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.
Friday, June 30, 2023
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.
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.
Thursday, June 1, 2023
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
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.
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
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.
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.
Thursday, April 27, 2023
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.
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.
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