1. Watermark
  2. System Administration
  3. Core Data Management

CSV Import Guidelines

Updated

System Administration Import Guide

In order to use System Administration to the fullest, your institution will provide data from your student information (SIS) or learning management system (LMS) on a regular basis. Uploading data at least twice a month ensures that you have the most up-to-date student information in Planning & Self Study and eventually in other integrated Watermark products.
This article explains exactly what data should be loaded from your SIS or LMS.
 
***SAMPLE FILES CAN BE FOUND AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE***


Mechanism for Import

Watermark’s System Administration module allows you to load files manually from the user interface (UI).


File Specifications

The import supports the .csv UTF-8 file type. In order to import the file, click Save As, then select CSV UTF-8.

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Note:

  • All files must have the correct file extension. 
  • All fields must be in the header row of each upload.
  • Optional fields may be left blank, but all fields in this document and the sample files must be included in the headers. 

Some imports are required and some are optional. See the table below for required versus optional, as well as the sequence they should be loaded.

CSV Import Required or Optional
1. Organizations Required
2. Programs Required
3. People Required
4. Terms
Required for course level assessment;
recommended for program level
assessment
5. Courses Required
6. Sections
Required for course level assessment;
optional for program level assessment
7. Enrollments
Required only if using “faculty email
method” for collecting measure results*
8. Basic Person Attributes Optional
9. Student Term Attributes Optional

10. Program Curriculum

 Required

11. Cohort Enrollments

 Optional

 

Explanations of the requirements for each CSV import can be found below (organized by file name).

 

File: organizations.csv

The hierarchy of Organizations serves as an organizing structure for all users, courses, and product workflows. The hierarchy is also responsible for organizational security so that users assigned to a specific area of the hierarchy only have editing privileges for their respective area. For example, a Planning & Self-Study Administrator for the College of Business is only able to create plans, manage users, and enter data for the College of Business and all departments within the College of Business. Your Product Consultant can help you think strategically about how to best build your hierarchy. The organization hierarchy typically reflects an institution's College and Departmental structure as found in their Student Information System, i.e. Banner, Peoplesoft, etc. The Organizations Import spreadsheet is only completed once. Once the hierarchy is created, accounts can be assigned to various levels of the hierarchy to provide access to various levels within the hierarchy.
 
NOTE: An organization in the hierarchy cannot be removed from the user interface or import at this time. Other updates such as changing the organization name or parent can be made in the import as long as the same organization code is provided. Changes can also be made from the user interface, including the organization code.
 

name

Explanation: Name of the Division, Department, College, or School

Example: College of Business

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255

Sample file column: A

Import Status: Required

Note: Name must be unique among all Organizations and Programs. 

 

code

Explanation: Abbreviated code value which represents the organization’s name; often the department code in the student information system

Example: The code for the College of Business could be “COB”

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255

Sample file column: B

Import Status: Required

Note: Code must be unique among all Organizations and Programs. 

 

type

Explanation: Type of unit

Accepted Values: “Center”, ”College”, “Department”, ”Division”, ”Institute”, “School”, ”Unit”

Sample file column: C

Import Status: Required

 

parent_code

Explanation: Value used for assigning parent or child relationship

Example: Say the code for the College of Business is “COB”. The parent_code for the Marketing Department (nested within the College of Business) is COB.

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255

Sample file column: D

Import Status: Required

 

File: programs.csv

Programs are often the academic programs of study or majors that are offered by the Institution. They can be assigned a sponsoring organization, which enhances the hierarchy for product workflows. The Programs Import spreadsheet is usually completed once and updated periodically as programs are created or revised.
 
NOTE: A program cannot be removed from the user interface or import at this time. Other updates such as changing the program name or sponsoring organization can be made in the import as long as the same program code is provided. Changes can also be made from the user interface, including the program code.
 

name

Explanation: Name of the Program

Example: BS Marketing

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255

Sample file column: A

Import Status: Required

Note: Name must be unique among all Organizations and Programs.

 

code

Explanation: Abbreviated code value which represents the program’s name; often the program or major code in the student information system

Example: The code for the College of Business could be “COB”

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255

Sample file column: B

Import Status: Required

Note: Code must be unique among all Organizations and Programs.

 

cip_code

Explanation: The code assigned to the program as per the Classification of Instructional Programs which can be found on the National Center for Education Statistics website, https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/cipcode/browse.aspx?y=55.

Sample file column: C

Import Status: Optional

 

sponsoring_organization_code

Explanation: Value used for assigning parent or child relationship

Example: Say the code for the Marketing Department  is “DMKTG”. The sponsoring_organization_code for the BS Marketing program  (nested within the Marketing Department) is DMKTG.

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255

Sample file column: D

Import Status: Required

Note: Programs cannot be the parent of another program
 

File: people.csv

Institutional System Administrators will create and manage accounts for all users. Account creation is required before they can assign roles or permissions (e.g. leads in Planning & Self-Study). We suggest that you include faculty, staff, and all individuals who require access to the Watermark platform. Your people file may also include students and instructors who are enrolled in course sections. Before importing the people file please check that all organizations exist in the database. If needed you may want to perform an organizations file import prior to importing people.
 

person_id

Explanation: ID from the SIS that is usually stored on both students, staff, and faculty

Example: 495960 or zt594034

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, special characters, 255 

Sample file column: A

Import Status: Required

 

email

Explanation: Account Owner’s Institutional Email Address

Example: rsmith@university.edu

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255

Sample file column: B

Import Status: Required

Note: This field is the unique identifier for each user. Updates to user accounts will occur based on the value provided for email. Email is NOT case sensitive. 

 

first_name

Explanation: Account Owner's First Name

Example: Robert or Mary Jean

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255

Sample file column: C

Import Status: Required

 

middle_name

Explanation: Account Owner's Middle Name

Example: Janet or Michael

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255

Sample file column: D

Import Status: Optional

 

last_name

Explanation: Account Owner's Last Name

Example: Smith or Rodriguez

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255

Sample file column: E

Import Status: Required

 

organization_code

Explanation: This value must match the code provided in the organizations import file.

Example: COB for the College of Business

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255

Sample file column: F

Import Status: Required

roles

Explanation: A role authorizes a user with permission to one or more Watermark products

Planning & Self-Study

For Planning & Self-Study there are two roles- Administrator or Contributor. A user may have multiple roles for this product. 

 

Example: PSS_Administrator or PSS_Contributor
Student Learning & Licensure

For Student Learning & Licensure there are three roles- Administrator, Faculty or Student. A user may have only one role for this product.

 

Example: SLL_Administrator or SLL_Faculty or SLL_Student

Format: If multiple roles are supplied for a user, use a | (pipe). e.g. PSS_Administrator|PSS_Contributor

Sample file column: G

Import Status: Optional

 

File: terms.csv

The term file creates terms. Terms are used to align course sections to their corresponding term. When importing a Terms.csv file you can create new terms and/or update existing terms in the database.
 

term_name

Explanation:  The name of the term

Example: Spring 2019

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255

Sample file column: A

Import Status: Required

NOTE: Must be unique in the system.

 

start_date

Explanation: Start date for the term

Format: YYYY-MM-DD

Sample file column: B

Import Status: Required

 

end_date

Explanation: End date for the term

Format: YYYY-MM-DD

Sample file column: C

Import Status: Required

 

term_id

Explanation: abbreviated code for term name

Example: SP2019 or 202120

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255

Sample file column: D

Import Status: Required

NOTE: Must be unique in the system. When updating existing terms changes will occur based on term_id value.

 

File: courses.csv

The courses file creates courses that are typically outlined in a course catalog. When importing a courses file, you can create new courses or update existing courses in the database. Each course must be affiliated with an existing sponsoring organization using the organization code. Before importing courses, please check that all necessary organizations exist in the database.
 

course_catalog_code

Explanation: The course subject code and course number

Example: EDUC 101

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255

Sample file column: A

Import Status: Required.

NOTE: Must be unique in the system. This is the value that represents the course in the SIS and course catalogs for institutions. (Example: EDU 101, BUS 320, MGT 430). When updating existing courses changes will occur based on catalog_code value.

course_name

Explanation: Name of the course

Example: Introduction to Education

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255

Sample file column: B

Import Status: Required

NOTE: Must be unique.

Note: Currently text cannot contain a comma. We plan to fix this in a future release.

 

organization_code

Note: Per current functionality, the organization_code can be any organizational unit.
Note to P&SS Clients: Program curriculum alignment to your courses will be completed during Design and Build Meeting #1 with your Product Consultant.

Explanation: Level of the organization hierarchy in which the course will reside.

Example: COB for the College of Business

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255

Sample file column: C

Import Status: Required

NOTE: Must match an existing organization code.

subject_code

Explanation: The course subject code for the course

Example: EDUC

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255

Sample file column: D

Import Status: Optional.

course_number

Explanation: The course number for the course

Example: 101

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255

Sample file column: E

Import Status: Optional.

description

Explanation: The course description for the course, usually articulated in the course catalog.

Example: In this course students will learn the theory and methodologies of ...

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255

Sample file column: F

Import Status: Optional.

Note: Currently text cannot contain a comma. We plan to fix this in a future release.

credits

Explanation: The number of credits for passing the course, usually articulated in the course catalog.

Example: 3

Field Type and Length: Float4 (number)

Sample file column: G

Import Status: Optional.

cip_code

Explanation: The code assigned to the course as per the Classification of Instructional Programs which can be found on the National Center for Education Statistics website, https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/cipcode/browse.aspx?y=55.

Sample file column: H

Import Status: Optional

 

File: sections.csv  

The Sections file creates sections of each course. When importing a sections file, you can create new course sections or update existing course sections in the database. Each imported section must be associated with an existing course using the course catalog code from your SIS. Before importing sections, please check that all necessary courses are already in the database through an upload of your courses.csv file. Additionally, each imported section must also be associated with an existing term using the Term ID specified in your Terms.csv file. Before importing sections please check that all necessary terms exist in the database.
 
Note to P&SS Clients: This is optional unless course level assessment is being implemented.  
 

section_id

Explanation: Unique identifier for each group. Often, this is a CRN number from an SIS.

Example: 201601123456  or EDU101SEC01SP2019

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255

Sample file column: A

Import Status: Required.

NOTE: This field is required to be unique across all terms. Often, this is a unique Course Registration Number (CRN) value. If your institution reuses CRN values from term to term, establish a term indicator with the CRN. Example: 20180112345  where “201801” 2018 for the year, 01 stands for Spring, and “12345” stands for the CRN. For each course section recorded the unique identifier is the section_id. When updating existing course sections, changes will occur based on section_id.

section_number

Explanation: Section number to identify a section of a course

Example: 01

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255

Sample file column: B

Import Status: Required.

course_catalog_code

Explanation: This value is responsible for nesting a section within its parent course

Example: EDUC 101

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255

Sample file column: C

Import Status: Required.

NOTE: Must correspond to the course_catalog_code field in the courses file.

term_id

Explanation: The term for which the course section is offered

Example: SP2019

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255

Sample file column: D

Import Status: Required

NOTE: This value must match the term_id values provided in the terms file.

start_date

Explanation: Start date for the section

Format: YYYY-MM-DD

Sample file column: E

Import Status: Optional

end_date

Explanation: End date for the section

Format: YYYY-MM-DD

Sample file column: F

Import Status: Optional

status

Explanation: The status of the section, such as active or cancelled.

Example: Active

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255

Sample file column: G

Import Status: Optional

credits

Explanation: The credits a student earns for passing the section. This may be different from the course.

Example: 3

Field Type and Length: Float4 (numeric)

Sample file column: H

Import Status: Optional

title_override

Explanation: The title of the section, if different from the course title.

Example: History of Mathematics - Honors Section

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255

Sample file column: I

Import Status: Optional

Note: Currently text cannot contain a comma. We plan to fix this in a future release.

description_override

Explanation: The description of the section, if different from the course description.

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255

Sample file column: J

Import Status: Optional

Note: Currently text cannot contain a comma. We plan to fix this in a future release.

location

Explanation: The campus location code of the section, such as a main campus or online.

Example: MAIN

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255

Sample file column: K

Import Status: Optional 

level

Explanation: The level of the section, such as graduate or undergraduate.

Example: UG

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255

Sample file column: L

Import Status: Optional

schedule_type

Explanation: The type of section, such as lecture, lab or recitation.

Example: LAB

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255

Sample file column: M

Import Status: Optional

delivery_method

Explanation: The delivery method of the section, such as online or hybrid.

Example: Hybrid

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255

Sample file column: N

Import Status: Optional

 

File: enrollments.csv 

This file is responsible for enrolling students or instructors within a course. In products like Planning & Self-Study, this allows you to report on assessment data to the granularity of individual student results.
 
Note to P&SS clients: This file is optional for implementation.
 
Note: In order to successfully upload an enrollment file, all included users must previously be loaded in the people file and all course sections must be previously loaded in the section file.
 
Best Practice: Upload or refresh enrollments after the Add/Drop period at your institution to ensure your system has the most accurate enrollment data.
 

section_id

Explanation: Section id for which the faculty or student will be enrolled. Must match an existing section_id provided in the section file.

Example: 201601123456  or EDU101SEC01SP2019

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255

Sample file column: A

Import Status: Required

email

Explanation: The email address of an existing person loaded in the people file.

Example: nportman@example.edu

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255

Sample file column: B

Import Status: Required

Instructor

Explanation: Values provided here will enroll the person as the instructor of record.

Accepted Values: Provide TRUE  to enroll the user as the instructor of record.

Sample file column: C

Import Status: Required

NOTE: A person cannot be added as both an instructor and student in the same section.

Student

Explanation: Values provided here will enroll the user as a student in the section.

Accepted Values: TRUE or FALSE | Provide TRUE to enroll the user as a student within the course section. Provide FALSE to unenroll the user as a student within the course section.

Sample file column: D

Import Status: Required

NOTE: A person cannot be added as both an instructor and student in the same section.

 

File: peopleattributes.csv 

Institutional System Administrators can optionally import basic person demographic and characteristics.While not currently leveraged by Planning & Self-Study, System Administrators can import basic person demographics. The option appears when Importing or Exporting People. This capability is to be leveraged with Student Learning & Licensure, formerly known as Via. 

 

We will communicate in release notes when this import of Person Attributes is integrated with Planning & Self-Study. At this time, there are no immediate plans for this. 

 

Note: In order to successfully upload this file, all included users must previously be loaded in the people file. 

 

email 

Explanation: The email address of an existing person loaded in the people file. 

Example: nportman@example.edu 

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255 

Sample file column: A 

Import Status: Required 

 

gender 

Explanation: The gender of the person, usually as reported to IPEDS. 

Example: Female 

Accepted Values: “Male”, ”Female”, “M”, ”F” 

Sample file column: B 

Import Status: Optional 

 

race_ethnicity 

Explanation: The combined race and ethnicity values of the person, usually common in combined Race/Ethnicity reporting. 

Example: Two or More Races 

Accepted Values: “Hispanic or Latino”, “American Indian or Alaska Native”, “Asian”, “Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander”, “White”, “Black or African American”, “Two or More Races”, “Nonresident Alien”, “Not Specified / Declined to Specify” 

Sample file column: C 

Import Status: Optional 

 

race 

Explanation: The race of the person, usually as reported to IPEDS. 

Example: White | Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 

Accepted Values: “American Indian or Alaska Native”, “Asian”, “Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander”, “White”, “Black or African American”, “Not Specified / Declined to Specify” 

Sample file column: D 

Import Status: Optional 

Note: If multiple values are supplied, separate with a | 

 

date_of_birth 

Explanation: Date of birth for the person 

Format: YYYY-MM-DD 

Sample file column: E 

Import Status: Optional 

 

first_generation 

Explanation: The flag if the person is a first generation student. 

Example: Y 

Accepted Values: “Y”, ”N”, “Yes”, ”No”k 

Sample file column: F 

Import Status: Optional 

 

pell_eligibility 

Explanation: The flag if the person is eligible to receive PELL grants. 

Example: Y 

Accepted Values: “Y”, ”N”, “Yes”, ”No” 

Sample file column: G 

Import Status: Optional 

 

transfer_student 

Explanation: The flag if the person is a transfer student. 

Example: Y 

Accepted Values: “Y”, ”N”, “Yes”, ”No” 

Sample file column: H 

Import Status: Optional 

 

admission_year 

Explanation: The admission year of the student. 

Format: YYYY 

Sample file column: I 

Import Status: Optional 

 

File: studenttermattributes.csv 

Institutional System Administrators can optionally import student term attributes and characteristics. While not currently leveraged by Planning & Self-Study, System Administrators can import student term attributes. The option appears when Importing or Exporting People (students). 

This capability is to be leveraged with Student Learning & Licensure, formerly known as Via. 

We will communicate in release notes when this import of Student Term Attributes is integrated with Planning & Self-Study. At this time, there are no immediate plans for this. 

Note: In order to successfully upload this file, all included emails & term IDs must already exist within the institution. 

email 

Explanation: The email identifier of the person. Must match the term id that exists in their list of supplied Terms. 

Example: nportman@example.edu 

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255 

Sample file column: A 

Import Status: Required 

 

term_id 

Explanation: The term affiliated with the student record. e.g. The term they started the Major and/or the given term related to the Term GPA. Must match the term id that exists in their list of supplied Terms. 

Example: 2021FALL 

Accepted Values: Must match existing term code 

Sample file column: B 

Import Status: Required 

 

cumulative_gpa 

Explanation: The cumulative GPA of the student at the end of the given term. 

Example: 3.5 

Accepted Values: A number with up to 3 decimal places 

Sample file column: C 

Import Status: Optional 

 

term_gpa 

Explanation: The GPA of the grades earned in the given term. 

Example: 3.5 

Accepted Values: A number with up to 3 decimal places 

Sample file column: D 

Import Status: Optional 

 

attending_status 

Explanation: The full-time or part-time status of the student in the given term. 

Example: FT 

Accepted Values: Must be either “FT” or “PT” 

Sample file column: E 

Import Status: Optional 

 

primary_major 

Explanation: The primary major of the student during the given term. 

Sample file column: F 

Import Status: Optional 

 

primary_major_concentration 

Explanation: The primary concentration of the student during the given term. 

Sample file column: G 

Import Status: Optional 

 

additional_major 

Explanation: The secondary major of the student during the given term. 

Sample file column: H 

Import Status: Optional 

 

additional_major_concentration 

Explanation: The secondary concentration of the student during the given term. 

Sample file column: I 

Import Status: Optional 

 

minor 

Explanation: The minor of the student during the given term. 

Sample file column: J 

Import Status: Optional 

 

earned_credit_hours 

Explanation: The total credit hours the student earned during the given term. 

Example: 6 

Accepted Values: A number with up to 3 decimal places 

Sample file column: K 

Import Status: Optional 

 

File: programcurriculum.csv 

The program curriculum file aligns courses to programs. When importing a program curriculum file, you can create and update the course alignment to a program, and additionally create and update the required course alignment to a program. Before importing the program curriculum file, please check that all necessary programs and courses exist in the database. 

Note: In order to successfully upload this file, all included course & program IDs must already exist within the institution. 

Note: Program Curriculum can be created and updated through CSV imports only at this time.

program_code 

Explanation: The program code affiliated with the program record.

Example: The code for the College of Business could be “COB”

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255 

Sample file column: A 

Import Status: Required 

Note: Code must be unique.

 

course_code

Explanation: The course code affiliated with the course record.

Example: EDUC 101

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255

Sample file column: B

Import Status: Required.

NOTE: Course_code must correspond to the course_catalog_code field in the courses file.

 

aligned_course

Explanation: Values provided here will align or not align a course to the program

Accepted Values: TRUE or FALSE | Provide TRUE to align the course to a program. Provide FALSE if you do not want the course aligned to a program

Sample file column: C

Import Status: Required.

 

required_course

Explanation: Values provided here will align courses as required or not for the program

Accepted Values: TRUE or FALSE | Provide TRUE to align the course as required to a program. Provide FALSE if you do not want the course aligned as required to a program

Sample file column: D

Import Status: Required.

 

File: cohortenrollments.csv

This file is responsible for enrolling students within a cohort.

This information can be leveraged for reporting and workflows in products like Student Learning & Licensure.

Note: In order to successfully upload a cohort enrollment file, all included users must previously be loaded in the people file and all cohorts must be previously loaded in the cohorts section, under the Data Variables file.

email

Explanation: The email address of an existing person loaded in the people file.

Example: nportman@example.edu
Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255
Sample file column: A
Import Status: Required

cohort_code

Explanation: Cohort code for which the faculty or student will be enrolled. Must match an existing cohort provided in the cohorts, under the Data Variables tab.

Example: 2022_MBA_FT

Field Type and Length: Alphanumeric, 255

Sample file column: B

Import Status: Required


***SAMPLE FILES CAN BE FOUND BELOW***

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