| Overview | Importing These Files |
| Video Explaining This File | What Data Can Be Updated |
| Populating These Files | Products That Use These Files |
| Next: Attributes | |
Overview
This file creates the sections being taught in a given term. The Instructors and Enrollments files reference these sections to enroll students in and assign faculty to them.
The Title, Credits, OrgUnitIdentifier, and Description optional fields can be used to override the same fields from the Courses file. If these fields are not populated on a record, the system defaults to the value on the course record to which the section is linked. Consider whether titles, credits, organizational unit, or descriptions ever vary between courses and their related sections when deciding whether to populate these fields. If you are a campus using Insight, you should include all optional fields regardless of whether they are the same as the course.
Video Explaining the Course and Section Files
Best Practices for Populating Sections
Scope
Determine whether there are any sections that should be excluded from your imports to Core Data based on local practices or usage goals. For example, you may or may not want to include sections with no student enrollments, depending on your analytical goals. Work with the functional leaders on your campus to determine what sections to exclude and how to identify them in the data.
SectionIdentifier Source
Build SectionIdentifiers based on the term identifier, subject/department code and course number, and section identifiers rather than using system generated identification numbers to ensure uniqueness and avoid duplicates. The section identifiers defined in this file are also used to link student enrollments and instructor teaching assignments. These identifiers MUST be present in the SIS in a way that can be mapped to enrollments and instructor assignments. When building the Sections file, assess which identifiers are used on the tables that define enrollments and instructors.
Data Relationships
The Sections file references three other identifiers that are defined in other files: TermIdentifier, CourseIdentifier, and OrgUnitIdentifier. These identifiers must either be present on the sections tables or be able to be mapped through another table or view to match the identifiers used in the Academic Terms, Courses, and Organizational Units files.
Start and End Dates
Evaluate the completeness of section start and end dates in your data. Determine whether these should default to the term start and end dates if dates are missing from the section data.
DeliveryMode Mapping
The sections import only accepts 3 enumerated values for DeliveryMode: Face2Face, Hybrid, and Online. These values need to be mapped from the codes used in the SIS using case statements in the SQL scripts. The exact mapping depends on your institution’s usage of these codes in the SIS and how classes are delivered on your campus. Evaluate any fields related to delivery mode in your data and use them to guide your decision-making process.
Crosslisting
The crosslisting field is commonly used to relate sections to each other for course evaluation administration and reporting, particularly when each sections has too few students enrolled to permit reporting on the section individually. Discuss the need for section crosslisting with your consultant. The same identifier should be put in the "CrossListingIdentifier" column in order to cross-listed sections together. To remove a cross-listing from a section import the "Sections" file with the section you would like to remove the cross-listing from and leave the "CrossListingIdentifier" field blank. For more information about how cross-listings are used within Evaluate, see the linked "Cross-Listed Course Sections" documentation..
Term Logic
Term logic for Sections depends on when data for a given term needs to be available in the system, and what kind of data your institution hopes to capture. For the fullest analytical view of enrollment changes and melt, scripts should be written to begin extracting sections as soon as registration for that term opens. That way, sections are available in Core Data to begin linking adds and drops through the Enrollments file. The Section term logic should then run through the end of the term, so that any changes to section data that happen throughout this time period will be brought over each night.
Suggested SIS Tables
Important Information About Importing These Files
Import Order
Courses must be in the system before Course Section data is imported.
What Data Can Be Updated
Once the Sections have been created they cannot be deleted. It is important to have your extract as accurate as possible before it is imported. All of the columns except for the Identifier can be updated by importing an updated file with the new information.
Products That Use Sections
| Product | Required | Optional | Not Applicable |
| Baseline - Rubrics | |||
| Beacon | |||
| Engage | |||
| Evaluate | |||
| Insight | |||
| Outcomes | |||
| Planning |
Requirements for populating these file can be found in the Core Data Dictionary.
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