Learn more about Coursedog's approach to configuring a real-time, bi-directional integration with your SIS.
Overview
At a high level, the integration process for all SIS involves GETs and POSTs both being implemented and QA’d in Staging, which is then followed by a singular push to Production. Most commonly, the integration timeline is as follows:
| Workshop |
Description & Key Deliverables |
Duration |
Member Resources |
Outcome |
| Project Kickoff |
Introduction to your Coursedog service and the project teams. Review best practices. Review scope, roles and responsibilities. |
1 hr |
All project stakeholders
including select Department
Head(s) as available |
Roles, responsibilities,
key milestones and project
implementation process
understood by all |
| Technical Discovery Session |
Gain a better understanding of your technical landscape. We will discuss your current set-up, customizations, security, and integration preferences.
|
1-2 hrs |
Technical Teams |
Roles, responsibilities, key
milestones, project
implementation, and
technical architecture |
| Planning & Design |
Review of current scheduling
practices. Coursedog to make
best practice recommendations
with the goal of a mutually
agreed upon design. |
5-15 hr |
Functional & Technical Teams |
Delivery a complete
design document and
project strategy |
| Data Workbook Session |
Understand how your institution
stores and maintains the
following data: sections, courses,
departments, buildings, rooms,
instructors, and terms.
|
2-4 hr |
Technical Teams |
Clearly identify proposed
solution architecture
based on the outcome
of the sessions |
| Install & Configuration |
Configure the application
per the mutually agreed upon
design document.
Install Coursedog SIS
Connector package. |
3-4 months |
PeopleSoft Developer
PeopleSoft Admin
System/Network Admin (oncall)
DBA (oncall) |
Integrations
Data Mapping/Workbook
Scheduler Configuration
(Policies, Workflows)
SSO |
| Training |
Staff are trained on the
Coursedog platform.
Staff leads are able to train
end users on how to configure
the platform
|
3 hrs |
Functional |
Requirement: Prior
Workshops are complete
Trained Registrar Staff
Training material delivered
Support Overview |
| User Acceptance Testing |
Complete the
Testing Workshop. |
2 hrs |
Functional |
Completed Test Plan |
| * Product Migration |
Coursedog and University
migrate respective services into
Production. This stage may
include migration to various lower
environments (e.g. staging). |
1-14 days |
SIS Developer
Functional |
Migrated application and successful production validation test |
| Go-Live |
Migration to Production is
complete and ready to begin
using the platform. |
30 mins |
Functional |
POC transitioned to Customer Success |
Staging
- Coursedog works with your data engineers (DBA) and functional teams to perform a data workbooking session.
- Client configures Single Sign On (SSO) with the Coursedog Toolset (if applicable).
- Coursedog supports SAML and CAS.
- Coursedog works with your IT team to install the SIS connector.
- API delivers both the GET and POST Staging APIs in one go. This process to get the client system configured and the APIs delivered usually takes a few weeks.
Testing
- Coursedog executes an initial QA of Data imported into Coursedog (GET data) based on the data workbook.
- Perform a joint review session with client to execute User acceptance testing (UAT) of GET data on Staging.
- Performs joint validation meetings with the client to validate POST data.
- Client agrees to move forward with Production deployment (configuration Complete).
Production
- Coursedog delivers APIs for Production.
- We clone Staging to Production and connect the APIs.
- Full QA of GET data on Prod.
- Joint testing/validation meetings with the customer to test POSTS.
- Sign off.
The source of truth, or system of record, is configurable on a field by field basis, for example:
- The call number of a section is defined as an SIS owned field (the SIS is always the source of truth for the call number).
- The classroom that a section meets in is defined as shared ownership between the SIS and Coursedog with Coursedog as the main source of data entry.
General Integration Rule
While Coursedog is fully configurable to support all types of integration scenarios, as a general rule:
- The SIS and Coursedog jointly own the definition of and attributes related to sections —with Coursedog being in the business of section creation and section update related to scheduling.
- The SIS owns the existence, definition, and attributes/fields of the following entities: terms, buildings, rooms, departments, instructors and courses.
- In other words, you won't go into Coursedog to create or update any of these entities.
- If you have bad data in the SIS for the above entities then you will correct it in the SIS.
- For example, a registrar would not create a room, building, department or course directly in Coursedog but would do so in the SIS knowing that those creation events would flow from the SIS into Coursedog automatically via the nightly synchronization.
- I.e. A registrar would not create an instructor or change their last name or assigned departments directly in the Coursedog UI but would go to the SIS to make those changes, again knowing that such changes will flow into Coursedog automatically.
- I.e. If instructor status information is unreliable in the SIS then go through a concerted effort to correct it in the SIS — to designate instructors who have left the institution, deceased, retired, gone on leave etc. correctly in the SIS.
Exceptions to the General Integrations Rule
There are two types of exceptions to the general integration rule above:
- Internal Coursedog Fields: Coursedog stores additional attributes/fields in and around all entities. These internal fields are never sent to the SIS and will always be listed as exceptions in the screenshots below
- Fields that the SIS would normally own but will never have good data for AND that you want to update directly in the Coursedog UI so that your schedulers have good information in front of them when making scheduling decisions. Note that only in the case of Sections are any such field updates ever sent back to the SIS. For example, you could go through a concerted effort to update all room feature information directly in Coursedog knowing that room updates are never sent to the SIS.
