User Guides
Instructions for Using Each Area of CAS
Change Password (actual button only available to Student level Members)
Course Descriptions
The Course Descriptions area allows access to course information from two sources; 1) data loaded into CAS by the participating institutions, and 2) a link to a participating institution's on-line catalog. Currently, the majority of the institutions involved with CAS are using the link to their on-line catalog as their preferred method of accessing detailed information about courses.
Viewing Course Descriptions:
1. Select Course Descriptions from the CAS menu
2. Highlight the state in which the institution is located
Accessing Institution's Web Page
To access the institution's web page (typically the on-line catalog):
3. Highlight the institution in the right frame.
4. Click Select a Site.
A new browser window will open to the site specified by that institution. This site is usually the on-line catalog for the institution.
To return to CAS, Close Institution's web site browser window.
Accessing CAS Course Data
To access the course data in CAS, use the center frame.
3. Highlight the institution
4. Click Select Institution
5. Highlight the department or Category from the left column
6. Click on the course in the right column to display additional course information
In addition to the information that was already displayed on this screen, the following course information is listed:
- Course Department and Course Number
- Course title
- Number of Credits for this course
- Dates for which this course information is applicable
Some computers have the monitor display set low enough that the data does not fit completely in the window. If this happens move the cursor down the window until the black, double arrow appears. Left click and hold down as the mouse is dragged upwards.
Academic Programs
The Academic Program area allows access to viewing degree audits, or degree progress reports. The report provides the requirements for the program. Each institution's requirements are specific to that institution. If you have questions about an Academic Program, you should contact an advisor at that institution. A degree report is selected by selecting a series (up to three) of levels.
Viewing Academic Programs
- Select Academic Programs in the CAS menu
- Choose from Search By Program or Browse By School for Step
One
- Search By Program allows users to search for a specific program type at any participating institution in CAS
- Browse By School provides a way to view all available programs for one chosen participating institution
It is important to note that each institution who chooses to participate in CAS also chooses which programs they will display through CAS. If you have questions about what you see, or think there is a program missing from the list, please contact that institution directly to gain more information.
Based on the selection in Step One, the Step Two selections will differ. Below are the instructions for the different options:
Search By Program
- Select from the State and Category options
- Type in the keyword for Sub-Category in which the program would be listed (optional)
- Click Search
- Below the search criteria will appear the list of programs that contain that information. You may have to scroll down to review the list
Browse By School
- Select the school, or institution, whose program list you would like to view
- Click on the College, Department or Academic Program you are interested in. You may have to scroll down to view the list of programs
- An audit, or check sheet, for the program selected will be displayed on the screen.
There are some institutions who chose to redirect users at this point to a page maintained elsewhere. In that case, the web page will be displayed in the center frame rather than the following options. CAS does not maintain what you would see in that case.
Course Equivalency Guide
The Course Equivalency Guide (CEG) provides details of how courses transfer from one institution to another. The data is entered and maintained by the institution receiving the course(s). It is important to note that because of the use of different degree audit systems, some CEG's will work differently. Some may just be an HTML table of course equivalencies and other will be a different application. Most, however, will work as the CAS CEG.
There are two options in the Course Equivalency Guide (CEG) for searching on transferable courses. One, is generate a list of courses transferable from one (up to three) institution to another. This is generally used when the course to transfer is unknown, or not definite. The second method is a search method that is best used if you know the course to transfer. This will bring back the list of institutions from which the course may come in order to gain credit for that particular course being searched.
CEG Report
1. Click Course Equivalency Guides in the CAS menu
2. Step One will appear for the user to select the institution that the course will be transferred to.
3. After selecting an institution in Step One, Step Two will all the user to select a method to use for the CEG. The first method is the Search by Course option and the second method is the Browse by School option.
SEARCH BY COURSE
The Search by Course option is used if the user knows the exact course department and number at the institution he or she wishes to transfer it to, and wants to see what other institutions have equivalents to that course. When the Search by Course method is used, Step Three appears for the user to input the information about the course. The user must enter the department or course prefix for the course and the course number. There is also an option to choose a particular state that the user would like to search for equivalencies in. The user will then click the Search button, and a list of courses equivalent to the course entered in Step Three will appear.
Search by Course:
- Enter in the exact Department/Course Prefix in the first box
- Enter in the exact number of the course in the second box
- Leave Alternate Identities Only unchecked (see below for description on using that feature)
- Choose the State in which the equivalent course will be taken, which means from where the course will be coming when it is received by the institution listed in Step One.
- The list of schools with the equivalent course, as determined by the institution in Step One, will be displayed
Alternate Identity Search would be used most likely be advisors at an institution who utilizes Alternate Identities in their equivalencies and programs to identify areas of completion. Please talk to someone at your institution to determine if Alternate Identities are appropriate for your search.
- Check the box for Alternate Identities Only - this will create a place to enter the Alternate ID
- Enter the exact Course Alternate ID
- Choose the State in which the equivalent course will be taken, which means from where the course will be coming when it is received by the institution listed in Step One.
- The list of schools with the equivalent course, as determined by the institution in Step One, will be displayed
BROWSE BY SCHOOL
The Browse by School option is used if the user is unsure of what courses he or she would like to transfer. It will show all equivalencies between the institution selected in Step One and the institutions they have equivalencies determined for. If a user chooses the Browse by School method, Step Three appears where a user can select the institution that credit will transfer from. Up to three institutions can be selected by holding down the CTRL key. After clicking the See Equivalencies button, both institutions will show with equivalents. The user can select a particular department at either school to aide in their search, or can view all equivalencies.
**If you don't see the equivalencies on the page, you may need to scroll down for viewing**
4. Some schools may choose to add a glossary at the bottom of the page to help users understand terminology used in the CEG.
Any questions concerning how courses should transfer should be addressed with an advisor at the institution that will be accepting the transfer work.
Your Courses
The Your Courses area in CAS is used to store courses for Member accounts. This allows for the evaluation of the courses at any institution when a Planning Guide is run from within CAS.
Adding Course Work
- Click Your Courses from the CAS menu frame
- Click ADD.
- Select the if institution is International or in the US, and the state it is located in.
- Select the name of the institution.
- Click Select Institution.
There are currently three procedures for adding courses.
Institutions participating in CAS have created a listing of the courses they offer to facilitate this procedure. For institutions not participating in the Importing of courses, this method is recommended for adding your courses to store in CAS.
- Click Course Bank
- Select Year Taken
- Select Term Taken
- Select Department from the list on the left
- Select specific Course completed from the list on the right
- Add Grade received
- Change Hours, if necessary
- Click Add to List (this will temporarily save courses to the Selected List)
- At any point clicking on the Change link next to the institution's name could change the institution.
- When all of the completed coursework has been entered, click Save at the bottom of the screen
Also keep in mind that the Year and Term Taken could be changed to add the course with the correct year and term taken. The list could change based on those values.
Some of the participating CAS institutions have developed procedures for the importing of courses. When Request Import is selected, the center frame is redirected to the institution, and will verify the user as a student at their institution and then send the course work back to CAS. Anything sent back to CAS will only be the course and its title, hours and grade earned. No personally identifiable information will be sent between the institution's secure site and CAS.
There are some institutions that have not enabled this function, however, many are anxious to provide this service for their students. Below is an example of a screen you may see when requesting courses history to be sent to CAS Your Courses:
- Freehand should be used for courses completed at institutions not participating in CAS.
- Click Freeform.
- Select the Year Taken
- Select the Term Taken
- Type the Course department, Course number, Course Title, Grade earned in the course and Number of hours earned for the course
- Click Add to List
- Click Save
At any point clicking on the Change link next to the institution's name could change the institution. Also keep in mind that the Year and Term Taken could be changed to add the course with the correct year and term taken. The list could change based on those values.
ADDING STANDARDIZED EXAMS
CAS also has the ability to add Standardized Exam Scores in addition to your coursework within the Your Courses area. To add a Standardized Exam to the list:
1. Click ADD
2. In the Select a Category List, choose Standardized Exam
3. Select the Standardized Exam to be entered
4. Click Select Institution
5. Enter the Year Taken
6. Enter the Test Title
7. Enter the Score
8. Click Add to List
Planning Guide
The Planning Guide area allows those with CAS accounts to request Planning Guides (degree audits/degree progress reports). A Planning Guide is requested by selecting up to three levels of categories until a program is chosen. The Planning Guide request will include courses stored in the Your Courses area for the user.
The appearance of Planning Guides will vary from institution to institution just as the requirements for a degree may vary from institution to institution. The Planning Guide should show you how the course has been evaluated and applied within the requirements of the program. It should also tell you the rest of what would be required to complete the program, such as courses and hours needed.
Instructions To Request Planning Guide:
1. Select Planning Guide from the CAS menu
2. Click Request Planning Guide
3. Highlight the state in which the institution is located
4. Highlight the institution
5. Click Select Institution
6. Select desired program
At this point, there are two options for requesting a Planning Guide. One is a "regular" Planning Guide, in which the courses stored in Your Courses will be processed and displayed in the audit, including the applicability of transfer work. The second option is a "cross-reference" Planning Guide, which will do the same as the regular Planning Guide in addition to presenting the transferable courses from the selected cross-referenced school. This provides the user with an immediate determination of courses that would apply within the academic program selected.
| Regular Planning Guide |
7. Click Request a Regular Planning Guide.
Some institutions will include questions for you to answer at this point. These can affect the Planning Guide. The next screen will verify the data concerning the Planning Guide request.
8. Click Submit
Different screens will appear in order to let you know that your courses are being submitted, your Planning Guide is being run and the maximum amount of time that it will take to come back. Click on the View Planning Guides link to return to the Planning Guide screen. The Planning Guide will remain Pending until the report has been returned to CAS. Once it is back, View and Delete will be options.
§ Click View in order to review the Planning Guide. If you have question about your Planning Guide, you should contact an Advisor at the institution specified in the Submitted To: field at the top of the screen.
§ Click Delete to permanently delete the Planning Guide from your account.
| Cross-Reference Planning Guide |
For some institutions, a Cross-Reference Planning Guide is available. A Cross-Reference Planning Guide will include, in the acceptable course lists for degree requirements, a reference to the cross-referenced institution's coursework. When a Cross-Reference Planning Guide is chosen the institution that should be referenced needs to be specified.
7. Highlight the state in which the transfer institution is located.
8. Highlight the institution.
9. Click Select Cross Reference Institution.
10. Specify Year and Term course will be taken.
11. Click Select.
12. Verify data being submitted is correct
13. Click Submit.
Within the Planning Guide, the courses at the Degree Program's Institutions are in black and the courses from the Cross-Referenced Institution are in green. Near the top of the Planning Guide within the audit, the Year and Term for the courses and the name of the institution are listed as a reminder.
Instructions to View User Planning Guide
(Advisor and Administrators Only)
1. Select Planning Guide from the CAS menu
2. Click View User Planning Guide.
3. Enter the Userid in the first field
4. Enter the Institution Logon Abbreviation (UNIQ) in the second field
5. Click View to review the Planning Guide
Advisors are only able to view the Planning Guides run for their institution.
Account Information
Members can update the directory information for their accounts using the Account Information button. In addition to the directory information, which was completed when the account was created, Members can add common admission application information. This information is stored in CAS and can be used in conjunction with the Student Services function- Online Admission Application (Use CAS data). It will only be used if you initiate the process with an institution that has enabled this function. For more information, see Student Services.
There are two ways to change your password in CAS. If you have forgotten your password, contact an advisor or CAS Administrator for your institution and they can update your password. Members may also change their password at any time once logged in to CAS.
Follow the directions below to change a password:
Advisors or Administrators:
1. Click Account Information in the CAS menu frame
2. Enter the Userid of the account to change in the USERID field Initially, your account information should be retrieved, and listed at the bottom of the screen
3. Click on the Password link to the left of that userid
Students:
1. Click Change Password in the CAS menu frame
All Accounts:
4. Enter your current password for the account with which you logged in to CAS in Your Password
5. Enter New Password
a. Verify New Password OR
b. Click Auto generate
6. Click Submit.
Confirmation of the change will be displayed on the screen, and the new password will be sent the E-Mail address entered when the CAS account was created.
Searching accounts
(Advisors and Administrators only)
There are several ways to search for accounts as an advisor or an administrator. One of the following three pieces of information must be entered to perform a search; UserID, Partial User Name, or Email.
- If the UserID is known, enter it into the box next to the "User ID:" area. The Institution box will be filled in with the identification for the institution with which you have an account.
- If the User ID is not known, a search can be conducted by partial user name. If you know the User's first name, you can try to locate the account by typing the name into the box next to "Partial User Name."
- If a user's email address is known, it can be entered into the box next to "Partial Email." Partial email addresses can be used for the search. For example, 'ba@muohio.edu' will retrieve all those accounts that include that text in the email address.
In addition to the above information, the minimum authority level (student, advisor, or administrator) can be used to narrow the results, the role the user chose when creating an account and the dates of account creation.
When the appropriate information has been inputted, click the “Submit”
button to view the results. The results will appear below the search area.
Once a search has been performed, the search criteria will be saved until
a new search is performed.
For example, you may need to locate an account for a student you spoke with recently. You remember that their name was Jennifer and that this person created a Student account between July and September. User ID should be blank, your institution identifier should be selected. Type in 'Jennifer' into the Partial User Name field. Select Min Authority Level of "Student", and type '7/1/04' in the first "Created Between" field, and then '9/1/04' in the second field.
When results are returned, each result will provide minimal User information and also has the following abilities:
- Edit: This allows for editing this user’s information. Information
such as name, role, and authority level is kept here.
- Delete: This deletes the user’s account
- Password: This gives the ability to change a user’s password.
To do this, enter YOUR password to verify. Then either 1) enter the
new password for this user or 2) Click the auto generate check box to
auto generate a password and have it emailed to the user.
Student Services
Institutions participating in the Course Applicability System (CAS) can include links to information on their web pages in order to facilitate accessing information about Admissions, Financial Aid and Registration Information, as well as online forms for Student Services offered.
Accessing Student Services
1. Select Student Services from the CAS menu
2. Highlight the institution's state
3. Highlight the institution
4. Click Select Institution
5. Using the drop down menu, select the link to the information you are seeking
Help!
At any point during the CAS session the Help! area can be utilized for functional and technical help, and how to get more information.
Log Out
Please Log Out when the session is completed, in particular when a public computer is being used.