Overview of Importing CSV Data Into Faculty Success

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It's likely that your campus has other systems that contain information about the courses your faculty teach, human resources information, and faculty grants. You'll probably want to import this data into Faculty Success to feed robust reports and reduce the manual data entry burden on faculty. Faculty Success's Data Imports feature allows you to do just that by using a CSV file to import data.

We have created an informative guide below to help you as you work on importing data into Faculty Success using a CSV. A CSV import is always one activity screen per file. For an video guide of the overall process, please see the following video, "Importing CSV Data Into Faculty Success."

Importing CSV Data Into Faculty Success 

Getting Started 

Preparing your file for import

Depending on the type of data import you'll be performing, such as importing new or updating existing data into the application, the CSV file you'll be using for your data import must adhere to specific formatting requirements. Detailed guides on how to import data, depending on the type of import, can be found in the linked resources below.

Respectively, for both types, running an Export Raw Data report will give you a CSV file you can use to begin on your changes for both types of import, so this is a great way to get a CSV that can serve as your starting point, and as you work on your CSV, refer back to this step of the article to view the requirements listed below to know how to properly format your file. We've also created a video guide to help you format your CSV.

 

Formatting Data Files for Faster CSV Imports 

 

The formatting requirements for your CSV for data imports are as follows:

  • The file must be saved as a comma separated values (.CSV) file. CSV, also referred to as comma-delimited, is a file format in which each line is one record and the content for individual fields in a record are separated by commas.
  • A single CSV file may only contain data for a single data collection screen in Faculty Success.
  • You may only include data in your import file for individuals with user accounts set up to track activities in Faculty Success.
  • Each column of your CSV file must contain a different piece of information, corresponding to a single input field in Faculty Success.
  • One column of your CSV file must contain a unique user identifier for the user account that will own the record in each row. Examples of identifiers you can use are the Faculty Success username (not case sensitive), ID number or email address for the user account.

    Note: The unique identifier provided within the file must already be associated with accounts in Faculty Success through Users and Security.

  • The first row of your CSV file, the header row, must contain the field code in Faculty Success for each field to which you will import data. To find the code in place for each field, refer to your Configuration Report, which is available on the Home page within Faculty Success under "Your Configuration."
  • When building your import file, be aware of the field type and options accepted for each given field. The data provided in your import file must exactly match these attributes in order for the import to qualify for instant import. Here are a few common examples of cases like this that you may encounter:

      • Drop-down lists: Values provided within an import file for a drop-down field must exactly match the predefined options for that field.
      • Numeric fields: These fields expect data to contain only numbers. Including alpha characters in a value for this type of field will cause the import to error.
      • Integer fields: Integer fields expect whole number values. If your import file contains decimals within the values for this field, the import will fail with a validation error.
      • Date fields: Date fields are often broken apart into components, such as term and year or month, day and year. Each element is then stored separately and is subject to different parameters for acceptable values. For example, term and month fields are drop-down lists, while day and year are numeric fields. Your dates must be parsed into the relevant columns and formatted accordingly.
      • Dynamic Sub-Answer (DSA) fields: Data may be imported to a DSA with one or more DSA rows (column sets) included in a single csv file. The column headers will contain the code for the DSA, the position order for the import file, and the field code of the question within the DSA. For example, importing 2 college and department rows would include the columns ADMIN_DEP_1_COLLEGE, ADMIN_DEP_1_DEP, ADMIN_DEP_2_COLLEGE, ADMIN_DEP_2_DEP. For more guidance, please visit this article.

 

Note: To review the attributes of any given field, refer to your Configuration Report. 

Navigate to the Data Import Page 

Once you have a CSV formatted according to the requirements described in the previous step, you can upload the CSV as follows:

a. From the Navigation Bar, go to the Tools utility and choose Work Requests
Screenshot

 b. Select Data Import from the drop-down list of work request types and select Continue.
Screenshot

Uploading your file for Import

You will then have a series of steps to complete within the Data Import Page which can be completed as follows: 

Step 1: Click the "Choose File" button to open the file manager on your computer and select the CSV file to import. After you've chosen the CSV, you'll need to choose the screen to which your data import will be applied by using the drop-down menu within "Select the screen that applies to the request." You will then select "Upload File" to continue to the next step. 

Step 2: Choose the type of unique identifier you will use to refer the records in your import to a user, such as their Faculty ID or Username, by selecting the type of identifier in the scroll menu and then identifying what type of unique user identifier it is in the drop down menu within "What type of unique user identifier is it?"

Keep in mind that your choices will be used in the following ways during this step.

  • We will compare the contents of the column selected to the existing user account information in Faculty Success.
  • Each person in the file on whose behalf data will be imported must have a Faculty Success user account that is set up to track activities, and the unique user ID in the file must be associated with that person in the Faculty Success instrument.
  • Each person in the file on whose behalf data will be imported must be within a college for which you have the Work Requests permission.
  • If any of the user identifiers fail to match with a Faculty Success account for your campus, or the user is not set up to have activity tracked, Faculty Success will display an error message and halt the file import process.

After you've made your selections for the user identifiers, click the "Continue" button to begin the validation process. If your validation is successful, you will see a "Success" message and the next step will be made available. If you receive a validation error message, refer to Resolving Data Import Error Messages.

Step 3: In this step, you will select how your import should affect existing records in Faculty Success. The options you select will have the following impact: 

  •  Do not update existing records. Create new records and new DSA rows from the rows in the file: Current records will not be updated, rather new records will be created. 
  •  Update existing records and DSA rows using the content in the file. Add new DSA rows if no matching DSA row is found. Do not create new records: Update current records and create new records if a match is not found. 

Once you've made your selections, select "Continue to Import" to begin the validation of your CSV for the import. If no errors are found, Faculty Success will indicate the number of records to be created and/or updated. Simply select "Import" and your data will instantly import. 

If there are errors present in the file, error messaging will appear to clarify each issue and possible next steps.

 

When should I submit a Work Request to Faculty Success?

Upon reaching step 3, the option "Continue to Submit a Work Request" will appear next to the "Continue to Import" button. This button appears to allow you to submit a work request with your file, and if you're wondering when you should use it, look at the list below to see if you fit into any of the categories.

  • When you need to modify field attributes in order to import your data: Importing new data may require that you add options to a drop-down list or modify other field attributes to accommodate the new data. In such cases, please submit a separate Screen Revision work request. Once the screen changes are completed, you may proceed to import the data.
  • The CSV file meets the formatting requirements and contains more than ten records, so you'd like our team to process it for the data import on your behalf.
  • You have corrected an initial round of validation errors, and additional errors may be found on the second import attempt, so you may require additional assistance by having our team review your file.

The work request is subject to a standard turnaround time of up to 10 business days, but files that meet the formatting requirements can often be processed in two business days or less.

 

Note: If you would like assistance resolving import errors that do not require changes to the data structure, please contact our Support team.

 

Working with Data in CSV Files

If you find that you need to edit the content of your CSV file before proceeding with the data import process, you can work on the necessary changes to your CSV and once you are ready to use the new file for your import process, you can return to the first step and select the "Choose File" button to open your file manager and select the new CSV file to upload. After your new file is upload, select the "Replace File" button to replace the CSV file with the new one. 

Screenshot

 

If you're working with CSV files in Microsoft Excel, keep an eye out for the auto-formatting function, which affects how data with leading zeroes and ranges of page numbers are displayed and saved in the edited CSV file. See this article for helpful tips on how to avoid this.

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