CurricUNET FAQ for Course Outline Authors:
If you have never been trained, contact the Curriculum Technician at (805) 289-6464.
You may also wish to read the Quick Guide to Using CurricUNET.
Basic Questions:
Q. How do I access CurricUNET?
A. You may access CurricUNET from any computer that is connected to the Internet. The URL is http://www.curricunet.com/ventura/.
Q. What if I forgot (or never obtained) my user name or password?
A. You probably selected your name and password at the CurricUNET training sessions, but if that was a while ago, you may have forgotten them. The name and password are not connected to your Luminis or MyVCCCD or Outlook logons (unless you selected them to be so). You may contact Michael Bowen or Olivia Long if you have forgotten your user name or password.
Q. Is CurricUNET secure?
A. Yes and no. You must sign in to your account with a user name and password; this protects our courses from modifications being proposed by the general public. However, CurricUNET is not as secure as commercial sites such as your bank. For this reason, it is recommended that you not use the same password as you do for other secure sites (particularly including your banking sites), because several people (e.g., Michael Bowen, Linda Resendiz, Olivia Long, and employees of the vendor) have direct access to the CurricUNET user/password database.
Q. Why can't I find my course on CurricUNET?
A. If you are looking for the course by number, do not type the leading "V" into the search field. For example, if you are looking for Math V21A, select MATH as the discipline, and type the course number as either "21A" or "21", not "V21A". When searching for a single-digit course (e.g., Math V01), use the leading zero (search for "01"). Also see this question.
Q. Why are there so many copies of my course listed when I search for it?
A. CurricUNET maintains historical records of current and all previous versions of a course outline. Some or all of these are visible when you search for a course. One reason for this is that if a student takes a course at VC and then tries to transfer it elsewhere (e.g., to a four-year university) some years later, the university may request a copy of the outline as it read at the time the student took the course (not the current outline). The student may have to retake the course if we cannot supply the requested information, so it is essential that we maintain records of older outlines.
Q. How can I tell which of these versions is the current one?
A. The current version of the outline is the one marked *Active*, with red shading. In most cases, this is the version you should copy if you plan to prepare an update or revision. Older versions are marked *Historical*, with blue shading. If someone (perhaps you?) is working on an update or revision, that version is marked *Pending*. Finally, courses that have been removed from the catalog are marked *Deleted*.
Q. I am only changing the textbook on my course. Do I still have to go through every item in the Course Checklist on the right side of the main course page?
A. Yes. The vendor designed CurricUNET to encourage outline authors to review the entire course for accuracy, even if only minor changes are contemplated. This is particularly important during the first post-OMNI course modification, because all the data in the CurricUNET outlines were transcribed by hand or using OCR (optical character recognition) from OMNI, and may therefore contain substantive errors or omissions. It is wise to have a printed copy of the last OMNI outline available the first time you change a course, so you can verify that the data entry was done correctly for your course.
Q. What if I want to return to a course I have been working on, but I can't find it anywhere (in particular, I can't find it in My Proposals)?
A. On the CurricUNET home page, go to "Search" — "Course", then, in the Course Search box, select "All" in the Status box, and click your discipline from the drop-down menu in the Discipline box. Then click
Q. What is the difference between Update and Revision?
A. "Update" is a minor modification (or set of modifications) that does not change any of the course's catalog or articulation information; for example, changing the textbook. "Revision" is a modification that changes one or more items in the catalog OR has the potential to affect a course's articulation. If you are changing any of the following items, then the course is definitely a Revision. If not, then the course is probably an Update.
- Course objectives
- Course content or lab content (topics)
- Course ID (discipline name or course number)
- Course title
- Units
- Hours (even if units are not changing)
- Prequisite, corequisite, or recommended preparation
- Catalog description
- Fees (adding or removing fees only; if the amount of an existing fee is changing, then it is still an Update)
- Field trips
- Number of times course may be repeated
- Co-listing ("same as")
- Grading symbol (CR/NC to letter grade or vice versa)
- Degree status
- Transferability
Q. What if I accidentally marked my course as an Update when it is really a Revision (or vice versa)?
A. Let Olivia Long know, as administrative access to the CurricUNET system is required to modify this field once it is set.
Q. I submitted my course. Why hasn't CurricUNET notified my fellow department members to start reviewing it?
A. CurricUNET does not issue notifications immediately. Our experience has been that the notifications are usually sent out in a batch on the following day between 1:00 and 2:00 a.m. (including weekends). If you wait until the next day and this still has not happened, verify that you have followed all the directions in the Course Construction Main Menu section of the Quick Guide to Using CurricuNET.
Q. How do I view comments that others have made regarding my course proposal?
A. On the CurricUNET home page, go to "Track" — "My Approvals", then, in the Approval Process box, select the role of "Course Author". Click
Q. I received a "fix-it" for my course from technical review. I have tried to edit my course, but the CurricuNET system won't let me. What is wrong?
A. This is a known bug, and the vendor is working on it; courses that are "held" for changes are supposed to be editable, but this feature isn't working correctly just yet. In the meantime, please ask Olivia Long for assistance.
Advanced Questions:
Q. How can I view advanced reports such as
A. First, you must log in to CurricUNET, as some of these reports are not available to the general public. Go to "Build" — "Courses", then, in the left margin under "Disciplines", select the discipline of the course you seek. Wait a few seconds for the system to respond (there is no "OK" button to click in this dialog); eventually you will see a list (possibly long) of all available courses in that discipline. Scroll down (if necessary) to locate your course. From the dark-orange column just to the left of the desired course names, select the icon for the report you are seeking.
Alternative: If your course does not show up under "Build" — "Courses", you may also be able to find it under "Search" — "Course". With this approach, select the pencil
Please note that it is not possible to edit the course outline if you are viewing a report using either of these alternative mechanisms.
Q. How can I print my report?
A. Most of the advanced reports are in HTML format. In many browsers, the key combination CTRL+P will activate the printing mechanism for the file. If this does not work in your browser, investigate the "File" menu in the menu bar (usually located just below the blue stripe at the very top of the browser window) by clicking it. Usually, "Print" will be one of the available options in the menu that drops down; upon clicking this, you will typically be asked to select a printer and (possibly) print options. Click OK after you make this choice (or if the default is the one you wish to use). The document should begin to print almost immediately, except that some ink-jet printers take a few minutes to clean themselves first, particularly if you are running the first print job of the day. If you are not happy with the appearance of the page, try messing with the "Page Setup" option which is also located in the browser's "File" menu.
"Judge others by their questions rather than by their answers." -- Voltaire
