Handbook Course Request Management Version 2.0 January 8, 2018
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Table of Contents Part 1: Preparation... 3 Preparing to Create the Student Registration Screen... 4 Grade Level Requirements... 5 Gathering Course Group Information... 6 Part 2: Course Groups... 7 Creating Course Groups... 8 Creating Course Groups... 8 Part 3: Student Registration Screen... 11 Student Registration Screen Setup... 12 Adding Course Requirements... 12 Single Course Requirement... 15 Multi-Course Requirement... 18 Core Requirement... 21 Previewing the Student Registration Screen... 23 Enabling or Disabling the Student Registration Screens... 26 Disabling Class Registration... 27 Removing Access to Course Requests in the Parent/Student Portal... 27 Part 4: For Students... 28 Accessing the Class Registration Form in the Student/Parent Portal... 29 Part 5: For Counselors... 32 Accessing the Request Management Page in... 33 Course Request Management Page 1
Course Request Management Page 2
Part 1: Preparation Course Request Management Page 3
Preparing to Create the Student Registration Screen Before creating the Student Registration Screen, some preparation is required and will vary from school to school. It is important to know the grade-level requirements for your school. What are the required courses and number of credits students must take in each grade level? IMPORTANT! It is recommended that you update your Course Catalog in PowerScheduler before starting this process. Please refer to the Scheduling Course Catalog job aid. Creating the Student Registration Screen involves several steps: 1. Collect the appropriate grade-level information, see Grade-Level Requirements beginning on page 5. 2. Create Course Groups, see Creating Course Groups on page 8. 3. Setup the Student Registration Screen, see Student Registration Screen Setup on page 12 Spend some time researching and gathering course information. Having this information available for reference will save time and eliminate errors when creating the Student Registration Screen. NOTE: Only the Power User group will have access to the Course Groups and Screen Setup features in PowerScheduler. If you are not a Power User, but will be responsible for the technical setup of the Student Registration Screens, see your school s Site Tech for Power User access.. Course Request Management Page 4
Grade Level Requirements Collect the following information for each grade level: Required courses Number of credits students must earn Possible semester elective courses Possible year-long elective courses Possible no-credit courses Number of terms for each request Before or after school courses Possible lunch periods Gathering this information will allow you to quickly and accurately create course groups and course request pages for each grade level. The following is an example of what you might collect for a tenth-grade request page: Information to Collect Required Courses Number of credits that must be taken Possible semester electives (students may take one semester) Possible year-long electives (students must take both semesters) Possible no-credit courses Number of terms for each request Before or after school courses Possible lunch periods Example 2 credits of each Core Classes: English, Math, Social Studies, Science 2 credits of World Languages 2 credits of Physical Education Between 11 and 14 credits Marching Band, Photography, Ceramics, Art Orchestra, Band, ASB, Yearbook, Theatre ihigh Lab, Advisory Each request will represent 1 semester (1 term) Exception: Courses with an underscore 2 (_2) will represent yearlong (2 terms) Students will not register online for extended day classes Lunch will not be part of the request page Course Request Management Page 5
Gathering Course Group Information Course Groups will help organize courses into groups that satisfy specific requirements like Math or English. Course groups will be applied to student registration screens. For example, every student must select an English class from the English course group. Course Group English Example English 3-4 (1570/1571) Advanced English 3-4 (1572/1573) Advanced English 3-4 Seminar (1572S/1573S) Math Integrated Math II A/B (4159/4160) Advanced Integrated Math II A/B (4167/4168) History/Social Studies Science Language other than English (LOTE) World Language Visual & Performing Arts Physical Education Other World History/Geography 1-2 (6605/6606) Advanced World Hist/Geo 1-2 (6645/6646) AP World History/Geography 1-2 (6639/6640) Biology 1-2 (6111/6112) Advanced Biology 1-2 (6121/6122) AP Biology 1-2 (6191/6192) Spanish 1-2 (2321/2322) 3-4 (2323/2324) 5-6 (2325/2326) French 1-2 (2001/2002) 3-4 (2003/2004) Japanese 1-2 (2161/2162) 3-4 (2163/2164) Orchestra 1-2 (5335/5336) 3-4 (5337/5338) Theatre 1-2 (1423/1424) 3-4 (1425/1426) 5-6 (1427/1428) Art 1-2 (0191/0192) Photo 1-2 (3691/3692) 3-4 (3693/3694) PE 3-4 (5701/5702) ROTC PE 3-4 (4523/4524) AVID (8227/8228) PE Athletics (5712_2) Course Request Management Page 6
Part 2: Course Groups Course Request Management Page 7
Creating Course Groups IMPORTANT! Update your Course Catalog in PowerScheduler before creating course groups. You can create as many course groups as needed. Course groups will carry over from year to year. If you are using a course group from last year, be sure to verify the courses associated to that group are still being used. Creating Course Groups 1. On the Start Page, under Applications, click PowerScheduler. 2. On the Scheduling page, under Requesting, click Course Groups. 3. On the Course Groups page, select by course name from the drop-down menu. 4. Click New in the upper left corner. Course Request Management Page 8
5. On the Edit Course Group page, select Current Catalog. Selecting Current Catalog ensures that your course group will only contain courses that are currently offered at your school for next year. IMPORTANT! Select Current Catalog BEFORE you enter a name for your course group, otherwise the name will be deleted. 6. Enter a name for the course group. IMPORTANT! DO NOT include a space BEFORE or AFTER the name. 7. Verify Scheduling Only is selected from the Type menu. 8. Verify your school name is applied to this course group. 9. Check each course that belongs to this course group. 10. Click Submit. Course Request Management Page 9
11. Repeat steps 4 10 until you have created all of your course groups. Course Request Management Page 10
Part 3: Student Registration Screen Course Request Management Page 11
Student Registration Screen Setup Because course requirements vary for each grade level, you will create a Student Registration Screen for each grade level, every year. To create the Student Registration Screens you will: Add the requirements to each screen by creating single-course, multi-course, and/or corecourse requirements. Preview the screen to make sure it works correctly before you make it available to students, parents, and counselors. Adding Course Requirements 1. On the Start Page, under Applications, click PowerScheduler. 2. On the Scheduling Page, under Requesting, click Screen Setup. 3. From the Requests menu, select the Grade Level for the page you want to create. Course Request Management Page 12
4. On the Request Screen Setup page, enter the message you want displayed on the Class Registration screen in the Student/Parent Portal, and on the Request Management screen in Admin. 5. Enter the minimum and maximum number of credits each student must submit. Student must select at least the minimum number of credit hours, not to exceed the maximum, in order to submit the screen. NOTE: Enter a 0 in the minimum field if you plan to allow the students to bypass that particular course requirement, and still submit the screen. 6. Click Submit. Course Request Management Page 13
7. Select the appropriate Course Requirement: New Single Course Requirement see page 15 o A Single-Course Requirement appears on the request page as a pop-up menu. Students choose a single course from the list (course group) you create. New Multi-Course Requirement see page 18 o A Multi-Course Requirement appears on the request page as a pop-up menu. Students choose multiple courses from the list (course group) you create. New Core Requirement - see page 21 o A Core Requirement is a set of courses that students of an entire grade level will be assigned. Students can view a list of these required courses on their request pages, but cannot make changes. Course Request Management Page 14
Single Course Requirement Select this option if students must make one selection from a course group. For example, year-long courses designated with an underscore 2 (8027_2) or two semesters of the same course. For this example, we are creating a Single Course Requirement for 8th Grade. On the Single-Course Requirement Screen, do the following: 1. Enter a Requirement Name. 2. Enter a Description/Instructions to direct students how to complete this specific requirement. 3. Select a Course Group for the requirement from the drop-down menu. 4. Indicate whether the student must select one course from the pop-up window, or if it can be left blank. NOTE: When Must select one is selected, students or counselors will not be able to bypass this requirement. They must make a selection. Bypassing will generate a validation error. When can leave blank is selected, students or counselors have the option of selecting this course. This will allow this requirement to be bypassed, if the course has already been added. 5. Enter a Message to Display if the student does not select the correct number of requirements. A generic message will display if this text box is left blank. 6. Select a Request Type from the drop-down menu: Required Required course for this grade-level. Most course requirements should use this option. Elective This is not a required course, and should only be used in conjunction with an Elective course group. When elective is used, all courses selected in this group are flagged as Electives. Alternate If an elective course cannot be scheduled, the courses selected in this group will be flagged as an Alternate Elective, and will take the elective s place when an Elective cannot be scheduled. When you view the student s course requests in PowerScheduler, you will see that the alternate box has been checked, but no priority has been entered. 7. Select the number of requests to generate. For most instances, it is recommended to leave this field set to 1. This setting will create one course request for the selected requirement. Course Request Management Page 15
NOTE: There may be times when a student will need two requests of the same course. For example, when the course is not offered as a year-long option, and the student will be in the same course for both semesters. A setting of 2 will create two identical course requests for the selected requirement. If you plan to generate two identical course requests, you must set up a course group that contains only those courses you want duplicated. 8. Enter a sort order for the placement of the requirement on the request screen. 9. Click Submit. Course Request Management Page 16
Back on the Request Screen Setup page, the newly created Requirement will be listed. a. To edit the requirement, click on the Requirement Name to open the specific Requirement Screen. b. Make the necessary changes. a. Click Submit. Course Request Management Page 17
Multi-Course Requirement Select this option if students must make multiple selections from a course group. For example, use this requirement for semester courses where the student must pick a first and a second semester course, or when they may select more than one elective. For this example, we are creating a Multi- Course Requirement for 10th Grade. On the Multi-Course Requirement Screen, do the following: 1. Enter a Requirement Name. 2. Enter a Description/Instructions to direct students how to complete this specific requirement. 3. Select a Course Group for the requirement from the drop-down menu. 4. Enter the minimum and maximum number of courses the student must select to meet this requirement. If the student has the option of bypassing this requirement enter 0 in the minimum field. 5. Enter a Message to Display if the student does not select the correct number of requirements. A generic message will display if this text box is left blank. 6. Select a Request Type from the drop-down menu: Required Required course for this grade-level. Most course requirements should use this option. Elective This is not a required course, and should only be used in conjunction with an Elective course group. When elective is used, all courses selected in this group are flagged as Electives. Alternate If an elective course cannot be scheduled, the courses selected in this group will be flagged as an Alternate Elective, and will take the elective s place when an Elective cannot be scheduled. When you view the student s course requests in PowerScheduler, you will see that the alternate box has been checked, but no priority has been entered. 7. Select the number of requests to generate. For most instances, it is recommended to leave this field set to 1. This setting will create one course request for the selected requirement. Course Request Management Page 18
NOTE: There may be times when a student will need two requests of the same course. For example, when the course is not offered as a year-long option, and the student will be in the same course for both semesters. A setting of 2 will create two identical course requests for the selected requirement. If you plan to generate two identical course requests, you must set up a course group that contains only those courses you want duplicated. 8. Enter a sort order for the placement of the requirement on the request screen. 9. Click Submit. Course Request Management Page 19
Back on the Request Screen Setup page, the newly created Requirement will be listed. a. To edit the requirement, click on the Requirement Name to open the specific Requirement Screen. b. Make the necessary changes. c. Click Submit. Course Request Management Page 20
Core Requirement Select this option if you want to pre-define the student course requests. Students do not make or change these selections. NOTE: These courses will be added to every student when the page is submitted. You will have to manually remove the requests for students who will not be taking these courses. For this example, we are creating a Core Requirement for 6th Grade. 1. On the Core Requirement Screen, do the following: a. Enter a Requirement Name. b. Enter a Description/Instructions to direct students how to complete this specific requirement. c. Select a Course Group for the requirement from the drop-down menu d. Enter a sort order for the placement of the requirement on the request screen. e. Click Submit. Course Request Management Page 21
Back on the Request Screen Setup page, the newly created Requirement will be listed. To edit the requirement, click on the Requirement Name. Course Request Management Page 22
Previewing the Student Registration Screen As you create your requirements for each grade level, you should periodically preview the screen to determine if you are satisfied with the way it looks. 1. On the Start Page, under Applications, click PowerScheduler. 2. On the Scheduling Page, under Requesting, click Screen Setup. 3. From the Requests menu, select a Grade Level. Course Request Management Page 23
4. Click Preview Student Registration Screen for either the Student and Parent Portal, or the Admin Portal. Review the Student Registration Screen: Do you like the overall presentation of the screen? Is it configured correctly? Click the pencil icon to edit the course request for that requirement. A green check mark confirms a selection, or signifies an optional requirement. A red exclamation mark indicates that the student has not selected a course to satisfy that requirement. 5. Click Close Preview Window to return back to the Request Screen Setup to make changes, or enable the page if you are satisfied. Course Request Management Page 24
Student Registration Screen Course Request Management Page 25
Enabling or Disabling the Student Registration Screens The Request Screen Setup page contains check boxes that allow you to enable, or disable, access to the registration screen for parents and students, and administrative staff. You control who can access the screens and the length of time the screens will be open. If your school chooses to make this function available to students/parents and counselors, you must enable the Student Registration Screen for each grade level. IMPORTANT! BEFORE you enable the registration screens, it is recommended that you create a timeline for course request entry. How long will the window be open for student/parent submission? When will counselors have access to add, or make changes to, student course requests? Be sure students and counselors do not have over-lapping windows - having both enter course requests at the same time may result in duplicate requests. 1. On the Start Page, under Applications, click PowerScheduler. 2. On the Scheduling Page, under Requesting, click Screen Setup. 3. From the Requests menu, select a Grade Level. 4. Check Admin Portal or Student and Parent Portal to enable the registration screens. Uncheck the boxes to disable them. 5. Click Submit. NOTE: Course requests are still viewable even though the Student Registration Screen has been disabled. To prevent parents/students from viewing course requests too early, you must disable Class Registration (See page27). Course Request Management Page 26
Disabling Class Registration Removing Access to Course Requests in the Parent/Student Portal During the initial phase of course request entry, you may want to prevent parents and students from viewing course requests. Once you have closed online course request entry by disabling the Student Registration Screens, you will need to disable Class Registration to prevent course requests from being viewed. 1. From the Start page, under Setup, select School. 2. On the School Setup page, under the General heading, select Parent/Student Access. 3. Select the Available Features tab. 4. Check the Disabled box for Class Registration. This action will remove Class Registration from the Parent/Student portal Navigation links. Course Request Management Page 27
Part 4: For Students Course Request Management Page 28
Accessing the Class Registration Form in the Student/Parent Portal Once the Student Registration Screens for each grade level have been enabled, students and parents can begin to select their courses in the student/parent portal. Students begin by logging into the Student Portal, and selecting Class Registration from the Navigation links on the left. The Class Registration Form will display a message to students, with instructions on how to fulfill each course requirement. On the Course Registration Form, click the edit icon for each course requirement. On the Course Screen, students select the appropriate course(s) and click Okay. Course Request Management Page 29
Class Registration Form Course Screen Course Request Management Page 30
Once the student has fulfilled all course requirements, they may Submit the Form. IMPORTANT! Students may go back and edit their selections, as long as the registration window is open. After submission, the student s selections will be displayed in a list format. Course Request Management Page 31
Part 5: For Counselors Course Request Management Page 32
Accessing the Request Management Page in Once the Student Registration Screens for each grade level have been enabled, counselors can begin to enter or modify course requests using the Request Management page in. On the Start page, counselors search for and select a student. Select Request Management. From the Request Management Page, select Modify Future Requests. Course Request Management Page 33
On the Student Registration Screen, counselors can add, delete or modify existing course requests by clicking the edit icon. Back on the Student Registration Screen, click Submit. Course Request Management Page 34