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Q: We have some general concerns about the relationship of the DS file to the CN and the ST files. As the DO and DS are created prior to the term, it is feasible that there would be course sections submitted in the DS that were created to run, but then did not. This would mean there may be some sections in the DS file that would not appear in the CN or ST files, as we do not provide you information in courses with zero enrollments. It would be important that when the CN and ST are then created, that it does not create an error, but rather a warning. Do you agree? What would that warning message look like?
A:
We have created a couple of warnings for these files. There will be a warning
when submitting the DO or DS that will state this course or section id has
not been submitted in a previous CI or CN file and asks if the user wants
to proceed or give the option for such. There is also a warning that will
be created when the CI and CN data reporter reports their data that there
were XXX courses or sections that were added to the OLN course catalogue that
do not appear in their CI or CN submission.
Q: Is there an opportunity to expand the number of characters in the call number? Our institutional call numbers are 7 characters long, not six as you've allowed for.
A:
The field is now 12 characters long.
Q: Can you give us some direction on fees, please?? Are you looking for total cost to the participant for this course, or are you looking for per credit hour fees, or some alternative? Do you want lab fees (if applicable) included?
A:
This fee field did not change from the previous OLN submission, so your OLN
data reporter would continue to submit the data as they have in the past.
You may want to make a note of lab fees in the “Technical Requirements
for Participation” field.
Q: We are wondering why you have section length instead of end-date. The system maintains begin and end dates, but it would require programming to calculate the number of days. Additionally, if I was a potential student, I'd much prefer knowing end-date; otherwise I would find myself calculating that date. Can this be rethought?
A:
We have added a “Section Ends” field to capture
the end date. Users have three options with the Section Starts and Section
Ends fields- they can fill in a date, they can enter the specified text or
they can leave them blank.
Q: We seek clarification on the SECTION OPEN field. All students are required to be admitted at our institution (and all colleges, I believe), so our first thought was we would enter N in this field for all course sections. But then we read that they would not be listed in the OLN. What are you really asking for? Please clarify.
A:
Section open was put in place because some institutions require a formal admittance
to the university before they can take the course. Entering a “Y”
states that registration to the course section is open to any person wishing
to take the course AND THE COURSE WILL BE POSTED ON THE OLN WEBSITE. Entering
“N” states that the course section is restricted to students formally
admitted to the institution AND WILL NOT BE POSTED TO THE OLN WEBSITE. However,
we will be able to use these courses to capture these DL enrollments in HEI.
Q: Again, why the delete switch? Once submitted, is it assumed that these fields will continually be maintained?
A:
The delete switch is the only way a school can correct (using the batch process)
course and section information if it was loaded with errors. If the course
is entered onto the database, and suddenly cancelled, this field would be
used.
Q: It appears the methods of communication field is open-ended. Is this true? Why?
A:
Yes it is open ended. This field was requested by OLN and will be used to
populate the new “Transition pages on-the-fly.” The transition
page is specific for each course, and in the old method data reporters would
create a transition page for every course and section on their own. The “On-the-Fly”
pages will use the data submitted for each course to make a course-specific
webpage, which will be less work for the data reporter. This field could include
such text as “e-mail, phone, instant messaging, etc.,” whatever
the instructor will use.
Q: When you ask about frequency of on-site communication - if on-site visit is not necessary, is the answer NA? You aren't asking about distance interactions, right?
A: This is for the number or number of types of contacts that the student will have on or with the host campus. There is a separate field for on-site visits.
Q: What is the relationship
to the ST file?
A:
The course section identifiers, course identifiers, year and term will be
matched against the Course Enrollment (CN) file per question 1 of the DS file.
Otherwise there is no relationship between the DS and ST file.
Q: I continued to get a failure message indicating "invalid course identifier (15PSYC102) and Section Identifier (707) combination." However, the system still allowed me to submit the section???
A:
That would be correct. The program will look to see if this
course ID and section ID combination has been previously submitted to HEI
in the Course Inventory (CI) and Course Enrollment (CN). The CI and CN are
submitted after each term with the previous term's information. Since the
DO and DS are being submitted in advance of these files, in most cases, the
system will let you know that it has no record of these courses and sections,
but since they might be new, they need to be submitted. We will have an alternate
message for the CI and CN data reporters that certain courses and sections
were submitted in the DO and DS, and that they may include them in their submissions.
All these steps will allow us to meet our goal of tracking enrollments in
distance learning courses.
Q: The instructions say that "course sections for degree courses reported in the DS must be reported in the CN and the ST.” Our question is the must part. Since the DS is sent early, what if a course is offered, but then no one enrolls and it's not reported in the ST or CN?
A: We have implemented a warning when the CN is submitted that will alert the user to the DS files that were submitted, but whose sections are not reported in the CN. You will still be able to load your file, but it will then be assumed that there were zero enrollments for that course section if a subsequent CN record is not submitted.
Q: Delivery (web, CD_ROM, etc.) these are different from those in the ST. As you know, we've been submitting NA in the ST. Is there going to be an effort to come up with common delivery methods between the 2 files?
A:
Probably not. There is more of a need for the specific (and concurrently different)
types of delivery for distance learning users. This field in the DS is important
for an outside party, whereas the information in the ST is simply for the
state to keep track of advancements in classroom technology. This field will
not be matched up between the two files.
Q: The Section Open field was not clear to us. The way we interpret it is that N would be the default entry since no one can register for classes unless they have been formally admitted to the institution. However, if that’s the case, we might as well not list any courses since this would imply that no sections are available. We’re wondering whether the field refers to students who need to be accepted into a program. For instance, students cannot get into the Legal Assisting courses unless they have been accepted into the Legal Assisting program. Could you clarify this?
A: Institutions might want to want to keep a record of courses that are offered via distance learning while still restricting enrollment in them for reasons of selective-admissions. If there is an N in the Section Open field, the course will not be displayed on the OhioLearns! Course Catalog. It will be stored in the HEI database as a distance learning course.
Q:
I am in
the process of loading the DS files. There are no errors, however 139 warnings
with the same message: “WARNING CODE C12 New Course and Section ID”
Should I ignore this and upload the files anyway?
A: This warning means your school
has never sent us that section number with that course id. If you reuse section
numbers, then you probably want to make sure they match how the HEI folks
have sent the sections. However, if you use new section numbers for a course
each term, then you can ignore this message and request load on the file.
Q: The ending (of my
DO file) must not be right. The first time I submitted, it didn't like my
last row (course), so I deleted that row and resubmitted. Now it doesn't like
my new last row. It must need some kind of end message.
A: You are right in that it
doesn't like your new last row, and that is why you are getting all those
weird errors. The reason- you are missing a "~" at the end of that
row. Since you leave course comments blank, course description must end with
a tilde. If you add the tilde, and resubmit, it should wor