Managing the Curriculum Definition Service

Aptify Education Management curriculums are stored in the Curriculum Definition service. Curriculums are the highest level of the Education Management hierarchy, followed by Course Categories, Courses, and Classes. This topic discusses the role of the Curriculum Definition service in Education Management and how to add a curriculum offered by the organization to the system. Tied to each curriculum definition are the different sets of courses and course categories required to achieve a certification or degree and the schools that offer the curriculum.

This topic covers the following sub-topics:

• Creating a Curriculum
• Specifying Scope for a Curriculum
• Specifying Course Categories for a Curriculum
• Specifying Requirements for a Curriculum
• Specifying Schools for a Curriculum
• Creating Curriculum Definition Categories

Creating a Curriculum

It is generally best to create the Curriculum records after the course categories, courses and schools have been created and defined in their respective services. This allows you to focus on only creating the curriculum and not defining each course category, course, class and school, which takes you further into the lower levels of the Education Management hierarchy.
Follow are the steps to define a Curriculum:

1. Open a new record from the Curriculum Definitions service.
2. Enter the Name of the curriculum and an optional Description.
3. Select the curriculum's Status. Options include Active, Expired or Cancelled.
4. Specify the category for the curriculum in the Category field.
   • This field links to the Curriculum Definition Categories service. See Creating Curriculum Definition Categories for more information.
     
     
5. Specify the set of Web Users who should be able to view this curriculum online on the Scope tab. This functionality is used in conjunction with an e-Business website. See Specifying Scope for a Curriculum for more details.
6. Specify the course categories covered by this curriculum on the Course Categories tab. See Specifying Course Categories for a Curriculum for more information.
7. Specify the required courses for this curriculum on the Requirements tab. See Specifying Requirements for a Curriculum for more information.

8. Specify the schools that offer this curriculum on the Schools tab. See Specifying Schools for a Curriculum for more information. 

   A curriculum must be linked to one or more schools before its details will display on an e-Business website.

9. Save and close the Curriculum Definitions record.

Specifying Scope for a Curriculum

The Scope Tab on a Curriculum Definitions record lets you define who can see information about a particular curriculum on an e-Business website. By default, all curriculum definitions are visible on an e-Business website to all Web Users. However, by entering one or more filter rules on this tab, you can control who can see this curriculum on-line on an e-Business website based on information in their Persons records and corresponding Companies records (if applicable).

When a Web User meets the scope's filter criteria, he or she can review his or her progress against the curriculum on an e-Business website (see Viewing Your Progress Against a Curriculum for more information). If a Web User does not meet the filter criteria, then this curriculum will not display on the e-Business site for that user.

For example, a curriculum may be available only to Web Users with a particular primary job function.

Follow these steps to create one or more filter rules to specify the conditions under which a curriculum should be available online for a Web User:

Creating a filter rule is very similar to creating a filter for a view. 

1. Click the Scope tab on the Curriculum Definitions record.
2. Select the Apply Filter Rule option.
3. Select a Service for the first filter statement.
   • You can create a filter statement based on a field in one of the following services:
   1. • PersonID: Select this option if the filter statement is based on a property of the Persons record to which a Web User is linked.
      • CompanyID: Select this option if the filter statement is based on a property of the Company linked to the Web User's Persons record (via the Company link box on the Persons record).
        
        

   Note Concerning Available Services

   Depending on your system configuration not all services listed above may be available. If you want to create a filter for any service not included in your list contact your System Administrator.

   
4. Select a Field in the selected service to use as the basis for the filter.
   • The Field drop-down list displays the set of fields contained in the service you selected. For example, in the above figure, the Field is the Person's Primary Function field.
   • The fields are listed in the order in which they appear in the entity. However, the fields can be sorted alphabetically (ascending or descending) by clicking the desired Field column heading (Field or Description) to sort by. One-click sorts the specified column in alphabetically ascending order. Clicking the column heading a second time sorts the fields in descending order.
     
5. Select the Operator for the filter statement.
   • The operator compares the value of the selected Field for each record in the service with the contents of the Value column.

   • The available options in the Operator drop-down list vary depending on the type of Field selected: text or number.
     
     

     Field Type	Operators Available	Type of Comparison
     Character	Exactly Matches	Field column value exactly matches the characters entered in the Value column.
     	Contains	Field column value contains the characters entered in the Value column. The characters can appear anywhere in the field.
     	Begins With	Field column value begins with the characters entered in the Value column.
     	Ends With	Field column value ends with these characters entered in the Value column.
     	Does Not Contain	Contents lists in the Value column to do appear anywhere in the Field column value.
     	In List	Field column value matches one of the values in the Values column; each value is separated by a comma.
     	Is Blank	Field column value contains no data.
     	Is Not Blank	Field column value contains any data.
     Numeric/Date	=	Equals
     	< >	Does not equal
     	>	Greater than
     	<	Less than
     	>=	Greater than or equal
     	<=	Less than or equal
     	In List	Field column value matches one of the values in the Values column; each value is separated by a comma.

6. Enter the Value for the filter statement.
   • You enter characters, a phrase, or a number that the system will use as the basis for the filter. The Value field uses the operator selected in the Operator column to determine the type of match.
   • In general, you manually enter text or numbers into the Value column, but, in some cases, the system provides you with additional options to facilitate selection:
   1. • For all field types other than Datetime fields, Aptify provides a drop-down list of the first 100 possible values that you can select from. Note that these possible values are only a suggestion: Only the first 100 values appear in the list, even if the field contains more than 100 values. If the field contains less than 100 values, then all of the values appear in the list. You can either select a value from the drop-down list or manually enter a value in the field.
      • If you select a field that uses the Datetime format from the Field drop-down list, an ellipsis (…) button appears in the Value field. Clicking this button opens a Date Selection Box.
      • For bit fields, you can enter a filter of Field = True or Field = False. The Filter Rule automatically converts this to Field =1 or Field = 0.
        
   • In the example in the figure below, this course only applies to Web Users whose primary function is Consulting Services.
     
     
7. Create additional filter rules, as necessary.
   • If you want to delete a filter rule, select the appropriate line and press the Delete key.
     
     
8. Configure the Logic String to join the filters together.
   • Just like with multiple view filters, you use Boolean logic to connect multiple filter rules. This includes the following common connectors:
   1. • AND: Restrictive; matches records that satisfy both filter statements
      • OR: Inclusive; matches records that satisfy either filter statement
      • NOT: Corresponds to records that do not match a filter statement 
   • By default, multiple filter rules are joined with an AND operator.
   • In the example shown in Figure 5.4, the curriculum is available only to people whose primary function is Consulting Services and whose company or the company's parent company is a corporate member.
   • To reset the filter logic to its original setting, click the Reset button.
     
     

9. Save the Curriculum Definitions record.
   
   

   To disable a filter rule, clear the Apply Filter Rule option and save the Curriculum Definitions record.

Specifying Course Categories for a Curriculum

1. On the Curriculum Definitions record, select the Course Categories tab.
2. Right-click in the gray area and select New to open a new Course Categories record.
3. Enter or select the name of a Course Category to include in the curriculum. This field links to the Course Categories service; see Understanding Course Categories for more information.
4. Enter the total number of course units required to satisfy this particular category in order to complete the curriculum.
   
   
5. Click OK.
6. Add a Course Categories record for each course category needed in the curriculum.

Specifying Requirements for a Curriculum

Follow these steps to specify the courses that must be completed to satisfy the curriculum:

1. Select the Requirements to tab on the Curriculum Definitions record.
2. Right-click in the gray area and select New to open a new Requirements record.
   
   
3. Enter the name of the course the requirement applies to in the Course field. This field links to the Courses service; see Managing the Courses Service for more information.
4. Enter the total number of units required from this particular requirement in order to complete the curriculum.
5. Click OK to save and close the Requirements record.
6. Add additional Requirements records as needed.

Specifying Schools for a Curriculum

Follow these steps to specify the schools that offer this curriculum:

1. Click the Schools tab on the Curriculum Definitions record.
2. Right-click on the gray area and select New to open a new Schools record.
3. Select or enter a School name that is accredited to offer the curriculum. Schools are stored in the Companies service.
4. Enter the date the school was accredited.
   • If these schools lose accreditation at a later date, you can return to this record to enter the Date Terminated and change the school's Status.
5. Change the school's status, if necessary. The options are Active, Inactive, Cancelled, and Expired.
   
   
6. Click OK to save and close the Schools record.
7. Add additional Schools records as needed.

Creating Curriculum Definition Categories

Each Curriculum Definition record is assigned a category for grouping and filtering purposes. Follow these steps to create a curriculum definition category:

1. Open a new record from the Curriculum Definition Categories service.
2. Enter a Name and Description for the category.
   
   
3. Save and close the record.