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The Subject Outline Tool (SOT) was created to achieve the following objectives:

Compliance Outlines must comply with Academic Senate Regulations including the Course and Subject Information Procedure
Consistency Provides a uniform development and QA approach for academics and output for students
Accessibility Charles Sturt has an obligation to ensure that all students can access Outlines for their enrolled subjects
Integration Uses authoritative subject data then delivers Subject Outlines seamlessly into Interact2 subject sites
Usability Improved user interface for both academics and students
Visibility Prominent, modern display to students

Features

The tool enables drafting, quality-assuring and publication of Subject Outlines for all offerings which are active on the Subject Availability List (SAL). For exceptions, see Offering types excluded from the SOT.

  • Subject Coordinator (SC), Nominal SC (NSC) and QA Officer (QAO) roles drawn from ACSES
  • Ability to add a ‘Support Author’ to collaboratively assist drafting an Outline
  • Ability to manage ‘edit’ or ‘comment only’ permissions of the QAO and Head of School
  • Concurrent editing
  • Content conflict resolution when >1 Author edits the same section at the same time
  • Section commenting
  • Ability to export comments to a CSV file
  • History log to track an Outline’s development
  • Authoring dashboard for Authors
  • Quality Assuring dashboard for QAOs; and HOS to QA varied Outlines
  • Tracking dashboard for Heads of School and Support HOS
  • Authoring/QA/Tracking dashboards include:
    • actions relevant to role and status of the Outline
    • session filter
    • status tiles - status count; plus clickable to filter by status
    • countdown banner indicating days until the session Outline publication deadline
    • column sorting
    • history log access
    • paging functions
  • SC Profile for Subject Coordinators to maintain details they wish to display in Outlines
  • Reporting dashboard for staff, Heads of School and the Division of Learning & Teaching
  • Search dashboard for staff and students to find Outlines developed within the SOT
  • A standardised, lean, subject-specific and cohort-specific template
  • Automated inclusion of:
    • data from other Charles Sturt systems
    • fixed autotext - approved content that cannot be edited
    • editable autotext - default ‘best fit’ content that can be edited as appropriate
  • Main workflow: Create > Draft > Awaiting QA > Awaiting Publication > Published
  • Flexible QA options:
    • Author can grant QAO edit permissions in order to make any changes required prior to submitting for publication
    • QAO can send back for revisions with/without pre-approved QA
  • Update workflow:
    • The ‘Set Publication Date’ functions enables Authors to align the Outline’s publication date with the date that the Interact2 subject site opens to students
    • Delaying publication following QA approval creates a window in which the update workflow can be utilised to edit the Outline without versioning it, thereby ensuring students see ‘Version 1’ on first viewing the Outline
  • Variations work flow, versioning and automated announcements to students to comply with policy on varying a published Outline
  • QA exemption for:
    • Outlines cloned from a QA approved Outline for the same subject code and session
    • Updates to ‘Awaiting Publication’ Outlines when only certain sections have been edited
    • Variations to published Outlines when only certain sections have been edited

Outline Cloning & Content Reuse

  • Whole Outline cloning
  • Reuse Assessment Items from other Outlines
  • Reuse section content from other Outlines
  • History Log records Outline that was cloned from
  • WYSIWYG editor
  • Modern page tree and floating toolbar user interface
  • QA Declarations to guide quality assurance of the Outline
  • Ability for SC/NSC Authors to manage roles and permissions for Support Authors and QAO/HOS/Support HOS
  • Compliance Check to ensure complete content as mandated by policy
  • Data Refresh to update data, Fixed Autotext, QA Declarations and SC Profile details
  • Access points to supporting systems
  • Section commenting
  • Ability to export comments to a CSV file
  • History log to track an Outline’s development
  • Access to previous versions of the Outline in PDF
  • Section filter to generate the desired Outline view by section type
  • Preview options - Student View, SOT view, PDF preview
  • Inline section help; plus ‘More help’ links to comprehensive help
  • Autotext Refresh to default section content to the current editable autotext Options for displaying sections on a new or landscape page in the PDF version
  • Reuse section content from other Outlines
  • Reuse Assessment Items from other Outlines
  • Alerts on Assessment Item due dates not within session dates or during the week prior to the end of session examination period
  • Ability to reconcile Schedule dates adjacent Assessment Item due dates
  • Ability to select the subject Learning Outcome/s assessed by each Assessment Item
  • Ability to select the Graduate Learning Outcome/s an Assessment Item contributes to
  • Content conflict resolution when >1 Author edits the same section at the same time
  • Cloning information for an Outline in History Log; plus main screen when cloned from a QA approved Outline for the same subject code and session
  • Multi session subject (MSS) information for an Outline
  • Tracking dashboard
  • Ability to add a HOS delegate and/or Acting HOS into a ‘Support HOS’ role to assist with HOS tasks
  • Self-serve point-in-time Outline tracking reports
  • Profile area available from the SOT Home menu for SCs to maintain contact details in-app
  • Subject Coordinator ‘To be advised’ option to accommodate staff preparing an Outline for an incoming SC
  • Delivery to students via the i2 subject site
  • Modern ‘site map’ user interface for students
  • Portable and printable version in PDF
  • Access to superseded versions in PDF
  • GLO badge display to students (if applicable)
  • Mobile responsiveness down to smartphones
  • Custom Interact2 message when an Outline is not yet published
  • Custom Interact2 ‘sorry page’ when an Outline is undergoing a variation
  • Automated Announcement upon re-publication of a varied Outline including a list of the sections that were varied
  • Ability for current students to search for published Outlines via the SOT Search using a custom student interface
  • Search function for all staff to access Outlines developed in the SOT*
  • Search function for current students to search for published Outlines via the SOT Search using a custom student interface

* Past Outlines can be found in the Digital Object Management System (DOMS) collection named ‘Subject Outline Archive’.

  • Self-serve point-in-time reports for HOS and the Division of Learning & Teaching:
    • Outline level data
    • School level data
  • Self-serve point-in-time reports for all staff:
    • Template Report – generate an overview of an Outline template for a session and school including/excluding autotext
    • Graduate Learning Outcomes
  • Column sorting
  • Report export to CSV file for saving, sharing and/or data operations
  • Mobile responsiveness for staff down to small screens
  • Mobile responsiveness for students down to smartphones
  • Browser compatibility - Chrome (recommended) + Firefox (recommended for STEM formula)
  • Superuser and administrator user interfaces:
    • management of roles
    • management of templates including preview
    • revision of published templates including history log
    • management of associated template inclusions (QA Declarations and Graduate Learning Outcomes)