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New Mexico State University

Add Multiple Students to Your Course

The information provided details the process for importing multiple students into a WebCT course at New Mexico State University. Starting in Spring 2007, the code used to import multiple students into WebCT will change to more closely resemble the format used in the Schedule of Classes. Please refer to the section Codes for Importing Students from the Global Database in this document for additional details.

Procedure for Importing Students from the Global Database

  1. Log in to WebCT (http://webct.nmsu.edu/) using your NMSU Username and password.
  2. From the Courses list on the myWebCT page, select the course into which you would like to import students.
  3. Click the Control Panel button located in the upper left corner of your course page.
  4. Click the Manage Course button.
  5. Click the link that reads Add or Import students.
  6. At the Add Students screen, find Add multiple students from a registered course.
  7. Enter the code that designates your unique course in the Registered course name box.
  8. Click the Select button. The Select from Global Database screen will appear.
  9. Confirm that the roster is acceptable and click the Select button. The Manage Students screen appears. You will see the students that you selected from the previous step.

Codes for Importing Students from the Global Database

When you are adding multiple students to your WebCT course, at the Add Students screen, you query the WebCT Global Database for students who have registered for your course.  You do this by entering the registered course name, which is a string of characters that looks something like this:  MA-SP-ENGL-111G-M01.

The codes in the registered course name represent
CAMPUS-SEMESTER-COURSE PREFIX-COURSE NUMBER-SECTION NUMBER

Codes for campus and semester are detailed below.

Campus Codes

Code Definition
MA Main
DA Doña Ana
AL Alamogordo
CA Carlsbad
GR Grants
LE Las Cruces Extension
 

Semester Codes

Code Definition
SP Spring
FA Fall
S1 Summer

The codes for course prefix, course number, and section number are exactly the same as listed in the Schedule of Courses. We recommend that you search for your course using the NMSU Course Lookup tool that is available online at https://accounts.nmsu.edu/~aamsdev/catalog/. Refer to it in order to determine the code for your class.

For example, in the Spring 2007 Schedule of Courses we see the following entry:

Sample Schedule

The code for the class would be written as follows:

AL-SP-ENGL-111G-A01 (not case sensitve)

Special Note About Recent Changes (Spring 2007)

The changes to the code used to import students are summarized below. The best practice is to refer to the Online Schedule of Courses and use the exact syntax found there.

  • Include the course indicator
    • Recent changes to the code require that you include the course indicator that follows the Course number.
    • For example, with the course "ENGL 111G", the G must follow the number 111.
  • Include spaces when they appear in the Schedule of Courses
    • Any spaces in the course number or course prefix that appear in the Schedule of Courses should be used in the code as well.
    • For example, Criminal Justice courses use the course prefix "C J"; there must be a space between C and J as indicated in the Online Schedule of Courses.
  • Include the letter and any preceding zeros in the section number
    • Section numbers now begin with a letter that usually indicates the campus location of the section. In addition, some single-digit section numbers begin with zero '0'.
    • For example, with the course ENGL 111G "A01", the section number A01 must be in the code exactly as displayed. If you type "A1", the course will not be retrieved.

Adding Multiple Sections to a Single WebCT Course

Instructors sometimes have multiple sections or cross-listed courses incorporated into a single WebCT course, which means that they will add multiple groups of students through the query process.

Follow the steps below to make this process easier.  The preceding example shows you how to add two sections of the same course.

  1. Add the first section of students by querying the WebCT Global database for the students registered in that section of the course.
  2. Once you return to the grade book in WebCT, add a column for section number.  For this example, we'll label it "SecNo".
  3. Edit the SecNo column and move down through the rows of students, entering the section number for each student in this group.
  4. Add the second section, again searching  the Global Database for the students registered in this section, using the same process that you followed in Step 1 above. 
    Caution: DO NOT use the Synchronize feature for adding students - it just creates confusion because it suggests deletions of the first  group of names.
  5. Again, return to the grade book.  Now two sections of students are listed.  Sort the SecNo. column by clicking on the column label.  All the new entries will be grouped together.  Then edit the SecNo column, entering the section numbers for this group of students.
  6. At the end of the two-week Add/Drop period, compare the names in your grade book in WebCT with the rosters sent to you by the Registrar's office.  Delete any students that have dropped your course.

Note:   Because you have the SecNo column in your grade book, you can use it to run queries that will display only those students registered for a particular section of the course.  You can also use the column to selectively release any information that pertains to just one group.

Backing Up Frequently During the Add/Drop Period

Few designers have problems initially adding their students to their WebCT course.  However, as they maintain their grade books during the Add/Drop period, accidents can occur when they synchronize their classes for the latest adds and drops, especially for multiple sections.  Nearly every semester someone manages to wipe out the grade book of a course, losing any grades, quiz results, etc. that have accumulated during those two weeks.  

We strongly suggest that you back up your course regularly during this two week period, especially just before you Synchronize.  Nightly backups are performed on the WebCT server, but your course can be out of commission for 24 to 48 hours while a backed up version is being found and then restored. 

If you should accidentally delete student records and have made a recent backup yourself, you can restore your course within minutes.