For definitions on some of the terms below or refreshers on constraint basics, please visit our Constraints article!
What is a "Course Set"?
This article specifically addresses a list of constraints referred to as the "course set constraints", which are one of the core building blocks of Stellic's audits. These constraints share a common drop down list of course set options that can be used within the constraint:
Specific courses
Course with attributes
Course range
Course pattern
Course with topics
Course with enrollment tags
Specific course with attribute
Specific campuses
Specific departments
Specific schools
Defining Quantities of Courses/Credits
Course set constraints allow for you to define either a number of courses or a number of credits that can count for the requirement. When building, you can choose which option to use.
We also support an "unlimited" quantity in this constraint. This functionality will gather all competed courses that meet a requirement (instead of allowing excess courses to fall into unmatched).
Conditions
These course sets can be acted upon by adding conditions to course sets. Conditions are unique to course set constraints, and are designed to allow for maximum flexibility when defining your constraint rules.
The existing list of conditions includes:
Courses are hidden unless taken allows the course set to only be visible to a student if they have taken one of the specified courses. Previously, hidden was a part of specific options within the dropdown list of course set options but has been pulled out and added as a condition that’s able to be added to any course set.
Hidden can only be added after another visible element has already been added. We do not support creating a course set with only hidden elements.
Allow these courses to count without impacting minimum/limit allows for the listed courses to ignore the minimum or limit being set by the constraint. The minimum is defined by constraints such as "take at least" or "take exactly", where the student must hit a minimum threshold of courses or credits to fulfill the requirement. The limit is defined by constraints such as "take at most" where the student is limited to the number of courses or credits as defined by the constraint. This condition allows for specific courses to bypass the minimum or limit that is specified within the constraint.
Only count courses taken within specific timeframe allows you to specify that part of the course set can only count if taken during a specified time frame. Options for time frame include:
Taken any time prior to and including [term]
Taken any time between [term x] and [term y]
Taken any time including [term] to future
Count courses before/after [y] credits are earned allows for courses to only count within a student’s audit when taken during the specified timeframe of courses earned. Note that this constraint is specifically looking for earned credit, meaning that courses that have been taken without a passing grade or non-repeatable courses that have been repeated will not count toward this total.
There are four available options:
Same semester or after [y] credits are earned
This option will allow the specified courses to count after the first [y] credits are earned, and will allow for courses taken in the same term as the [y]th credit to count.
Any semester after
This option will allow the specified courses to count in any semester after [y] credits are earned, and will NOT allow for courses taken in the same term as the [y]th credit to count.
Same semester or before
This option will allow the specified courses to count before the first [y] credits are earned, and will allow for courses taken in the same term as the [y]th credit to count.
Any semester before
This option will allow the specified courses to count in any semester before [y] credits are earned, and will NOT allow for courses taken in the same term as the [y]th credit to count.
This condition cannot be used in conjunction with the “only count courses taken within specific timeframe” condition.
Constraints at a Glance
Constraints that define courses that do count for requirements
Take at least [x] courses/credits from a given course set [Primary or Secondary Constraint]
Take at least [x] courses/credits excluding the given course set [Primary or Secondary Constraint]
Take exactly [x] courses/credits from a given course set [Primary or Secondary Constraint]
Constraints that limit what courses can count for requirements
Take at most [x] courses/credits from a given course set [Secondary Constraint]
Take at most [x] courses/credits excluding the given course set [Secondary Constraint]
Only courses with enrollment level: [x] can count towards this program [Program Level Constraint] [Secondary Constraint]
May only be satisfied with a course set manually defined by an institution [Primary Constraint]
Constraint Details
Constraints that define courses that do count for requirements
Take at least [x] courses/credits from a given course set [Primary or Secondary Constraint]
This constraint should be used when you have multiple buckets from which a student can choose a course. This could be specific departments, a range of courses, or a specific list of courses. In this example, you can see we have added specific courses and a range of courses, but could continue adding other course sets to the same constraint.
Take at least [x] courses/credits excluding the given course set [Primary or Secondary Constraint]
This constraint allows any course to count except for the courses listed. In this example, the student needs to take 5 courses out of ANYTHING except for CS100 - CS 399, or a course from the Mathematics department. Without specifying other information, this constraint will allow for any course, so should be used cautiously as a primary constraint.
Take exactly [x] courses/credits from a given course set [Primary or Secondary Constraint]
Take exactly is a mixture of "take at least" and "take at most". It requires the student to have a minimum number specified, but also not exceed that number.
For any of our partners using auto-split functionality, this constraint will cause credits beyond the specified limit to split so that only the number of credits listed are permitted to count. This is particularly powerful when there is a variable credit course where only a specific number of credits are permitted to count.
Constraints that limit what courses can count for requirements
Take at most [x] courses/credits from a given course set [Secondary Constraint]
This constraint limits the highest number of classes that can be taken from a course set. This constraint can only be used as a secondary constraint, as you must first define what is allowed to count for the student. In the example below, the primary constraint states that the student needs at least 9 units of a list of courses. The "at most" secondary constraint then limits the student to taking only one course at a 100-level.
Take at most [x] courses/credits excluding the given course set [Secondary Constraint]
This constraint limits the highest number of classes that can be taken from courses that do not include the courses specified
Only courses with enrollment level: [x] can count towards this program [Program Level Constraint] [Secondary Constraint]
This constraint can only be used at the program level. Its primary purpose is to define what level of courses can count toward the program, but will allow you to specify courses that can count regardless of level.
May only be satisfied with a course set manually defined by an institution [Primary Constraint]
The course set is decided by the advisor and can be different per student. The user must edit the constraint to change the course set. There is the option to set a default course set if desired.
