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Course Catalog File

Course Catalog File Format

Course Catalog File Considerations and Best Practices:

  • This file is required if you are using any of the following modules: Programs, Assessments, Surveys, Faculty CV, Syllabus.

  • When creating your course catalog file, it is important to consider how to make sure the majority of active courses are included. A good rule of thumb for many institutions is to include all active courses that had sections with enrollment in the last 2 academic years. This ensures the correct courses are included in the initial import (during implementation) and are therefore part of data assurance, while also excluding old, outdated courses that are no longer being offered.

  • In the event that the academic structure of your Institution changes, please contact Support to facilitate the implementation of changes to the academic structure. Changes to the academic structure should not be sent to HelioCampus via data files, except in the following cases:

    • If your institutation changes college names and/or department names, but not their respective college and/or department codes, the name change can be sent via the course catalog file. We will update college names and department names ONLY If the code matches an existing code.

Before submitting the file to HelioCampus, please confirm the following:

  • Make sure that all required fields are included in the files.

  • Make sure that the data in the field matches up with the header it belongs to. For example, email addresses are in the email address field.

  • Make sure that there are no duplicate Course Unique IDs

Tip: You can quickly find duplicates by doing the following in Excel:

  1. Highlight the entire CourseUniqueID column

  2. Click Conditional Formatting > Highlight Cells Rules > Duplicate Values > Click Ok

  3. Select the entire sheet > Click Sort & Filter > Custom Sort

    1. Click My data has headers

    2. Sort by: CourseUniqueID

    3. Sort on: Cell Color

    4. Order: Click on the red block

  4. If there is no red block, that means you have no duplicates! No further action is needed.

  5. If there is a red block, click OK

  6. Note the duplicates to discuss and remedy with your team.

  • Make sure that there are no duplicate departments or departments in multiple colleges

Tip: You can do check for department issues by doing the following in Excel

  1. Highlight the entire sheet (Ctrl+A)

  2. Click Insert > PivotChart > Okay

    1. Click on Chart Area and delete

    2. Add CollCode and DeptCode to Rows

    3. Select any field in Row Labels > Design > Report Layout > Show In Tabular Form & Repeat All Item Labels & Do Not Show Subtotals

    4. Copy DeptCode Column (Ctrl+Space) > Copy and paste into new Column > Highlight and Select Data > Remove Duplicates

    5. If duplicates exist, note them for the client to remove and note the associated CollCodes by using a COUNTIF function:

      1. New Column write =COUNTIF($B:$B,D2) where $B:$B is the original DeptCode. Get $$ by hitting Fn+F4 and D2 is the DeptCode column with no dupes

Course Catalog File Format:

Please note when creating the data file in a text editor each column must be surrounded by double quotes and separated by a comma.

Example:

"CourseUniqueId","SubjectCode","CourseNumber","Title","CollCode","CollName","DeptCode","DeptName","ProcessDate"

If a double quote needs to be used for the values then the escape character should be in a double quote

e.g., "This is a ""value"" with double quote."

Example File Name:

institution_catalog.csv

Required Data

Data Field

Data Type

Required | Optional

Description

Impact

CourseUniqueId

String

Required

Unique identifier assigned to the course

Used as unique identifier

SubjectCode

String

Required

Subject of the course; i.e. MATH, MEM, etc.

Needed as part of the unique identifier

CourseNumber

String

Required

Course number; i.e. 101, 700, etc.

Needed as part of the unique identifier

Title

String

Required

Course title; i.e. Introduction to Mathematics

Needed for display purposes

CollCode

String

Required

College code in which the course belongs. Can be alphanumeric. This value must be unique; i.e. there should not be two colleges with the same code value

Needed to link courses to a college

CollName

String

Required

College name in which the course belongs

Needed for display purposes

DeptCode

String

Required

Department code in which the course belongs. Can be alphanumeric. This value must be unique; i.e. there should not be two departments with the same code value

Needed to link courses to a department

DeptName

String

Required

Department name in which the course belongs

Needed for display purposes

ProcessDate

Datetime

Required

Date in which the data was extracted (exported) expected format: YYYY-MM-DD; i.e. 2020-01-13

Needed to validate that consecutive data loads should update existing records

Optional Data

Data Field

Data Type

Required | Optional

Description

Impact

CourseName

String

Optional

For UI display. If blank, display will be generated as combination of SubjectCode and CourseNumber; i.e. MATH 101

If not provided, will display combination of SubjectCode and CourseNumber; i.e. MATH 101

LongDescription

String

Optional

Full course description

Needed for display purposes

EffTerm

String

Optional

TermCode this course was first introduced

If not provided, will appear blank in UI and reports where this data is displayed.

EffPartOfTermCode

String

Optional

PartOfTermCode this course was first introduced

If not provided, will appear blank in UI and reports where this data is displayed.

Preq

String

Optional

Computed course prerequisites for all instances of entries for this course (for display only purpose)

Optional -- If not provided, will appear blank in UI and reports where this data is displayed.

Credits

Numeric

Optional

Total course credit hours or range of credit hours. Both numeric or text values are supported in this field

If not provided, will appear blank in UI and reports where this data is displayed.

ExternalLmsID

String

Optional

Canvas Blueprint Course SIS ID from institution's Canvas LMS

Used to identify connection between Courses and the institution's Canvas LMS Blueprint Courses

CourseCIPCode

String

Optional

Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) Code value for providing information on the unique taxonomy of the academic course

If provided it will be shown on the Course Details page & Course Manager CSV Export

FAQ

  • What courses should we be sending in this file? The majority of active courses should be included in the course catalog file. A good rule of thumb is to include all active courses that had sections with enrollment in the last 2 academic years.

  • What if a course is only offered one semester? These courses should be included to ensure that when the section is sent, there is an associated course.

  • What happens if a course drops from the course catalog file? If a course is dropped from the course catalog file the course will remain in the site. We do not delete records that have been dropped from term-based files.

  • What makes a course unique in the site? The CourseUniqueId is the unique identifier. There should be no duplicate CourseUniqueIds.

  • What happens if a CourseUniqueId is changed? If a CourseUniqueId changes in the files, a new record in the site will be created.

  • What if the name of the course has changed? The Title field is updated nightly based off what is in the files. If a course name is changed in the data files, the site will reflect this change once those files have been processed.

  • Are there any other fields that get updated via the data files? Yes, edits to the course code (SubjectCode + CourseNumber), title, and decsription are provided to HelioCampus via the data files.

  • If no optional data is being sent do I need to include those headers? No, you can just include the required data field headers.

  • What happens if a course in the site is no longer offered? If there is a course in the site that has been removed from the course catalog file and you would no longer like in the site, you can manually archive it from the course homepage.

  • Where does the course catalog information show in the site? Course information sent via the data files can be found in the platform’s Course Manager. The Course Manager is also where you can publish your courses