Course Section Data Standard

Intended Audience and Contact Information

Contact	Chief Data Officer, Office of the CIO
Intended Audience	Internal UBC
UDM Domain	Academic
Applicability	Credit, Non-Credit
Data Standard ID	DS0050

Change Log

Standard Version Date	Change Log
2024-05-07	Changed the name of the data standard from Course Section Definition Data Standard to Course Section Data Standard Added Definition section Updated the following under the Course Section Attributes section: Added Applicability column to indicate if the attribute applies to Credit or Non-Credit learning opportunities Added the following new attributes under Course Section Attributes section: Delivery Mode, Start Day Offset, End Day Offset, LMS Indicator Changed name of Section Registrants attribute to Total Section Registration Added accepted values for Instructor Roles [Non-Credit] Added Delivery Mode section
2023-04-26	Added the following new attributes under Course Section Attributes Section: Course Section Status, Hide Course Section, Recurrence, Total Restricted Capacity, Unreserved Capacity, Section Registrants, Projected Registration, Instructor Role, Course Section Tag, Course Section Tag Category, Private Course Tag Category Added synonym to Restricted Capacity Added Course Section Status section Added Course Section Tag Category section
2023-04-06	Updated the following under the Assignable Instructor Role section: Changed the value for names for all 'Teaching Assistant (TA)' values to 'TA' Added and asterisk (*) note to clarify meaning of 'TA' acronym
2023-02-13	Update to format for Course Section Number.
2022-12-12	Mapping of Invalid values From Systems(s) of Record (SoR) to Common Services sub-section of Compliance section added.
2021-11-01	Data Standard published.

Definition

A Course Section is a specific implementation of a course component that have been made available for registration by associating them with one or more academic periods, a delivery mode, a meeting pattern, and in some cases a scheduled physical location.

Purpose

This standard aims to achieve consistency around the data collected for Course Section for staff and administrators, and the format in which it is collected and stored.

This standard is derived by UBC and applies to all applications collecting Course Section Definition. Exceptions are listed in the Dispensation section.

Standard

Course Section Attributes

The following are the data elements and accepted values associated with creating a course section:

Data Element	Definition	Applicability	Format
Section Title	The full title of the course section. This value is inherited from the Course, or can be updated as determined by the Faculty to denote the title of the Special Topic.	Credit Non-Credit	Text
Abbreviated Section Title	The short title of the course section. This value is inherited from the Course, or may be updated as determined by the Faculty to denote the title of the Special Topic.	Credit	Text
Section Number	Represents a unique numerical or alpha numerical value for each section delivered for a course in a period.	Credit Non-Credit	Alphanumeric For Special Topic Variable Credit (STVC) Course Section Number, use: SpecialTopicName>_Alphanumeric
Academic Period	Represents the session or term a section is offered. It is based on the duration of an academic activity or a group of activities that provide a comprehensive guide to all university programs, courses, services and policies.	Credit Non-Credit	Academic Periods and Representation Data Standard
Start Date	The scheduled date for the start of a Course Section. The Start Date for an academic-credit Course Section normally aligns to the start of the Academic Term in which it is scheduled; for example, September 4 for Winter Term 1.	Credit Non-Credit	YYYY-MM-DD
End Date	The scheduled date for the end of a Course Section. The End Date for an academic-credit Course Section normally aligns to the end of the Academic Term in which it is scheduled; for example, April 1 for Winter Term 2.	Credit Non-Credit	YYYY-MM-DD
Course Section Status	The state of a Course Section at a given point in time.	Credit Non-Credit	Reference List See Course Section Status section for accepted values.
Hide Course Section	An indicator that excludes the Course Section from reports and system tasks that can be accessed by students. This indicator will be used to exclude course sections that should not be available for registration by students, such as Administrative Shell Courses.	Credit	True/False (Boolean)
Delivery Mode	Delivery Mode is the means by which a Course Component is delivered. Refer to A Guide to Curriculum Submissions for UBC Okanagan and UBC Vancouver for more information on each of the delivery modes.	Credit Non-Credit	Reference List See Delivery Mode section for accepted values.
Meeting Pattern	A combination of times and days that are assigned to a course section.	Credit Non-Credit	Day(s) and Time(s)
Recurrence	Indicates whether the Course Section will be scheduled on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.	Credit	Numeric (1 or 2) Where: 1 = weekly 2 = biweekly
Instructional Location	A physical location in which a course section will be held.	Credit Non-Credit	Reference List
Restricted Capacity This is also referred to as Reserved Capacity in Workday.	The number of seats in a Course Section that have been set aside for Student Registration for students that meet a specific Student Eligibility Rule.	Credit	Numeric
Total Restricted Capacity This is also referred to as Total Reserved Capacity in Workday.	The number of seats in a Course Section that have been set aside for Student Registration for each Student Eligibility Rule that has been applied to that section.	Credit	Numeric
Unreserved Capacity	The number of seats in a Course Section that are available for Student Registration without any specified restriction criteria.	Credit	Numeric
Section Capacity	Total number of seats of a course section excluding wait-list seats. Unrestricted seats = section capacity – restricted capacity	Credit Non-Credit	Numeric
Total Section Registration This is also referred to as Enrolled in Workday.	The total number of seats in a Course Section that have been filled through Student Registration.	Credit	Numeric
Wait List Capacity	Total number of waitlist seats for the course section.	Credit	Numeric
Projected Registration This is also referred to as Projected Enrollment in Workday.	The estimated number of seats that will be filled via Student Registration. This field will be populated using data from the Scheduling system. This attribute can be used for location usage analysis.	Credit	Numeric
Instructor Role	An approved Instructor role that can be assigned to a person for a Course Section in the system.	Credit Non-Credit	Reference List See Instructor and Teaching Assistant Roles section for accepted values.
Teaching Assistant Role This is also referred to as an Instructor Role in Worday.	An approved Teaching Assistant role that can be assigned to a person for a Course Section in the system.	Credit	Reference List See Instructor and Teaching Assistant Roles section for accepted values.
Published Instructor Roles	The assigned Instructor Roles and Teaching Assistant Roles that will be displayed on the student view of a published course section.	Credit	Reference List See Instructor and Teaching Assistant Roles section for accepted values.
Assignee ID Type	The type of identifier for a worker that will be assigned to a course section.	Credit	Reference List See Person Identifier Data Standard for accepted values.
Assignee ID	The value of the identifier for the worker that will be assigned to a course section.	Credit	Numeric
Course Section Tag	The label applied to a Course Section for operational or reporting purposes.	Credit	Text
Course Section Tag Category	The grouping of Course Section Tags based on a common administrative purpose.	Credit	Reference List See Course Section Tag Category section for accepted values.
Private Course Tag Category	Indicates whether the Course Tag or Course Section Tag will be hidden from students. This indicator will only be selected for Course Section Tags under the following Course Section Tag Categories: Course Section for Scheduling.	Credit	True/False (Boolean)
Start Day Offset	The number of days to adjust the course section start date for provisioning of access to university systems or services, such as a learning management system	Non-Credit	Numeric
End Day Offset	The number of days to adjust the course section end date for provisioning of access to university systems or services, such as a learning management system	Non-Credit	Numeric
LMS Indicator	Specifies if a course section's content is delivered using a Learner Management System (LMS)	Credit Non-Credit	True/False

The following data elements are inherited from the Course of Instruction. Refer to the Course Data Standard for more information.

Data Element
Course Subject
Course Number
Course ID
Grading Basis
Description
Instructional Format
Academic Unit
Special Topic
Maximum Unit (Credit)
Minimum Unit (Credit)

Course Section Status

The following are the accepted values for Course Section Status:

Accepted Value	Definition
Preliminary	Indicates that the Course Section has been created but not yet published.
Open	Indicates that the published Course Section is available for Student Registration.
Waitlist	Indicates that the published Course Section has reached capacity and a wait list has been opened for the section.
Closed	Indicates that capacity for the published Course Section has been reached and no further registration can occur.
Cancelled	Indicates that the published Course Section is no longer being offered.
Hold	Indicates that the Course Section is awaiting approval. This has not been configured as there is no intention to use this status at this time.

Instuctor and Teaching Assistant Roles

Instructor and Teaching Assistant Roles are a subset of Assignable Roles. An Assignable Role is a mechanism for the collection of role assignments (membership). Assignable Roles are assigned to Positions. Workers hired into a position inherit the role assignment through the position.

The following are the accepted values for Instructor Roles [Credit]:

Instructor Role Accepted Value	Role Description
Instructor Teaching	The role is for directly teaching, instructing or lecturing students in a course section.
Instructor Coordinating	The role is for designing, developing, implementing, administrating and coordinating instructors and other persons to deliver a course section.
Instructor Grading	The role is for determining and submitting the final grades students have earned for a course section.

The following are the accepted values for Teaching Assistant Roles [Credit]:

Teaching Assistant Role Accepted Value	Role Description
TA* Student Contact L1	The role is for instructing in lectures and stand-alone laboratories. This person is present with students during course section meeting times and/or organized teaching activities.
TA* Student Contact L2	The role is for supporting instruction in lectures, laboratories, discussion periods and tutorials. This person is present with students during course section meeting times and/or organized teaching activities.
TA* Marking	The role is for marking exams, tests or assignments.
TA* Assisting	The role is for assisting students in office hours, invigilation and/or other miscellaneous duties. With this duty this person will not be interacting with students during course section meeting times and/or organized teaching activities.

Note: All Teaching Assistant* (TA) duties are performed under the supervision of a faculty member.

The following are the accepted values for Instructor Roles [Non-Credit]:

Instructor Role Accepted Value	Role Description
Instructor Teaching	The role is for directly teaching, instructing or lecturing students in a course section.
Facilitator	The role is for a person that may instruct a class using existing content, a person that provides support to a teacher instructor, or a person that assists with an independent study type course. This person may be involved in grading or evaluation but is not solely responsible.
Content Developer	The role is for a person that only creates course content but does not teach or support learners.
Course Assistant (synonyms: Course Moderator, Mentor Coach)	The role is for a person that assists in the delivery of a course or program. May interact with students, and may assist with grading or evaluation.
Marker	The role is for a person that only grades or evaluates learners but does not directly interact with them.
Guest Instructor	The role is for a person invited to present expert content in an instructor capacity for a limited time. This person may need to interact with learners for the purpose of facilitating discussion.

Course Section Tag Category

The following are the accepted values for Course Section Tag Category:

Accepted Value	Definition
Course Section for Scheduling	The category that identifies cancelled Course Sections in order to prevent them from being sent from Workday to the Scheduling system. This is also known as Course Section to Prevent Scheduling.

Delivery Mode

The following are the accepted values for delivery modes of a course:

Accepted Value	University Glossary Term	Definition
In-Person Learning	In-Person Learning [Delivery Mode]	The Course Component is delivered at a designated location(s) where the Student must be physically present in order to complete learning outcomes.
Online Learning	Online Learning [Delivery Mode]	The Course Component is delivered online, and does not require the Student to be present at a designated physical location to complete learning outcomes. The Course Component may be synchronous or asynchronous, or a combination of both.
Hybrid Learning	Hybrid Learning [Delivery Mode]	The Course Component is delivered as a structured combination of in-person and online sessions, which may include assessments. Students must attend some in-person sessions in order to complete learning outcomes.
Multi-Access Learning	Multi-Access Learning [Delivery Mode]	The Course Component is intentionally modelled by the instructor so that the learning activities are accessible to students both in-person and online, and the Student can either choose the format to attend or the student’s location would dictate the format.

Please see: A Guide to Curriculum Submissions for UBC Okanagan and UBC Vancouver for more information on each of the delivery modes.

Compliance

This standard must be complied with every stage of the data lifecycle with the exception of any dispensations (see Dispensation section):

All applications must collect data as recommended in this standard.
Enterprise Data Integration must adopt this standard.

Reference Data Compliance for Data Integration

The use of accepted reference data values in this standard for data integration among applications must comply with the enterprise integration pattern of leveraging the reference data common service API (Application Programming Interface) published in UBC MuleSoft Exchange.

Any application that intends to access real-time, case-level reference data should have the application owner or manager complete and submit a Request API Access form.

MAPPING OF INVALID VALUES FROM SYSTEM(S) OF RECORD (SOR) TO COMMON SERVICES

A common service can only accommodate standard reference data enumerations that are available in the SoR as approved by the Data Governance Steering Committee or Data Trustee.

A reference data value that does not match any of the standard reference data value enumerations is considered ‘invalid’. Any records from a SoR containing an invalid reference data value for a given data element or attribute must be mapped as an ‘empty’ value in common service(s). Where a reference data value may potentially have the same meaning as a standard enumeration but named differently in the system of record can be corrected to match the appropriate standard enumeration. Please consult with the EDG team in such cases.

Additional Reference Data values in a SoR that are not part of the standard reference data enumerations are to be omitted in the common service.

Dispensation

Legacy systems are exempt from this data standard. As systems are replaced, adoption of this standard is required. Examples of legacy systems are:

Student Information System (SIS)

As existing systems change to adopt this standard, the Enterprise Data Governance team needs to be informed.

For any compliance questions or requests for a temporary dispensation, please contact the Enterprise Data Governance Team.