Table of Contents

Overview
Linked Section Relationship Definition
Cross-Listed Relationship Definition
Linked Sections vs. Cross-Listed Sections in Banner
How To Do It - Overview
Configuring the Relationship Card for Banner Customers (Admin Only)
Enabling Bi-Directional Integration of Linked Sections with Banner (Admins Only)
Adding & Editing Linked Section Relationships

Overview

Banner customers have a “Linked Sections” option in Academic Scheduling. This option allows schedulers to search for and link sections of the same course and have that relationship persist in Banner.

Linked Section Relationship Definition

A linked section relationship involves two or more sections of the same course that must be taken together, such as a lecture section that has a required lab section. 

Cross-Listed Relationship Definition

Coursedog also supports cross-listed relationships which should not be confused with the linked sections feature.  Cross-listing is defined as two or more sections that all meet in the same room at the same time with the same instructor; for example, MATH120 students in the same room with STAT110 students being taught the same content by the same instructor at the same time.

Linked Sections vs. Cross-Listed Sections in Banner

• Linked Sections – Sections of the same course, scheduled at different times so students can enroll in both.

• Cross-Listed Sections – Sections of different courses that meet at the same time, in the same place, and with the same instructor.

How To Do It - Overview

Utilizing Banner linked sections in Academic Scheduling involves three key steps:

1. An admin configures the Relationship card.

2. An admin enables bi-directional integration of linked sections with Banner.

3. Schedulers can add and edit linked sections in Academic Scheduling. 

Configuring the Relationship Card for Banner Customers (Admin Only)

Overview

The way Coursedog defines relationships differs from how Banner defines relationships, so it’s important for an admin to re-label those fields in the Academic Scheduling UI in order to avoid confusion. In short: What appears in Coursedog as “Linked Sections” should be re-labeled as “Crosslisted Sections” and what appears as “Cross Enrolled Sections” should be re-labeled as “Linked Sections”. This will ensure what schedulers see in their user interface (UI) aligns with Banner terminology. 

How To Do It

Step 1: Go to Academic Scheduling > Settings > Templates > Section Template.

Step 2: 

• For the “Linked Sections” field, change the label to “Cross-listed Sections” by simply clicking into the label and typing. 

• Make sure it’s not hidden and is set to editable for whatever roles and terms you wish.

Step 3: 

• For the “Cross Enrolled Sections” field, change the label to “Linked Sections” by simply clicking into the label and typing. 

• Make sure it’s not hidden and is set to editable for whatever roles and terms you wish.

Step 4: 

• Enable Relationship Type, if desired. 

• You can do this on the Relationships Card by selecting Nested Field Settings > Linked Sections > Nested Field Settings > Relationship Type and ensuring “Visible” is checked.  

• Enabling the Relationship Type here will allow schedulers to identify the type of linked section scenario they are creating. Common types include: one to one, one to many, many to many, and many to one (see Step 5 for details). 

• If you do not wish to use “Relationship Type”, ensure this field is hidden by keeping “visible” unchecked. 

• This is a Coursedog-only field; it isn’t shared with Banner. 

Step 5 (If Using Relationship Type): 

• Configure the options that will display in the Relationship Type dropdown. 

• You can do this by clicking the gear icon on the Relationships card to open Relationships Advanced Settings; selecting “Field Option Settings”; and then selecting “Relationships → Linked Sections → Relationship Type” from the dropdown.

• These can be removed or re-labeled. For example, if you prefer to use “One to One” instead of “1:1” or “Many to Many” instead of “N:N”.

• Common Relationships Types include: 

  • 1:1 (one to one) – E.g. A single lecture linked to a single lab wherein students who enroll in a specific lecture have to enroll in the specific lab section.

  • 1:N (one to many) –  E.g. A single lecture linked to multiple labs wherein students who enroll in a specific lecture must pick from one of the list of linked labs.

  • N:N (many to many) – E.g. A set of lectures linked to a set of labs where students who enroll in one of the lectures must select one of the labs.

  • N:1 (many to one) – E.g. A set of lectures linked to a single lab wherein students who enroll in any of the lectures must also enroll in the specific lab.

• This field may be valuable for reporting and for visual differentiation of relationships.

Enabling Bi-Directional Integration of Linked Sections with Banner (Admins Only)

Overview | How To Do It | Type-Specific Settings | Integration Steps
Nightly Syncs | Real-Time Merges

Overview

Linked sections and cross-listed sections are both covered by the Relationships Merge Type. If you enable relationships and configure it for bi-directional, then that will apply to both linked and cross-listed relationships. 

How To Do It

1. Navigate to PATH: Admin Dashboard > Merge Settings. 

2. To enable bi-directional integration, set the Relationships merge type to “Yes”.

3. If you wish to enable nightly syncs and/or real-time merges, see below for additional guidance. 

Type-Specific Settings

The following settings will help ensure a seamless bi-directional integration:

1. The Default Source of Truth should be set to “Resolve As Coursedog”, which will allow us to pull any linked section definitions from Banner and store them in Coursedog but also allow us to POST new and edited linked section relationships back to Banner.

2. Relationships will only be integrated for the selected terms. If no terms are listed, then the relationship integration will run for all recent and upcoming terms.

3. Field Specific Exceptions that are relevant to linked sections are shown in red below and should be configured as shown in an “Always Coursedog” box. These are fields that are not exchanged with Banner and need to be protected from update by the integration.

Integration Steps

The standard bi-directional integration configuration for “Integration Steps” is shown below, for reference.

Nightly Syncs

PATH: Admin Dashboard > Merge Settings. 

If you would like for linked sections to be included in the nightly sync:

1. Relationships need to be enabled as indicated above.

2. “Should merges run nightly?” should be set to “Yes”.

Real-Time Merges

PATH: Admin Dashboard > Merge Settings. 

If you would like for linked sections to be exchanged in real-time, both of the following conditions need to be met: 

1. “Should merges run in real-time?” should be set to “Yes”. 

2. “What entities should be synced in realtime?” should either be populated with either “All Types” or at the very least include “Relationships”. 

Adding & Editing Linked Section Relationships

Overview

Within a single course, you’ll be able to select from the various sections of that course to create the linked section grouping (e.g. lecture and lab). Remember that linked sections are sections of the same course, so you will always be building the links within the context of a course.

How To Do It

Step 1:

• Access the Relationships modal.

• You can do this at either Academic Scheduling > Section Dashboard > (Open Section) or Academic Scheduling > Relationships > + Add Relationship.

Step 2 (Course):

1. Search for the course you want by typing into the course box.

2. If accessing via the Section Dashboard, you will not need to select a course (this field/option won’t be displayed).

Step 3 (Relationship):

• Select the type of relationship you would like to create: Linked Sections or Cross-Listed. 

• If those aren’t the options you see, that likely means the relationship card hasn’t yet been configured for your SIS; reach out to your institution’s Coursedog administrator.

Step 4 (Name): 

• Specify the name of the relationship.

• When viewing from the Relationship tool on the left navigation, the name will be important for helping you differentiate between the various relationships that have been defined.

• You can name them however you please; the name of the relationship is not sent to Banner and is a Coursedog only field.

• If you do not specify a name, a name will be automatically generated for you using a combination of the specified Link Identifier and the Link Connector (e.g. “Linked Sections - L1 - A1”).

Step 5 (Type):

• If desired, identify the specific type of linked section relationship you are creating (see Step 6 under “Configuring the Relationship Card” above for details).

• It’s possible you won’t even see the “type” field, if an Admin elected to hide it from displaying.

• If not hidden, this will be presented as an optional field in the linked section edit/create screen UI.

• This is a Coursedog-only field; it is not exchanged with Banner through the integration.

Step 6 (Notes):

• You can use this field to add additional clarification about the linked section relationship.

• This step is optional.

• It is a Coursedog-only field; it is not exchanged with Banner through the integration.

Step 7 (Link Identifier): 

• Input a value.

• The value you enter here will be used to populate the SSASECT “Link Identifier” in Banner for all sections listed on the left-hand side.

• See the bottom left yellow box below for clarification on what is meant by ‘“left-hand side”.

Step 8 (Link Connector): 

• Input a value.

• The value you enter here will be used to populate the SSASECT “Link Identifier” in Banner for all sections listed on the right-hand side.

• See the bottom right yellow box below for what we mean by ‘“right-hand side”.

Step 9 (Sections to Add): 

• Click the drop-down arrow to see the list of section numbers for the course.

• Select one from the list and click the + sign to add it to the relationship.

• You could choose to list all lectures on the left side or the right side, but note: Sections on the left will get the specified Link Identifier value as their SSADETL Link Connector in Banner, and sections added on the right hand side will get the specified Link Connector value as their SSASECT Link Identifier in Banner.

Reading the Section Info Display

• The section info display at the bottom of the “Add Relationship” modal contains five different parts (labeled in the below screenshot). 

• If section creation has not yet been synchronized with the SIS, it might not have a CRN and nothing will be displayed in this space in the “Call Number (CRN)” space.

• If the section doesn’t have a schedule type, then “null” will be displayed in the “Schedule/Section Type” space.

• If the section does not have a max enrollment capacity, then “null” will be displayed in the “Max Enrollment Capacity” space.