EDUCATION SUPPORT UNIT

• Contact details
• A-Z Index

INFORMATION ABOUT

• Academic Development
• Assessment and External Examining
• Committees and Groups
• Distance Learning
• e-Learning
• Faculty Advice and Support
• Postgraduate Education
• Programme and Unit Approval
• Supporting Student Learning
• Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Programme
• Undergraduate Education

Guidance on using the Online Unit Updating System

Shortcuts:  Introduction  |  Purpose of the New System  |  Using the System

Introduction

As part of the project to update and improve the Unit and Programme Catalogues, the online Unit Updating System has been transferred to the new catalogues so that checking and editing of units can happen within the same online website.

To access the online updating system users can login from any page on this site. Please see the guidance below on how to use the site, but you will find that the new system has the same functionality as the system you will have used previously.

The system has onscreen instructions to assist users and the guidance provided below should help. However if you have any questions or problems with the system please let us know:

Email: unitprog-setup@bris.ac.uk

 

Purpose of the Updating Units System

The Unit Updating System is a means of collecting undergraduate and taught postgraduate unit information for the next academic year (2010/11) through a web based system. It has the following functionality:

• Enabling Departments / Schools to indicate which units will run in the next academic year, by adding or removing unit availability;
• Enabling Departments / Schools to update unit information such as: the unit description, director, teaching block, pre- and co-requisites and whether it is an ‘open unit’ or not.

The deadline for initial updating of the Unit Catalogue is Friday 12th March (as stated in the Annual Student Administrative Cycle 09/10). On that date the Provisional Unit Catalogue for 2010/11 will be created and displayed on the web alongside the current Unit Catalogue for 2009/10.

Departments / Schools will be able to continue editing after the Provisional Unit Catalogue goes live.  Access to the updating system will be finally closed on Friday 30 July at which point the 2010/11 Unit Catalogue will no longer be deemed as ‘provisional’. You will receive updates on when this is going to happen nearer the time.

It is recognised that the unit information will likely be provisional until the end of July, hence all pages within the Provisional Unit Catalogue will say ‘Provisional’ in the page title.

New units approved after the deadline and other changes due to circumstances such as staff changes will of course be incorporated as required.

 

Guidance on using the Unit Updating System

To access the web screens, please go to the unit catalogue.

Logging in to the site and selecting your units –

You will need to login using the UoB single sign on functionality which you can find a link to in the left hand navigation bar. Please enter your University of Bristol username and password.

When you login you will notice that new links appear to the Provisional Unit Catalogue 2010/11 in the text on the home page and also in the left hand navigation bar:

When you click on either of the links to the Provisional Unit Catalogue you need to ‘drill down’ through you Faculty and Department / School as normal. You will notice that the current catalogues and the provisional catalogues are separate and that all the pages within the Provisional Catalogue will say ‘Provisional’ in the page title.

Once you have selected your Department / School you will be presented with a list of units, grouped by level, that are currently set up to run in 2010/11. Units have been rolled over to 2010/11 if they are mandatory or if they were optional in 2009/10 AND had students attached to them. Please select the level tab to view different lists of units (for an explanation of the levels please follow the link “What do the Levels Represent?”).

You can then select the individual unit you wish to edit. Once selected you will notice a new set of options appear in the left hand navigation bar giving you the options to edit the unit details, edit the availability status or add an availability.

Please note that the editing options will only appear when you are in the 2010/11 version of the Unit Catalogue, and only for the Department / School that you have been given access to. If you find that you do not have access to the correct units please email unitprog-setup@bris.ac.uk

1.       Editing (including deleting) the Unit Availability and Unit Director –

Select the unit you wish to edit and click on “Edit Availability Status” in the left hand navigation bar. You will be taken to a screen which gives you the option to:

1. Amend the current teaching block by selecting a new one from the drop down list.
2. Set the unit to ‘Not Running in 10/11’ by selecting the tick box next to the appropriate availability. The unit will subsequently not appear in the public version of the unit catalogue (and will be listed under ‘unavailable units’ for authorized users).
3. Amend the Unit Director by making a selection from the drop down list. You will need to do this for every availability where there is more than one.

When you have completed your editing, click on the ‘Save’ button. Changes to the availability status will automatically indicate to SITS a change in the unit’s availability for the next academic year.

NB. If you set an availability to ‘Not Running’ but then wish to amend this back to ‘Running’ simply re-check the status box in this screen. You do not need to go to “Add Availability”.

2.       Adding an Availability to a Unit / Making a Unit Available –

Select the unit you wish to edit and click on “Add Availability”.

To add an occurrence for a unit (i.e. if a unit runs more than once in an academic year) you can add an availability by selecting a teaching block and unit director from the drop down list.

If you wish to reinstate a unit that has been available in past years (i.e. it has not been rolled over into 2010/11) you can view a list of “Unavailable Units” in your Department / School by clicking on this link in the left hand navigation bar and add an availability to the unit. The unit will subsequently appear in the public version of the unit catalogue. This list displays all units in SITS that are ‘in use’ and have had an availability since 2003/04 (if you wish to reinstate a unit that ran earlier than that please email unitprogsetup@bris.ac.uk).

You can then edit these units as detailed previously.

3.       Editing the Unit Details –

Select the unit you wish to edit and click on “Edit Details” in the left hand navigation bar. In this screen you can make changes to the unit description, co/pre-requisites, and indicate whether unit is an ‘open unit’ or not.

When you have completed your editing, click on the ‘Save’ button. Changes to the unit descriptions, pre/co-requisite’s and open unit status are saved in the catalogues system and displayed within the provisional catalogues until 31 July when the information stored in the catalogues will be rolled over into SITS.

 

To note –

1. Once you have completed all of your editing for a specific unit, you can return to the list of available or unavailable units in your department using the left hand navigation bar and select another unit to edit.
2. As you add or remove unit availabilities, units will appear or disappear in the lists of available and unavailable units accordingly.
3. The system will automatically log you out if you remain inactive for more than half an hour so please ensure that you save changes as you make them.

For any changes to unit selection and information that cannot be undertaken in this unit updating system, or if you have any questions please email unitprog-setup@bris.ac.uk.