Navigating Kuali CM
Dashboard
When entering Curriculum Management, My Dashboard is the home page. Depending on the level of access they have, users can view their Proposals and Action List all in one place.
Left navigation panel (main menu)
The left navigation panel allows users to access the section or database they would like to view, search, or edit, depending on their level of access to the system.
- Action List: An expanded page offering an approver's complete list of items waiting for approval.
- Courses: Lists all courses. Search the database, and those with proposer-level access can create new courses and propose changes to existing courses.
- Programs & Plans: Lists all programs and plans. Search the database, and those with proposer-level access can create new programs/plans and propose changes to existing programs and plans.
- Regulations: Lists all regulations. Search the database, and those with proposer-level access can create new regulations and propose changes to existing regulations.
- Proposals: Lists all active proposals. Search for proposals in various states.
- Proposals in Draft state can be viewed by any user.
- Proposals in Under Review state can be viewed by any user.
- Agendas: Allows select users to build an agenda (table of contents) for curriculum committees. Users who have this access will have received training. Users without this access will see an error message (prompting to return to dashboard) when attempting to access this area.
Search and filter databases
Kuali CM features a dynamic search bar at the top of each database to find specific records, which filters as you type. Depending on the specific database users are in, users can search for existing records or proposals by entering the following details in the search field.
| Database | Search by: |
|---|---|
| Courses |
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| Programs & Plans |
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| Regulations |
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| Action List + Proposals |
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| Agendas |
|
Use filters in Search Options on the right navigation panel to narrow the results.
Notes:
- Capitalization will not impact the search results (e.g., entering 'anth100' in the search bar will display results for ANTH100).
- Kuali CM will remember a user's last search text or filtered criteria - it will not reset to a default.
- Results can be sorted using the column headers (e.g., Code, Title, Description, Created On, Status).
- By default, each database will display 30 results per page. Use the pagination options (Prev and Next) to move between pages.
- The Search Options available will differ slightly in each database, but generally provide a way to narrow the results by:
- Active or Retired status
- Faculty (as designated "owner" in Kuali CM)
- Academic Unit (as designated "owner" in Kuali CM)
- More options are available for the Proposals database.
Tips for searching the Proposals database
The Proposals database Search Options allow users to search by proposal type and status, as well as view only their own proposals. Some tips for searching in the Proposals database:
- Select the type of proposal you are looking for (Courses, Programs & Plans, and/or Regulations).
- Select the status of the proposal you are looking for (Draft, Approved, and/or Under Review).
- To view proposals you created, select My Proposals. To view proposals created by other Kuali CM users as well, deselect My Proposals.
- Select the applicable Faculty or Academic Unit.
- Use the search bar at the top to further narrow results by inputting a code or title.
- Select column headings to sort results (e.g., select Code to sort the course codes alpha-numerically, or select Created On to sort the results by the date they were created).
In the example below, the proposals database is returning results for all Under Review status course proposals, created by all users, including all faculties and departments, and sorted by Code:
Viewing a record
Jump to: Ribbon colours, status, and effective periods | Table of Contents | Viewing historical proposals and records | Audit log | Dependencies
Ribbon colours, status, and effective periods
All records and proposals have a 'coloured ribbon' associated with its status and effective period. A user's dashboard view of their own proposals will also show the status with a narrow vertical ribbon and indicates the approval state of the proposal with a percentage.
| Colour | Type | Status | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Record | Current | A current record is created once a proposal is approved and the record falls within the current University of Waterloo academic term. For example, if the University of Waterloo term is fall 2023, the version of the record that falls within fall 2023 will have a Current state. |
 |
Record | Future |
When a proposal is approved with a future start date, a Future state record is created. When the term becomes current it changes to active/Current state (green). For example, if the UW term is fall 2023, the version of the record with a fall 2024 effective date will have a Future state, but in fall 2024, it will automatically change to Current state. |
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Record | Past | System generated status when a record has an end effective date that is in the past. |
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Record | Retired | A curricular record can be retired when it will no longer be offered or available in the Calendar. At the University of Waterloo, formerly referred to as “inactivated”. An additional banner will appear above the coloured ribbon (full width of page) indicating the currently Retired state.
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Record | Revision | When a change has been approved for a version of a record with the same effective date, past instances of the version will appear with the teal blue ribbon. The latest revision will display as Current, Future, or Retired state, as applicable. |
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Proposal | Draft | When a new proposal is created, or changes are proposed to an existing record, it is considered a draft. The proposal will remain a Draft until it is submitted to workflow or is deleted. |
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Proposal | Under Review | When a proposal has been submitted to workflow, its status changes from Draft to Under Review. A status of under review indicates a new proposal or modification is in the process of being approved. |
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Proposal | Permanently Denied | When a proposal is denied by an approver, the status of the proposal changes to Permanently Denied. The proposal is removed from workflow and can’t be modified by the original proposer. |
Ribbon colour examples:
| Dashboard view | Record view |
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Table of Contents
All records and proposals include a navigable Table of Contents, allowing the user to quickly toggle through the sections of the record or proposal. Users can click on the text for the section they would like to navigate to.
Viewing historical proposals and records
Most data was originally imported into Kuali CM. For any records where proposals have been created and approved, or additional versions (different effective dates) have been created, there are options to:
- Display the content in the original proposal.
- Navigate between different versions of a record.
- View multiple revisions to the same record.
View original proposal
Original proposal details include content that is no longer “visible” in the current active record but was tied to the proposal as it went through governance, such as rationales, uploaded files, consultation details, etc. Those details do not get deleted and thus can be viewed by all system users.
Example: View the original proposal details of a course record, PHYS24
- Locate the desired course in the database and click anywhere on the row to open the record.
- Within the record, on the right navigation panel, select View Original Proposal.
- The original proposal will display.
- To return to the active record, select View Active Course.
Navigate between different versions
Continuing from the example above, we can view a previous version of PHYS24:
- To see all existing versions, select the arrow pair on the top right of the page.
- In the pull-down menu that displays for this example, there are three versions: two Future and one Current.
- To view the current version of the record, Current │Fall 2023 was selected. The previously approved version of the record is displayed.
View a revision
If a record has been revised and the update had the same effective date as the previous change, this action will be indicated in the right navigation panel by the appearance of Revision, along with a pull-down menu. The latest revision is the currently approved version of the record.
Example: View a revision of PHYS24
- In the Fall 2023 version, notice the right navigation panel contains Revision and a pull-down menu, noted by the down arrow symbol.
- Clicking on the pull-down menu displays the list of revisions – select the desired option to view the details.
- The previous approved revision of the Fall 2023 version of PHYS24 displays, with a teal ribbon and a Revision state.
- To return to the most recent version of a record:
- Select Revision # (Latest).
- Select the most recent version, at the top of the version arrow pair menu (in this example, Future | Fall 2024 – Indefinite).
Audit log
The Audit Log displays the history of what was done to a proposal and is visible for each record, version, or revision. Data it stores includes who created the record, changes made, workflow actions, and approvals.
The Audit Log features dynamic search and filter, allowing a keyword search, as well as filtering by date(s) and the type of action that was taken to change the record.
Notes:
- The Audit Log tracks changes for each individual field on the form. Multiple field changes to a proposal that are made in one editing/saving session will be broken down into individual log entries for each field that was changed.
- The Audit Log tracks comments made at approval workflow steps but does not track comments made as a discussion thread.
To view the Audit log for a record:
- Navigate to the desired database.
- Start to type in the search bar to find the desired record.
- Locate the desired record in the database and click anywhere on the row to open the record.
- Select Audit Log on the right navigation panel.
- The Audit Log will appear, displaying the list of changes to that record, filtered by date.
- Select View on the far right of any row to see the details of that specific logged action. Alternatively, you can select Expand All to open all rows simultaneously.
Dependencies
This is a section of a record that is automatically generated and populated. It displays linkages between records in the system; for some records, this section will be blank.
- For course records:
- Shows a list of other courses where it is listed in the prerequisite, corequisite, and/or antirequisite fields.
- Shows a list of programs/plans where it is listed in one of the requirements lists.
- For program/plan records:
- Shows a list of courses where it is listed in the prerequisite, corequisite, and/or antirequisite fields.
- Shows a list of programs/plans where it is listed in the majors/specializations fields (linking to each other). [undergraduate only].
IMPORTANT: It does not pull from any course or program/plan references manually typed in elsewhere in a record (e.g., Notes or Additional Constraints).
There are links to those records ("view record" on right) and a preview function built in (use down arrow). The idea behind this automatic linkage display is to help users and committee members see the potential impacts of their proposal. Note: This data is displayed automatically (and will update automatically), but the dependencies section does not create an action to notify other stakeholders. Any required consultation still needs to occur, either outside the system or via the Comments functionality.
In the example below, MATH135 is listed as an antirequisite in one course, as a prerequisite in another course, and in a course requirements list for six academic plans.
