Lumen/Guide: Course Information Available in Lumen Courses, Lumen Programs, and Guide

An overview of the course data in Lumen Courses, the editing environment of the next Guide publication, the public Guide site, and Lumen Programs. The course information in Lumen Programs comes from Lumen Courses and Guide, depending on the time of year.

Overview

The course information/data that flows into Lumen Programs changes twice during the academic year:

  1. in anticipation of the new publication of Guide (April)
  2. opening the editing site for the next Guide publication (October)

The following document explains where the course data source is for each module in three different ways (the content for each section articulates similar things):

  1. Written description
  2. Graphic representation
  3. Table view

Definitions

Definitions of the Lumen modules described in this KB.
Term Description Link to access (requires UW login)
Lumen Courses Lumen Courses is a form in the Lumen suite of tools that facilitates proposals and approvals of governed content for any for-credit course offered at UW-Madison. All new courses, course changes, and course deactivation/discontinuation must be proposed through Lumen Courses. https://next-guide.wisc.edu/courseadmin/
Editing the next version of Guide

The editing site for the academic catalog/bulletin for the university. Frequently referred to as "next-guide," as it is the location where editors may revise non-governed content for the next version of Guide (https://guide.wisc.edu/). Displays governed content, which must be edited through other modules (Lumen Courses, Programs, Structures, etc.).

https://next-guide.wisc.edu/
Lumen Programs Lumen Programs is a form in the Lumen suite of tools that facilitates proposals and approvals of governed content for any academic program (degree/major, named option, honors, tracks, certificates) available at UW-Madison. All new programs, program changes, or program discontinuations must be proposed through Lumen Programs. https://next-guide.wisc.edu/programadmin/
Course data Describes the elements about a course, such as: course description, title, credits, attributes/designations, subject, and catalog number. These elements cannot be changed without a Lumen Course proposal and show up in Guide based on the effective date of the proposal (finalized at the end of the approval process).

Written description

Lumen Courses

Populated with three types of data:

  1. current as-of-today's course data (what is currently active),
  2. approved future-dated course data, and
  3. revisions/new courses (proposals not yet approved).

Lumen Courses provides end-users with future-dated course information, proposed course changes, and course discontinuations. Course information displays the logic of "What is active today and also what is proposed in the future."

To support governance review during the academic year (mid-October through mid-April), Lumen Courses data flows into Lumen Programs allowing the governance bodies to see all current, new, and not-yet-fully approved courses listed in a program's curriculum. This means during this time-frame, Lumen Programs displays both today's course information and future revisions/new courses.

Source of course information

  • Student Information System for approved, existing courses.
  • Lumen Courses stores and populates data for revisions and new courses not yet approved.

For more information, see the Lumen Courses: Overview and System Functionality KB.

Editing the next version of Guide (next-guide)

Populates with one dataset:

  1. approved courses for the specific fall term of the catalog being edited for June's publication. Does not show future changes or new courses effective in a future term (spring/summer).

Guide publishes both governed and non-governed content. Governed content can only be edited in Lumen Programs and displays on a Guide page. Non-governed content can only be edited in the non-public environment (next-guide); editors can only utilize courses that are active for the fall term of the next publication.

Examples

Example of course info and whether they would show up in this dataset.
Course info Type of change Effective term Included in this dataset?
Jurassic Studies 101 Catalog number change to 102 Fall, aligning with the same term the editing cycle. Yes
Jurassic Studies 105 Title change Spring No
Jurassic Studies 202 Credit change Summer No
Jurassic Studies 500 Description and subject change Fall, the following fall (two years out) No

Lumen Programs

Populates with one dataset based on the time of year:

  1. Lumen Courses (mid-October through mid-April)
  2. Course data effective fall (editing environment data) (mid-April through mid-October)

For a real breakdown of what this looks like with terms and years, see the table view below.

Governed content

The following tabs in Guide are considered "Governed content," which means they must be reviewed and approved through shared faculty governance before publishing in Guide. These tabs can only be edited via Lumen Programs.

  1. Admissions (graduate/professional only)
  2. How to Get in (undergraduate only)
  3. Requirements
  4. Policies (graduate/professional only)
  5. Accreditation
  6. Certification/Licensure
  7. Four-Year Plan (undergraduate only)
  8. Three-Year Plan (undergraduate only)

What happens when the source of course data changes?

When Lumen Programs switches the course data to look at a single fall term, this can cause "red-boxed" courses in the governed content. This doesn't impact ongoing course proposals, but may require intervention in the program proposal prior to Guide publication.

Examples where red-boxed courses may show up
  • A course is new and has not yet been approved and entered into SIS.
  • A course has a future-dated subject or catalog number change.
  • A course is new and approved, but isn't effective until the spring semester.

Graphic representation

The following images depict the data flow between Lumen Courses, Lumen Programs, and the editing environment of the next Guide publication based on the time of year.

Courses available in Lumen Programs mid-October through mid-April

Lumen Courses (pink box) data flows into Lumen Programs (blue box) and displays in the editing environment of the next Guide publication on the governed tabs (next-guide). On governed tabs, course data may show future and not-yet-approved course data and/or program proposal revisions. The editing environment of the next Guide publication displays only course data effective the fall on the non-governed tabs.

A visual representation of Lumen Course data flowing into Lumen Programs, which then flows into the editing environment of Guide. The course data in the editing environment of Guide has a distinct course draw that shows up on non-governed tabs.

Courses available in Lumen Programs mid-April through mid-October

Lumen Programs (green box in upper right corner) pulls course data from the editing environment of the next Guide publication and only displays courses that are effective for the fall term in program proposals approved for the fall term. Lumen Courses (pink box) does not display in the editing environment of the next Guide publication and does not show revisions/new courses in the program proposals.

Additional date context

  • Mid-April through June 1: Preview Days and pre-publication work. Does not display in live-Guide.
  • June 1 through mid-October: Guide only displays the approved versions of programs effective for the fall term.

A visual representation of Guide course data flowing into Lumen Programs, which then flows into the editing environment of Guide. The course data in Lumen Courses is not connected to Lumen Programs or the editing environment of Guide.

Table view

The table provides real dates and terms articulating when the course information changes in Lumen Programs.

Table

A breakdown which term's data shows up in Lumen Programs versus Guide's editing environment.
Real dates Lumen Programs Guide (editing environment)
November 1, 2024-mid April 2025 All course data in Lumen Courses (today's and proposed data) Courses effective for term Fall 2025 (1262)
Mid-April 2025-October mid-cycle update 2025 Courses effective for term Fall 2025 (1262) Courses effective for term Fall 2025 (1262)
November 1, 2025-mid April 2026 All course data in Lumen Courses (today's and proposed data) Courses effective for term Fall 2026 (1272)
Mid-April 2026-October mid-cycle update 2026 Courses effective for term Fall 2026 (1272) Courses effective for term Fall 2026 (1272)
November 1, 2026-mid April 2027 All course data in Lumen Courses (today's and proposed data) Courses effective for term Fall 2027 (1282)
Mid-April 2025-October mid-cycle update 2026 Courses effective for term Fall 2027 (1282) Courses effective for term Fall 2027 (1282)
November 1, 2027-mid April 2028 All course data in Lumen Courses (today's and proposed data) Courses effective for term Fall 2028 (1292)
Mid-April 2026-October mid-cycle update 2027 Courses effective for term Fall 2028 (1292) Courses effective for term Fall 2028 (1292)
November 1, 2028-mid April 2029 All course data in Lumen Courses (today's and proposed data) Courses effective for term Fall 2029 (1302)
Mid-April 2025-October mid-cycle update 2027 Courses effective for term Fall 2029 (1302) Courses effective for term Fall 2029 (1302)
November 1, 2029-mid April 2030 All course data in Lumen Courses (today's and proposed data) Courses effective for term Fall 2030 (1312)
Mid-April 2026-October mid-cycle update 2028 Courses effective for term Fall 2030 (1312) Courses effective for term Fall 2030 (1312)
November 1, 2030-mid April 2031 All course data in Lumen Courses (today's and proposed data) Courses effective for term Fall 2031 (1322)
Mid-April 2025-October mid-cycle update 2028 Courses effective for term Fall 2031 (1322) Courses effective for term Fall 2031 (1322)


Keywords:
Course draw, red-box 
Doc ID:
138551
Owned by:
Melissa S. in Lumen and Guide
Created:
2024-07-19
Updated:
2024-08-12
Sites:
Lumen and Guide