Define and Maintain a Subject {SACADO-10}

To update and maintain Subject information on the Academic Structure.

The following code structures must be defined before an attempt is made to create a subject:

Internal Subject Types in {SCODE-27}
Faculties in {GCS-3}
Departments in {GCS-4}
Examination Codes in {SCODE-8}
Statuary information

the data in the background table must be populated with a script.
for the South African clients, the background table is populated at installation
this includes Course Level, Row Codes, Major Area, National level and National Sub Field of Learning

Offering Type codes in {GCS-5}
Lecturers in {PBOP-1}
Academic Block codes in {SCODE2-1}
Periods of Study in {SCODE-30}

The following setups are required:

System Cycle 'Z', Academic Structure Maintenance controls updates on {SMNT-2} Tab: Academic Structure and Exams
Restriction SAS on {SMNT-5} is used to restrict insert and update transactions on subjects to the linked faculty or department, but allows display of subject information for any faculty or department. Users Not Linked to this restriction will have total access.
SOD (A1/AS) for Standards External Code on {SMNT-12} will determine if standards are uploaded from an External file, or if standards are updated on this screen. If the SOD value is empty, standard values may be entered on this screen, otherwise affected fields will be disabled.
SOD (SR/AS) on {SMNT-12}, if set to 'Y', Stats 1.2 Row_code row codes will be mandatory.

Records in this option cannot be deleted if registration, application or co-operative education records exist for a student.

Panel box : Search Panel

The search panel allows for entry of Search criteria.

Panel box : Core Info

Field	Type & Length	Description
Academic Year	YYYY	The Academic Year for which this subject is valid.
Subject Code	A7	A code to uniquely identify a subject in this academic year. The system does not extract any information from these codes. Please note: A subject code can have different meanings from one year to the next, however, this practice is not encouraged by ITS. Whitelisted characters that can be used in a subject code: Capital A to Z 0 to 9 Underscore (_) Space ( ) Dash (-)
Name	A45	This subject name is displayed on examination results, academic records, etc.
Alternate Name	A45	This name will appear on correspondence addressed to students with an alternate preferred language.
Full Name	A200	A longer name for the subject can be entered here.
Alternate Full Name	A200	A longer alternate name for the subject can be entered here.
Evaluation Code	A1	Indicate whether a subject is examined internally, externally or other way as defined in {SCODE-8}. The field defaults to (I)nternal and the description is displayed. When SOD "A1"/"AS" indicates that standards are loaded from an External source, updates to this field is not allowed.
Type of Evaluation	A1	This indicator is used to show how the subject will be evaluated. Default is (O)bjective. (C)ompenency - the evaluation (result code) will show that the learner is competent or not yet competent. There is no indication of performance. This means that no marks will be entered for this subject. Only the result codes for competency, defined in {SSTUD3-1b1}, may be used. (O)bjective - the subject is evaluated on a performance basis, i.e. marks will be entered for a student and full period marks, exam admission, final mark and result will be calculated if so specified in the calculation criteria defined in {SSTUD3-20}. (P)rofessional Judgement - the subject is evaluated on professional judgement basis. This means that the assessor will allocate a result to a student. These result codes are linked to a Rubric structure. The Rubric Criteria is captured on assessment level in {SSTUD3-20}.
Experiential	A1	This indicator, if set to (Y)es, identifies in-service training where the facilities at which the training is done, belongs to the institution. The field defaults to (N)o
In-Service	A1	Indicates In-service subjects in the form of training done by students at external companies where this training forms part of their curriculum. The field defaults to (N)o and it must be changed to (Y)es if the subject is wholly or partially “In-Service Training” which training is recorded in the Co-operative Education System.
Registration Dates Updateable	A1	(Y)es if the Start and End Registration dates will be updateable. Defaults to (N)o.
Department	N4	A valid (and active) department code, as defined in {GCS-4}.
Faculty / School	N4	A valid (and active) Faculty / School code, as defined in the {GCS-3}. The faculty to which the department is linked will default in this field. The user may change the Faculty to which the Department was linked in option {GCS-4}, but these changes are typically required when a subject is offered outside its “home” Faculty or School.
Is this Subject Classed as Distinct?	A1	The concept of distinct subjects was used in the South African SAPSE reporting system and it is no longer used in the South African HEMIS reporting system. This field will be discontinued in the future. Indicate (Y)es or (N)o.
Foundation Course	A1	Indicate if this is a Foundation Course. Indicate (Y)es / (N)o
Major Subject Specialisation Code	A4	The major subject specialisation code is defined on {SCODE-13}
Major Area	N6	The major area of the subject for stats reporting purposes may be entered here. The field is used by the following programs: Extract Student Data into HEMIS Tables {HEMIS-1} Extract Staff Data into HEMIS Tables {HEMIS-2} Extract Space Data into HEMIS Tables {HEMIS-7}
Course Level	N2	This field indicates the course level. If the following fields or values are NOT NULL, this field cannot be updated: NZQA reporting Subject Code When SOD "A1"/"AS" indicates that standards are loaded from an External source. Standard Code
Status	A1	Status will be populated from {STMNT-8}
Previous Major Area:
End Year	YYYY	End Year will be populated from {STMNT-8}
Code	N6	Code will be populated from {STMNT-8}

Example:

Panel box : Additional Info

Field	Type & Length	Description
Standard Type	A1	This is an indication if this subject is a standard. An LOV is availabled from Standard Types {SCODE-34}. When SOD "A1"/"AS" indicates that standards are loaded from an External source, updates to this field is not allowed.
External Code	A20	This field may carry a reference code for the subject in an external system that is not defined in the ITS SMS.
Language	A1	If a subject is offered in (E)nglish only, or an (A)lternate language, this can be indicated here. If there are no language limitations in offering the subject, the field should be left as Null. These values will be used when registration for distance tuition is done through option {SDREGA-1}. The system will default the language for the study guides to this value, rather than the student's preferred language indicator. If the field is NULL, the system will use a student's preferred language to determine the language for the study guides.
Subject Type	A2	A code, as per option {SCODE-27}, can be entered here to indicate, for example, whether this subject is a module subject, a major, etc. This information is optional and is used for internal purposes only. When the Subject type is set to the value specified in SOD CE/SR, no Paper Marks wil be created when the subject is created. This is typically used for Continuous Evaluation subjects that do not require paper marks.
Related Subject	A7	This field can be used to indicate any relationship between this subject and another valid subject, e.g. it can contain the subject code of the “Mother Subject” of modular subjects.
Learnership Industry	A5	Learnership Industry for the Subject {GCS-15}.
Internal Credits	N3.3	Enter credits defined by the institution for internal use here. South African users should note that the STATS credit is carried on the curriculum {SACADO-17} and not in this field.
National Credits	N3.4	The National Credit the student will obtain if this Subject is passed. This field is used by "Extract Student Data into HEMIS Tables" {HEMIS-1} When SOD "A1"/"AS" indicates that standards are loaded from an External source, updates to this field is not allowed.
Last Revision Date	DD-MON-YYYY	The last date on which the contents of this subject were revised.
Next Moderation Date	DD-MON-YYYY	Date when the next Moderation should take place.
National Level	N1	National Level, as defined by the Department of Education from {SCODE3-1} Tab "National Levels". This field is used by {HEMIS-1} Extract Student Data into HEMIS Tables.
Out of Mark	N5	The mark out of which this subject is examined. This field is only used in the calculation of the Mother subject {SSTUD4-6} and only where the country code is ‘IRL’
National Sub Field of Learning	N4	National sub-field of learning, as defined in {SCODE3-1}. To view the 'External Curriculum' this field must have a value as defined in {SACAD-26} and linked to {SSTUD3-7} - Assessment Mark Criteria.
National Field of Learning	N4	National field of learning, as defined in {SCODE3-1}, will default if the National Sub-Field of Learning is entered.
Available in Curriculum	A1	Set this field to (Y)es to allow the academic structure info to be completed and before a subject can be used in the curriculum / students can be registered for the subject.
Full Period Mark Validity Interval	N2	Enter number of months that obtained Full Period Mark is valid for Exam only registrations.
Interface Code	A7	Subject code to link multiple subjects for registration or Blackboard interface
Use in LMS Systems	A1	Indicate if the subject must be generated in LMS (Learning Management System), e.g. Blackboard. If this field value is set to (Y)es and the B to B Parameter setup in {GCS2-18} for "RUNSTRUCTURE" = 'Y', the subject is copied to the Blackboard upon creation of the record. (Y)es /(N)o
Unit Standard	A15	SAQA Unit Standard ID as registered on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF).
Calculation Criteria:
Minimum Full Period Mark for Examination Admission	N3	See {SSTUD3-1} Default Examination Admission and Final Result Criteria.
Full Period Mark Weight	N3	See {SSTUD3-1} Default Examination Admission and Final Result Criteria.
Examination Mark Weight	N3	See {SSTUD3-1} Default Examination Admission and Final Result Criteria. When this field is changed to a value larger than 0, and there are no exam papers for this subject where the field "Schedule Paper on Exam Timetable" is set to 'Y', the program will not allow the change. The user will first have to create an exam paper with a 'Y' in the field referred to. Conversely, the moment that the user changes the exam mark weight to 0 (zero), the program will update the field "Schedule Paper on Exam Timetable" to 'N' for all exam papers defined for the subject and year.

Example:

Panel Box: Pathways

Field	Type & Length	Description
Subject PW Type	A4	The Subject Pathway Type is used to determine the number of credits required for the specified subject during a study period, e.g. Single Major, Double Major, depending on the pathway and is defined on {SACADP-27} and is used to guide the student with subject selection during registration.
TT Group	A5	A grouping of subjects for the purpose of avoiding timetable clashes. Where a Subject spans more than 1 Timetable group, the groups are concatenated and delimited by a "/". During registration, first year students will be prevented from selecting more than one subject from the same Timetable group.

Example:

Panel Box: Stats and Standards

Field	Type & Length	Description
Exempt from FCCM	A1	Indicator if the subject is exempted from free course cost maxima. (Y)es/(N)o
Excluded from Statutory Reporting	A1	Indicator if this Subject must be excluded from Statutory Reporting. (Y)es/(N)o This field is used by the following programs Generate SDR Data {RSDR-2} Third Party Payment Calculation Report {FSATPP-5}
Official Qualification	A6	The Official Qualification that the subject is linked to.
SDR Reporting Subject Code	A20	The SDR Reporting Subject Code
Stats 1.2 Row_code	N10	If the system operation definition Code 'SR/AS', in {SMNT-12}, is set to 'Y', these row codes will be mandatory. Leading zeroes need not be entered. If the subject is classified as a Major subject in a curriculum {SACADO-17}, the Row_codes allocated must correspond to at least one Major Area allocated to the qualification within whose curriculum this subject falls. Stats 1.2 Row_code can be queried and updated in {SCODE-35}.
Stats 1.3 Row_code	N10	Leading zeros and decimal point need not be entered.
Stats 2.9 Row_code	N10	Leading zeros need not be entered.
Stats 2.2 Row_code	N10	Leading zeros need not be entered.
Standard Code	A20	Standard Code. This field will be populated when data is loaded with the "Load Data from External Source" button.
Standard Version	N2	Standard Version. This field will be populated when data is loaded with the "Load Data from External Source" button.
Duration Days	N3	Number of days it will take to complete the subject.
Total Hours to complete	N5	Total hours it will take to complete the subject.
Accredited by External Body	A1	Give an indication if subject is Accredited by the External Body. When SOD "A1"/"AS" indicates that standards are loaded from an External source, the field is not updateable.
Embedded Literacy / Numeracy Components	A1	(Y)es or (N)o When SOD "A1"/"AS" indicates that standards are loaded from an External source, the field is not updateable, but is defaulted from the External Standard Code and Version..
L1 Core		This is a code representing the standard's contribution to Numeracy and Literacy. This code is derived from the setup in {SCODE-41}, tab Core Value Codes, where field 'UE' = 'N', and field 'Std Core' = 'Y', and Core Types are Numeracy or Literacy.
UE Numeracy	A10	This is a code representing the standard's contribution to UE Numeracy
UE Literacy	A10	This is a code representing the standard's contribution to UE Literacy.

Example:

Panel Box: Teaching

Field	Type & Length	Description
Conversational Competency Indicator	A1	Subject to determine whether or not student is competent to converse on a specific language. (Y)es/(N)o
Conversational Competency Description	A45	The description for the conversational competency subject
Teaching Competency	A1	This field indicates whether or not student is competent to teach a specific subject. (Y)es/(N)o
Teaching Competency Description	A45	The description for the teaching competency subject.

Example:

Buttons:

Field

Type
&
Length

Description

Academic Contact Persons

Button

To create a new record, check if a Learnership Industry code is linked to the subject, and the person must have a record on {PSDOP-1}, where the Indicator is the same as the contact type on {SCODE-24}. Pressing the button links to {SACAD-9}.

Department % Usage

Button

The percentage training that the Department has with this subject. Say that two departments have equal part in the training of a subject / qualification, then both departments will have 50% for the same subject / qualification. Pressing the button links to {SREGH-2}.

Load Data from External Source

Button

It is possible to load standards (Unit, Achievement etc.) data from an external body such as the SAQA, NZQA and others. The data must be in the format as described in {SACAD-18} and can be loaded into the latter option with {SACADR-12}.
The purpose of this button is to enable users to quickly import fields relevant to Standards from this external source table:

The button will only be active when in INSERT mode and when the SOD is set (see next bullet).
The SOD with Code = A1 and Subs = AS on {SMNT-12} must be setup with a value.
When the button is pressed a list of available External Source Standards will be displayed, where the External Source Standards Available field = 'Y' and the Expiry date is greater than sysdate. When the user selects a standard, the fields described in the table below on {SACADO-10} will be populated with the data from the External Source.

External Source Standards
Merit Permissible	Type of Evaluation: If the Merit Permissible field is (N)o for Unit Standards (identified with a 'U'), the type of evaluation can only be Competency based i.e. a value of 'C' If the Merit Permissible field is (Y)es for Unit Standards or the standard is not a Unit Standard, the type of evaluation can be anyone of the three evaluation types e.g Competency, Objective evaluation or Professional Judgement. If the Merit Permissible field is (E)xcellence the type of evaluation can only be Professional Judgement.
Assessment Method	Evaluation Code. The value from the external source must be defined in {SCODE-8}
Standard Type	The standards from the external source must be defined in {SCODE-34}.
Level	Level
Credits	National Credit
Standard Number	NZQA Reporting Subject Code
Standard Version	NZQA Standard Version
Standard Title
Embedded Literacy / Numeracy Components
The fields populated, as described above, can not be updated as it contains values from the external Quality Authority source.

View External Curriculum

Button

To view the 'External Curriculum' the 'National Sub of Learning' field must have a value as defined in {SACAD-26} and linked to {SSTUD3-7} - Assessment Mark Criteria tab.

Example: View External Curriculum

Date	System Version	By Whom	Job	Description
25-Aug-2014	v04.0.0.0	Magda van der Westhuizen	t196719	Convert to INT4.0.
12-Jan-2016	v04.0.0.0	Magda van der Westhuizen	t196719	Add Whitelist characters that can be used for the creation of a subject code (T199752)
27-Jan-2016	v04.0.0.0	Magda van der Westhuizen	t204485	Add development on ATOV's t204485 and t209444
10-Jun-2016	v04.0.0.0	Magda van der Westhuizen	t214714	Add L1 Core descriptions.
19-June-2016	v04.0.0.0	Magda van der Westhuizen	t214530	Add new image.
22-Jul-2016	v04.0.0.0	Sonja Pavlovic	t214730	(ATOV of 209210 ) Added info about major subject specialisation, conversational and teaching competency.
07-Aug-2017	v05.0.0.0	Magda van der Westhuizen	t221774	Edit button has been remove from the program. Update the image.
17-Dec-2019	v04.1.0.0	Esther Nel	t240590	Review manual, add missing image
25-Mar-2020	v04.1.0.1	Precious Diale	t242997	Change the manual image for additional info tab to include the unit standard field.
22-Apr-2020	v04.1.0.2	Esther Nel	t242690	Correct links to referenced manuals
10-Jun-2022	v04.1.0.3	Esther Nel	t247673	Add SOD CE/SR to prevent creation of Paper Marks for Continuous Evaluation Subjects