Step-by-step how-to

1. Navigate to the landing page for the proposal type. Requires UW login.
   • Lumen Programs
   • Lumen Courses
   • Lumen Structures
   • Lumen Exams
   • Lumen Badges
2. Enter your search in the field to the left of the green Search button.
   
   1. This can be the program name (full or partial). Do not use abbreviations or terms not in the official SIS description.
   2. This can be the program key (found at the bottom right of the proposal).
   3. New programs will not have a code. Searching with an asterisk (*) will pull up all proposals and the new proposals filter to the top. The text that displays will show up in the second column (program transcript description, course title, etc.)
3. Hit enter on your keyboard or click the green Search button.

Tips and tricks for searching Lumen

Specific to Lumen Exams search tips

Exams are set-up in a way that you can search by:

• Course code (utilizing the correct subject short description and catalog number)
• Exam name, as entered in the proposal.

Starting a proposal

Editing a proposal

The software does not automatically save proposals.

There are three ways to save a proposal:

1. Click the "floating save" button (stays at the bottom of the browser as you scroll).
   
2. Scroll to the very bottom of the proposal and click the gray "Save Changes." This will save changes and close the edit window. This does not submit to workflow.
   
3. Scroll to the very bottom of the proposal and click the green "Start Workflow." This will close the window and submit the proposal to workflow if all required elements have been filled in. The proposal cannot be edited again from the landing page; additional revisions must be made in workflow by an approver or rolled out of workflow for any user to edit.
   

Submitting to workflow

When you have finalized your edits and are ready to start the approval process, click the "Start Workflow" button which can only be done when editing a proposal. All required fields must be filled in. If they are not, the form will automatically bump you up to the element that has not been populated.

Canceling changes

If you determine you do not want to save change, click the red "cancel" at the bottom of the form.

If you clicked the "floating save", canceling will remove all change made since the last save (when you clicked the floating save). If you need to remove all changes that have been made/revert the proposal back to the last approved version, the proposal must be shredded.

Workflow includes "conditional" steps of workflow, where by answering specific questions additional steps are added for specific governance body review. See the "if applicable" to see which proposals are conditional.

Typical workflow steps

1. Subject approver
2. Cross-list Subject approver (if applicable)
3. School/College approver
4. Cross-list School/College approver (if applicable)
5. University Curriculum Committee
6. Bursar (Credit-by-exam proposals only)
7. Registrar (Student Information System)

If a proposal is "at rest" (the status is null/blank), there are no proposed revisions and the proposal is current. If there isn't a workflow step listed under the workflow column, the proposal is not in workflow. When a proposal is "in workflow," it lists the current step requiring sign-off in the scrolly bar. The example below is for courses, but the workflow status operates the same across the Lumen tools.

Step-by-step

The most up-to-date place to check the status of a proposal search for the proposal from the landing page:

1. Navigate to the landing page for the proposal type. Requires UW login.
   • Lumen Programs
   • Lumen Courses
   • Lumen Structures
   • Lumen Exams
   • Lumen Badges
2. Search for your proposal using the search functionality.
   
3. Click on the proposal in the scrolly bar.
   
4. Look at the "Workflow" column or the workflow steps on the right side of the proposal. If there is no status, the proposal is not in workflow.
   
   

Deciphering workflow by color

1. The green steps mean the subject, school/college, or University Curriculum Committee has approved a course.
2. Orange/Yellow means this is the current step of workflow.
3. Gray means the proposal has not yet advanced to this step.

• All users in a workflow approver role must be included in the email notifications sent by the proposal system.
• Some users may wish to automatically direct these messages to a specific folder within their email account. General information regarding how to do this is available from the DoIT helpdesk. For consistency, it is highly recommended that you manage Inbox Rules via Outlook on the web. In addition, when you setup a rule in Outlook on the web the rule will be applied regardless of the client you are using.
  • The subject lines start with:
    
    • [Lumen Courses]
    • [Lumen Badge]
    • [Lumen Structures]
    • [Lumen]
    • [Lumen Programs]
    • [Lumen Exams]

Post-approval email regarding catalog requisites

Requisites are administratively updated by the Course Specialist in the Office of the Registrar to reflect the inclusion of departmental placement exams. Once updated, DAPIR notifies the school/college academic planner(s) by email with the list of impacted courses.

The software utilizes "red/green markup" to visually indicate where content has changed in a change proposal.

• Red means the text has been removed. The red uses strike-through to indicate it is being removed for accessibility.
• Green means the text has been added. Green uses double lines under the text to indicate new text for accessibility.

Comments may only be added to a proposal through the Approve Pages by a user who has edit/approver access in the current step of workflow.

Step-by-step how-to

1. Navigate to the Approve Pages console, select the workflow step where the proposal sits, and click on the proposal. (Consult the help KB, if needed).
   
2. Edit the proposal. This will open a new window.
   
3. Scroll to the bottom of the form and add the comment text in the Reviewer Comments field.
   
4. Click "Save Changes"
   

It is the responsibility of the proposer to ensure any proposal advances in a timely fashion.

Proposals that exceed the allotted time-frame per policy are "shredded" (removed/cancelled). Proposers are not notified of the shredding action. To ensure that your proposals do not get shredded, track them using the Lumen Tools viz¹ (requires VPN and authentication) and ensure they progress through governance. Any proposal that reaches a university governance, DAPIR or Office of the Registrar workflow step will not be shredded. 

If you have determined you no longer need a proposal (changes aren't needed, proposal was not approved), email lumen@provost.wisc.edu and specifying which proposal needs to be removed.

Notes

• Shredded proposals cannot be recovered, so retain a pdf version if you think you'll need it in the future.
• Shredded new courses will have no record of ever existing once shredded.
• Shredded change or deactivation (courses only) proposals will revert back to the most recently approved version of the proposal.
• Shredding can only happen to the entire proposal (i.e. specific parts of a proposal cannot be shredding while keeping other parts).

Footnote

1. The Lumen Tools viz does not include data from Lumen Structures, Exams, or Badges.

There is an easy way to create a direct link to a specific proposal in Lumen. Each proposal has a unique key behind the scenes that always links to that specific proposal.

Each URL has the same stem:

1. To find the unique key number navigate to either the landing page and select the proposal you wish to create a direct link for.
   
2. Scroll to the bottom of the page. The key is in the bottom right corner of page.