Revision History

Policy Name: Moodle Course Creation Policy
Policy Owner: Assistant Director, Learning Design and Support
Policy Approver(s): Associate Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer
Version Number: 2.0

Effective Date: June 01, 2015
Last Reviewed/Approved Date: November 01, 2023
Next Scheduled Review Date: November 01, 2024
Policy Type: Campus-Wide

1.0 Purpose

Elon University provides and maintains access to a learning management system (LMS) in support of the University’s mission. Moodle is official LMS supported by the university. The course creation policy defines when courses are created within the LMS, course naming conventions, combining multiple courses, and alternative course enrollment methods.

2.0 Scope

The Elon University LMS Course Creation Policy applies to all individuals with authorized access to manage courses (academic, departmental, organizational) within the university’s LMS.

3.0 Definitions

Backup: copies of live content made for disaster recovery purposes.

Retention: keeping content in a live and accessible state.

Shell: a LMS course site, regardless of its academic or professional function. A Moodle course (academic, departmental, and organizational) is considered a shell.

Shell Backup: currently implemented as a zip file in Moodle, this is a compressed file containing material for one Moodle shell typically created for archival or transfer purposes.

4.0 Responsibilities

  • Associate Vice President for Information Technology / Chief Information Officer is responsible for ensuring the availability of resources to implement this policy.
  • The Director of Teaching and Learning Technologies is responsible for ensuring that departments and direct reports adhere to this policy.
  • End Users should read, understand, and adhere to this policy.

5.0 Policy

5.1 Course Creation Date

Academic Courses
Academic courses, which are defined as courses listed in Colleague, will be created in the LMS one week after the start of registration for the given term.

Departmental and Organizational Courses
Departmental and organizational courses, which are defined as courses for departmental needs (such as search committees) or organizations (for sharing meeting notes), will be created within one to three business days of request. To request a departmental or organizational course, see Section 4.0 below.

5.2 Course Naming Conventions

Academic Courses

  • Course Full Name: The course title as listed in Colleague
  • Course Short Name: SUBJECT ABBREVIATION-COURSE NUMBER-COURSE SECTION-SEMESTER CODE
  • The semester code is the last two digits of the year followed by the two digit semester number.
  • Elon’s semester numbers are:
  • Fall: 01
  • Winter Term: 02
  • Spring: 03
  • Summer 1: 04
  • Summer 2: 05
  • Example: The semester code for Fall 2013 is 1301. The semester code for Winter Term 2014 is 1402.
  • The Short Name for English 110, Section C, in Fall 2013 is: ENG110C1301
  • Course ID: Same as the course Short Name.

Departmental and Organizational Courses

  • Course Full Name: The title defined by the requestor.
  • Course Short Name: Same as the course Full Name
  • Course ID: ABBREVIATED COURSE FULLNAME – FOUR DIGIT MONTH/YEAR OF REQUEST
  • Example: The Course ID of an Associate Professor Search Committee requested in October 2013 would be APSC1013.

5.3 User Enrollment

Academic Courses

  • The enrollment of users (students and instructors) into academic courses is an automated process.
  • Users will be automatically enrolled in academic courses eight (8) weeks prior to the course start date.

Departmental and Organizational Courses

  • TLT will enroll up to three users in a course with an instructor level role.
  • The requestor can add additional users with an instructor, teaching assistant, or student level role.
  • The enrollment of additional users in departmental or organizational courses is the responsibility of the requestor.

5.4 Course Combinations

Combination Process

  • The course combination process in the LMS does not involve destroying or creating any courses.
  • Authorized users who request a course combination must select one section to become the primary section.
  • The additional section(s) will be linked to the primary section.
  • The additional section(s) should be left unavailable to students.

Combined Course Naming Conventions

  • All courses involved in the combination process will retain their original Full Name, Short Name, and Course ID.
  • TLT will not change any of these names.
  • Faculty can optionally change the Full Name of the primary section.
  • The Short Name will always remain the same, regardless of section.

5.5 Self-Enrollment Courses

  • All departmental and organizational courses will be created as self-enrollment courses.
  • Self-enrollment can be added to any existing course in the LMS by request.
  • TLT will only add a self-enrollment method to any course listed in Colleague if a written request is received by the requesting instructor’s dean.

5.6 Service

Users must request a course in the LMS by submitting a request through the Technology Service Desk.

  • Academic course requests must include the following: The course title, the course Short Name (as defined in Section 5.2 of this policy), and the names of any additional instructors who should be added to the site.
  • TLT does not guarantee proper enrollment syncing for academic courses created before the dates defined in Section 5.1 of this policy.
  • Departmental and Organizational course requests must include the following: The course title, and the names of up to two additional users who should be added to the site with an instructor role.

6.0 Sanctions

Sanctions for failing to follow this policy may include, but are not limited to:

  • Temporary or permanent revocation of access to some or all computing, networking, and other technology resources.
  • Disciplinary action according to applicable University policies.
  • Legal action according to applicable laws and contractual agreements.

Individuals concerned about any violation of this policy are encouraged to contact the Associate Vice President of Information Technology/CIO or the Vice President for Finance and Administration/CFO.