When creating and maintaining course lists, it is important to understand how course relations work and their implications in IDA 2.0. Below are the five different types of course relations and examples of how they can be applied when creating course lists to maximize efficiency:
Inventory Same-As:
- Noted by a “Same As Statement” in the course inventory.
- Time-bound between effective begin and end dates.
- Not maintained by Degree Audit.
Example: ISL 373.5 is in an inventory same-as with HIS 334E and MES 343.1 starting 20129:
The course list can be updated using only one of these courses (MES 343.1):
Any instance of ISL 373.5 or HIS 334E taken during or after fall 2012 will get picked up as an alias as long as the relation exists:
Replacement:
-Relation created when a course is no longer being offered and is replaced by a new course with identical content.
-A duplicate statement exists in the degree plan statement between the new course and the old course that is no longer being offered.
-A “prior to” comment is included in the course inventory.
-Not bound by effective begin/end dates.
-Maintained by the Degree Audit team.
Example: An unnumbered WGS 301 topic was replaced by WGS 301 topic 11:
Updating the course list with either of these courses will allow the other to be picked up as an alias (see the "Alias Course" column in the following screenshots):
Partial Replacement:
-A relation between a set of courses replaced by a single course or vice versa:
-Partial replacement relations are for documentation purposes only and ignored in duplicate processing.
- Maintained by Degree Audit.
-A duplicate relation will need to be created if one is explicitly mentioned in the course inventory.
- Partial replacements are ignored in the degree audit processing, and colleges need to spell out exactly what is acceptable in course lists to ensure the courses get picked up correctly in the audit:
Duplicate:
-Relation between two or more courses in which only one can count toward the degree.
-Not used for alias checking; all courses in a duplicate relation must be added to the course list. EXCEPTION: when two courses are in a replacement.
-Maintained by the Degree Audit team.
Schedule Same-As:
-One-time, one-semester relation between two (or more) sections of courses from differing fields of study that are not already in an inventory same-as.
-SSAs exist on the course schedule. They usually include unnumbered topics courses:
- Not maintained by the Degree Audit team
- Effective as aliases only for the semester(s) in which they were schedule same-as.
Example: The following are in a schedule same-as for fall 2012 (note the topic number 999; this indicates that these titles are unnumbered topics):
We can update the course list with MUS 342 MUSIC AND GENDER:
Even though no inventory statement relates these four classes, their status as schedule same-as allows each instance for fall 2012 to get picked up as an alias of MUS 342:
Summary: Alias Checking Table
|
SITUATION |
COURSE LIST SEEKS |
STUDENT TAKES |
ALIAS? |
NOTES/CAVEATS |
|
A is in ISA with B |
A |
B |
Yes |
ISAs are bound by effective dates |
|
A is in SSA with B for given semester X |
A in semester X |
B in semester X |
Yes |
SSAs only exist for sections of courses on a given course schedule |
|
A is in SSA with B for given semester X |
A in semester X |
B in semester Y |
No |
SSAs are limited to the semester in which they were offered |
|
A is in replacement with B |
A |
B |
Yes |
Replacements are not bound by effective dates |
|
A is in replacement with B; B is in replacement with C |
A |
C |
Yes |
A, B, and C will all be aliases of each other |
|
A is a duplicate of B |
A |
B |
No |
Alias checking does not use duplicates |
|
A is in a room-share with B |
A |
B |
No |
Alias checking does not use room-shares |
ISA = inventory same-as
SSA = schedule same-as
Takeaways:
1) When an old course is retired and replaced by a new course, your course list may be updated by swapping the retired course for the new course.
2) When two or more courses duplicate with each other, each applicable course in the duplicate will need to be added to the course list.
3) When two or more courses exist in a schedule same-as or inventory same-as, only one course needs to be on the course list so long as the relation is effective.