Overview of Course Request
System (CRS)
Office of Programs and Academic
Assessment (OPAA), UIC
July, 2010
What is the Course Catalog?
• All credit courses approved to be offered by the
•
•
University – 5386 total approved courses
Approved course inventory maintained at UIC by
the Office of Programs and Academic
Assessment
A “course” consists of:
–
–
–
–
Course subject (rubric) and number (Math 220)
Course title (Calculus I)
Credit hours (3 hours)
Grading Modes (e.g., Letter grade awarded, e.g., “A”)
What is the Course Catalog?
Cont’d
– Brief description of content
– Purpose of course, course learning outcomes,
assessment methods
– Prerequisite (e.g., preparation required, e.g.,
coursework)
– Type of instruction (lecture versus lab) and contact
hours (will meet 3 hours each week)
– Special notes and conditions about registration and
credit
– General Education Credit
“Cross-Listed” Courses
• 480 cross-lists at UIC
• Single course listed under more than one course
subject in course catalog
– Example: African-American History is listed as AAST
(African-American Studies) 100 and Hist (History)
100. African-American Studies controls, or has
created the course content
• One unit always “controls” and usually staffs the
•
course
Student is assigned under course he/she
registers for during registration process
Where do courses come from?
• An academic teaching unit sponsors a
course
• A course request may be:
– A new course [does not currently exist]
– A revised course [change in something, like
course title or credit hours]
– A course drop [request to remove from
University records]
Course Request System (CRS)
• Electronic workflow system that manages the
course approval process at UIC
–
–
–
–
http://ossssql1.admin.uillinois.edu/crs/login.asp
Gather information for academic review, student
information for registration and publications (course
schedule and catalog)
Manages workflow to the Office of Programs and
Academic Assessment (OPAA)
Web-based (Explorer or Firefox)
Implemented at UIC in August 2000
Course Approval Process
Dept prepares
course request
Consulting Unit
signoff, OR 14 day
revew expires
Has course
Yes
been routed for
signoff?
No
Is course
cross-listed?
Cross-listing unit
(dept and college,
if different than
controllling
college) aprove
course
Yes
No
College Approval
OPAA Review
Graduate College
Review Required?
Yes
Graduate College
Review & Approval
No
Senate Commitee on
Educational Policy/
Senate Review
Required?
No
No
Yes
SCEP/Senate
Review & Approval
Board of
Trustte/IBHE
Approval
required?
Yes
OPAA Approval
Board of Trustees/
IBHE review &
approval
After approval by the OPAA, the following
needs to take place:
Approved Course
Request
All approving units
notified of course
approval
Course info
entered into
Banner database
Catalog Office notified,
course entered into
online/print catalog
http://www.uic.edu/ucat/
courses/
Scheduling Office
notified of course
(if necessary)
DARS Office
notified of course
information
affecting DARS
tables (where
necessary)
List of New,
Dropped Revised
Courses sent to
Senate
CRS and Banner Schedule
• In general, CRS information is relevant
whenever the course is offered
• CRS information is used to build the
Banner Schedule (Timetable)
• Banner Schedule information applies to a
particular section (term) offering
CRS and Banner Schedule (cont’d)
CRS
Banner Schedule
(sections)
Subject/number, prerequisite,
permanent cross-listing, grading
mode, instruction type, General
Education Credit, credit notes
Title, Credit hours (1-4)
Title (for topics courses only),
credit hours (4 hour section of 1-4
hour course)
Time, day, location, instructor
Authorizations
• Sign-offs, approvals & associated comments
•
•
•
•
recorded in CRS
Units decide who should have access
Possible authorization levels:
– Data entry only
– Data entry with approval/sign-off
– Data entry with surrogate approval/sign-off
Colleges can perform tasks for their units
Paper authorization forms are submitted to
obtain access
http://ossssql1.admin.uillinois.edu/oaa/CRSAuthorization
Features of CRS
• Check boxes, pull-down menus, and some free•
form text
Includes basic validations
– Required fields must be entered
– Logical data entry
– Course rules
• Automatic email notifications
– Notifies users when….
• a course requires their review
• a course has been approved by the campus
Support for CRS
• Over 270 CRS users across campus
• Help available directly from system
• Listserv to communicate with users
• Training sessions held periodically
• CRS User Manual
http://ossssql1.admin.uillinois.edu/oaa/cont
ent/files/CRSHelpManual.pdf
CRS Training Site:
http://ims4.vcaa.uic.edu/CRSTraining/login.asp