How to Manage Deletes in System Admin: A Step-by-Step Guide

How to Manage Deletes in System Admin: A Step-by-Step Guide

When managing data within System Admin, deleting nodes and updating hierarchies can be a delicate process. This guide will help you understand how deletions work in System Admin, ensuring your institution’s node structure remains intact and optimized.

Understanding Node Hierarchies

In any integrated system, data is often organized in a hierarchical structure, where nodes represent different levels of information. These nodes can be thought of as containers or categories that hold data points and are linked to other nodes within the system. The hierarchy could look something like this:

• First/Root Node Level: The top-level nodes, often foundational categories or key data types.
• Second-Node Level: Sub-categories or more specific data that are nested under the first-node level.

Because of these relationships, deleting a node isn’t as simple as just removing a piece of data. You need to be aware of the implications for other connected data types.

What Can You Delete?

In the system, you can delete the following:

• Organizations
• Programs

A dialogue will guide you through the deletion process, performing checks to determine if the deletion is permissible. The system will evaluate whether other data has been associated with the node you wish to delete.

Examples:

1. Deleting an Organization: Suppose you want to delete an organization, but it has associated programs. The system will check these associations and may prevent the deletion if the programs are still in use or linked to other active data.
2. Deleting a Program: If you try to delete a program that is linked to specific courses or student data, the system will recognize these associations and block the deletion to avoid disrupting the connected data.

The Deletion Process: A Two-Tier Check

1. First-Node Level Checks
   • When you attempt to delete a first-node level entry (e.g., an organization or program), the system checks for any associations with other parts of the system.
   • If the node is linked to essential data types or crucial structures, the system may block the deletion to prevent data corruption or loss of important relationships.
   • You may need to either update or reassign the associated data before the system allows the deletion.
2. Second-Node Level Checks and Deletions
   
   • Once a first-node level deletion is either cleared or blocked, the system will then perform a similar check at the second-node level.
   • If the first-node level deletion is successful, any associated second-node level entries might also need to be deleted or reassigned.
   • The system will automatically perform these deletions if they are safe and will notify you if any action is required.

Non-Deletable Entities

Currently, the system does not allow the deletion of the following:

• Courses
• Course Sections
• People
• Terms

For example, if you have student data tied to a specific course section and attempt to delete that section, the system will block the deletion because of the critical association between the section and the student data. This ensures that essential information remains intact.

The ability to bring back the ability to delete courses and course sections is planned in 2025. If you require assistance in deleting data, please submit a request.

Deactivate by Removing Roles rather than Deleting People

People cannot be deleted from System Administration. In order for a person to be removed, you must send in a request to our support team. Before sending in the request, please make sure that you understand the implications of removing this object. 

1. Remove Roles Instead of Deleting the User
   • By removing a user's roles, they can no longer access the system, but their contributions and associated data (such as added content to a Self-Study) remain intact.
   • This prevents the need for reassigning authorship to other users, which can distort data accuracy.
2. Deactivating Users
   • Consider users with no roles as “inactive” rather than fully deleted.
   • This ensures that their contributions stay in the system, but they no longer appear as active participants.
3. Workaround - Update user’s email:
   • Add a ‘z-delete’ as a prefix to the email. This will push the email to the bottom of the SysAdmin main listing for people, and also identify it as a not to be used email.

Course-Program (Curriculum) Alignment

System Admin stores and manages data for Program-to-Course alignments. This data can be entered via CSV import or through manual updating. Below, we’ll focus on how to enter and update Program-Course Alignment data using the import method.

Aligning Courses to Programs Manually

System Administration allows you to create, update, and remove course-program alignments. While CSV imports are still recommended for bulk updates, manual alignment is ideal for individual adjustments.

Steps to Manually Align Courses to Programs:

• Navigate to the Programs Menu
  • In your System Administrator account, click Programs from the side menu.
• Access the Program’s Curriculum:
  • Locate the desired program and click More Options.
  • Select Manage Curriculum.
• Align Courses:
  • Search for a course by name or catalog code.
  • To align a course to the program, click the (+) button next to the course name.
• Set Course Type (Required or Elective):
  • By default, aligned courses are set as “Required.”
  • To change the course type, click Edit Type and choose Elective.
• Complete the Alignment:
  • Once all courses are aligned and categorized, click Done.

Importing Program-Course Alignment Data

System Administrators have the option to import CSV files with bulk data to align Courses to Programs. Just as with new records, updates to Program Curriculum data can also be made through CSV import.

How to Update Alignment & Requirement Using CSV Import

You can update whether a course should be aligned to a program, and moreover whether that aligned course should be marked as an elective or required in regards to the completion of the program. 

• Options for ‘aligned_course’ column: If a course is aligned with the program in any way it should be marked as TRUE to signify a relationship (whether it’s a required course or not) between the course and a specific program.
• Options for ‘required_course’ column: Let requirement type for this course to reflect the program criteria
  • Mark TRUE if this course is required for the completion of this program.
  • Mark FALSE if this course is optional or an elective in regards to the completion of this program.
• Removing a Course's Alignment and/or Requirement: To remove both a Course’s alignment and/or its requirement for a Program, change the previous "TRUE" to "FALSE" in one or both of the aligned_course and the required_course fields. Then import the CSV to complete the updates.

Managing Enrollments: Adding and Removing Instructors and Students

Manually Adding Instructors or Students:

1. Go to the Enrollments tab in your System Administrator account.
2. Search for the course section.
3. Click Edit Enrollments (pencil icon).
4. Choose Add Instructor or Add Student.
5. Enter the name or email, press Enter, and select the person.
6. Repeat to add more people if needed, then click Add Instructor or Add Student.

Manually Removing Instructors or Students:

1. Go to the Enrollments tab and search for the course section.
2. Click Edit Enrollments (pencil icon).
3. Click Delete Instructor or Delete Student (trash can icon) next to the user.

Importing Instructors and Students via CSV:

1. Go to the Enrollments tab and click Import Enrollments.
2. Download and fill out the template .csv file.
3. Upload the file by clicking Import Enrollments and selecting your file.
4. Review and correct any errors before re-uploading if needed.

Bulk Dropping Enrollments via CSV:

1. In your enrollments.csv, set both Instructor and Student fields to FALSE to drop enrollments.
2. Import the updated file to remove the selected enrollments.
3. If a row is marked FALSE, FALSE for a user not enrolled, it will have no effect.

These steps ensure your enrollment data stays current and accurate.

Tips for a Smooth Deletion Process

• Prepare Your Node Structure: Before attempting to delete nodes, review your institution’s node structure. Ensure that all data is correctly categorized and that any necessary updates or reassociations are made beforehand. This will minimize the chances of deletion errors and keep your system in top shape.
• Understand Data Associations: Familiarize yourself with how your system integrates with other systems. Knowing which data types are connected can help you anticipate potential issues and address them proactively.
• Consult Documentation: Always refer to your system’s documentation or consult with your IT team if you’re unsure about the impact of a deletion. This can prevent accidental data loss and ensure that your system remains stable.

Conclusion

Deleting nodes within an integrated information system requires careful consideration of data associations and hierarchy structures. By following the two-tier check process and keeping your institution’s node structure well-organized, you can confidently manage deletions in System Admin without disrupting your system’s integrity. Remember that some entities, such as courses, sections, and terms, cannot be deleted, so plan your data management strategies accordingly.