective software can be used in a variety of ways: from conference and event planning, to memberships and non-credit registration. Versatile and user-friendly, DORS provides an eCommerce experience that is perfect for today’s users. Many University departments are unaware of how DORS could help them, and instead use third party systems, introducing unnecessary costs and risks.

Take a moment to check out the site and share the information with those in your unit to plan events and conferences, manage organization memberships, and other non-credit registration. For more information, or if you have any questions, please email dorshelp@umn.edu.

FERPA Q&A

Q: Our department is planning to hire student employees for the upcoming semester. We need to verify their course history for the job qualifications. Can I look this up using the access I have?

A: No, you should not use your access as part of assessing an applicant’s qualifications. The student should provide the information to you, and the same details should be asked of all applicants. If you have questions, please ask your human resources representative for assistance in obtaining the information.

COVID vaccine requirement for students

After consulting with numerous UMN governance bodies and implementing a formal 30-day comment period to retire the policy, the University will end the COVID-19 vaccine requirement for students and employees effective July 1, 2023.

As part of ending the student COVID-19 vaccination requirement, Academic Support Resources (ASR) will be retiring system messaging and the AG2 holds. This includes removing prior and current AG2 holds from student records. Existing holds will be removed via a batch process on Friday, June 30. For more information about the University’s response to COVID-19, visit Safe Campus.

13-Credit Exemption reminder

Starting with fall 2023, students who enroll in fewer than 13 credits will no longer need to submit a “13-credit exemption.” They will automatically be charged the per-credit tuition rate. Students who enroll in 13 or more credits will continue to receive the benefits of the tuition cap.

Please note that the retirement of the 13-credit exemption process means the exemption itself will no longer be entered into PeopleSoft. If you have relied on that data in the past (e.g., awarding scholarships), then a change in policies and/or practices may be needed. Resources are being worked on this summer, including a guide for advisors and APLUS updates. More details will be available closer to the start of fall term.

FERPA Q&A

Q: Some of our students are eligible to apply for scholarships funded by a private donor. In the past, the college has provided basic information to the donor, such as the name of the recipient, their college, and major. The donor is now asking for additional information on the recipient. What information are we allowed to share?

A: Students applying for scholarships agree that basic information about them, such as their name, college, and major can be shared. You would need to get consent from the student to share any private data, such as pronouns, anticipated grad date, or scholarship amount. If you want to share private data about them to the donor, you can add it into the consent process and inform students what data will be shared, so they are aware beforehand and agree to it.

Coursedog update

The Coursedog project is moving towards our August 21, 2023 launch date. Thank you to all of our fabulous project team members and stakeholders who have provided their time & expertise throughout the project. Without campus support, this transition from ECAS & PCAS to Coursedog would not be possible.

User Acceptance Testing (UAT)

This month, 18.5% of current ECAS & PCAS users in the University community participated in UAT testing to validate that the Coursedog system fulfills business requirements. These participants represented almost every TC college and each campus. A post-test survey found that Coursedog scored better or about the same as ECAS & PCAS in all of the following: look & feel, intuitiveness, accuracy, time/number of steps required to complete a task, and help functions.

Upcoming milestones

• Coursedog "freeze": June 2, 2023
• The project team will be locked out of the Coursedog system as they work to copy over our Coursedog testing environment configurations and settings to a new production environment.
• ECAS & PCAS “freeze”: July 8, 2023
• The data transfer between current systems and Coursedog begins. Extensive data validation is completed, and ECAS and PCAS users of all levels will no longer be able to make any changes in current systems.
• Coursedog Training Modules available: July 2023
• Coursedog training modules will become available in Training Hub starting the end of July 2023. Current ECAS & PCAS users will receive an email invite as soon as they are ready.
• Coursedog go-live: August 21, 2023
• Coursedog will become available to previous users of ECAS and PCAS at equivalent access roles.

More information, including a project timeline and sneak peak videos, are available on the Coursedog project page.

Course Section Modality Dashboard

The Course Section Modality Dashboard is now available. The dashboard shows visual representations of modality (e.g., online, blended, in-person) at the course section level to demonstrate the educational offerings within a specific term.

• Access: Available to anyone with UM Reporting Center access, UMN systemwide
• Audience: Deans, department chairs, departmental administrators, and others responsible for creating strategies around class offerings
• Data refresh: Daily

This dashboard can be found on the Enrollment Management & Student Success Hub in the “Curriculum and Courses” focus area.

FERPA Q&A

Q: What if a parent comes with a student to orientation? How does FERPA apply to students admitted to the University, but haven’t started classes? 

A: It is not unusual for a parent to attend the orientation and registration sessions for an incoming student. From a FERPA perspective, you should obtain written permission from the student prior to allowing the parent to attend either of these activities. In practice, however, often the most practical thing to do is to take the student away from their parent, and ask if they want the parent to be present during these sessions, while explaining to the student that it truly is their choice. If the student agrees to the parent being present, they should agree to this in writing. If the student does not want to have the parent present, politely explain to the parent that orientation and registration activities are only for the student.

Update on Graduation Planner replacement

In April 2022, the Stellic project (to replace Graduation Planner and Schedule Builder) was paused because we were not confident in the project’s launch based on its progress, and we needed to shift resources to the Coursedog project. At the conclusion of the pause, it was determined that there was not a good path forward to launching Stellic. The contract has now been terminated. 

ASR is currently evaluating potential options for a Graduation Planner replacement. This includes working with Purchasing to determine if we need to re-issue an RFP, or if we can look to the 2nd and 3rd choices from our previous RFP. ASR will also be reviewing the tool offered by CollegeSource (our vendor for APAS) to learn what improvements have been made to their product since the RFP.  

The timing of a new project is dependent on several factors. In addition to the potential of needing to complete a new RFP, resources are currently dedicated to the Coursedog project, and there is other work that needs to be completed after that concludes. For these reasons, the earliest a project could be launched with an identified solution would be in 2024. Until a replacement is in place, Graduation Planner and Schedule Builder will remain available. 

FERPA Q&A

Q: Can a student challenge a grade by using their FERPA right to request an amendment to their student record?

A: No. The right to amend a student record is for information that is inaccurate or misleading due to a recording error. It does not apply to a substantive decision, such as what grade was awarded. Students do have the right to receive an explanation for their grades under University policy, and can seek assistance from the Student Conflict Resolution Center if needed.

FERPA Q&A

Q: Our Events staff have asked for student names, email addresses, and mailing addresses to forward to the commencement photographer who will use the information to mail photo proofs taken at the ceremony to students. This information is considered limited directory information. Does this mean we need to receive permission from each individual student in order to release their information to the photographer? Or can we share the information so long as the student has not fully suppressed this information in their record?

A: Student contact information that hasn't been suppressed is in the "limited directory category," which means we can share it within the institution.

In a case like this, there are two potential options:

1. The photographer has a contract with the University, and the contract designates the photographer as a school official and obligates them to securely handle student data.
2. Students provide consent.

ASR recommends option 2. Most graduation processes have a student consent component built into them. This is typically for the student to give consent to have their name in the program or to have content on a website, regardless of whether they change their directory suppression status. Consent for the photographer can be built into this process similarly.

Grade Accountability Policy

The updated Grade Accountability Policy has been published in the policy library. Minor edits were made for clarity and to respond to community feedback received during public comment.

Completion of Parchment storefront upgrade

The University’s transcript vendor, Parchment, completed a storefront upgrade on March 21, 2023. This upgrade improved Parchment's interface, making it easier for users to order transcripts and duplicate diplomas. Single sign-on with internet ID and password continues to work, but anyone who created a Parchment account prior to March 21, 2023 will need to create a new account when they log in for the first time after the upgrade.

Fall 2023 registraion times

Fall 2023 class registration begins Thursday, April 13. Registration appointment times were posted for students in MyU on Monday, March 27. Students can find their appointment time by logging into MyU and selecting the "Academics" tab, then selecting the "Registration" sub-tab. Registration times and information on how to register for classes are available on One Stop.

If a student needs their appointment time adjusted because of a system error, contact One Stop Student Services (onestop@umn.edu). Include the student's internet ID, student ID, and name.

Coursedog update: Timeline adjusted

The project team is currently completing Quality Assurance (QA) testing for configuration and data integrations into the Coursedog curriculum and catalog products. While their QA testing is almost complete, the team encountered more issues than initially expected. As a result, they’ll need more time to resolve the issues, and the go-live date will need to be adjusted. Coursedog will now go live at the end of August 2023 (originally June 2023).

The team’s primary goal is to ensure that the Coursedog product is of the highest possible quality for University staff at go-live. The additional 8 weeks of time will allow the team to deliver a best-quality product for users participating in User Acceptance Testing in May 2023. This will result in a better product at launch in August. Over the next week, communications regarding this change will be sent to current ECAS & PCAS users and additional stakeholders.

Updated Enrollment Appointments course released

Work continues on refreshing the Student Data Update Add-on training courses. An updated version of the Enrollment Appointments course was released mid-February. Only new users who need to add or update enrollment appointments are required to take this course.

FERPA Q&A

Q: Will there be any training regarding the best way to contact students who have been suspended or on leave of absence and their U of M email is canceled? We can't use their personal email to share personal information. This could be challenging when we are trying to assist suspended or leave of absence students with coming back to school.

A: The first group of students impacted by the discontinuation of ‘email for life’ will be students earning a degree in spring 2023. Currently, there are no changes planned for suspended students or those that are on a leave of absence. As of now, you can still contact them through their U of M email address. As we learn more about the upcoming technology changes regarding ‘email for life,’ we will provide information on how to best communicate with students in a FERPA-compliant manner.

FERPA Q&A

Q: Can I send private student data to a non-university account if the student says it's ok?

A: If you are sending any private student information in the message, you need to use the umn.edu email account. This is consistent with the FERPA requirement that schools use reasonable methods to identify and authenticate the identity of a student when disclosing student education records. Because of the authentication on umn.edu accounts, plus our policy language on not sharing login credentials, we can be assured that we are communicating directly with the student when sending information to a umn.edu email account.

While students provide us with personal email accounts, we lack assurances that the account is still theirs or have kept that information up to date in our systems. However, if you are having trouble reaching a student and have sent multiple emails, it can be a good idea to send a message to a personal email address letting them know more specific details have been sent to their umn.edu account. The message to the personal email account can’t contain any private student information though.

"Email for Life" to be retired

Beginning in the spring semester 2023, the Office of Information Technology (OIT) will start to discontinue the practice of providing University of Minnesota email accounts (Email for Life) to people who are no longer actively studying or working at the University using a phased approach.

In phase one, the first group will only include students who will graduate with a degree from an undergraduate program this semester. Additional groups will be included according to a planned schedule. You can learn more details on the Email for Life to be Retired page.

Student Data Update add-on courses

Work continues on refreshing the Student Data Update Add-on training courses. An updated version of the Credit Exemptions course was released early this month. Only new users who need to enter 13-credit exemptions are required to take this course. Work is now underway on the Enrollment Appointments Add-on course.