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Administrator Guide
Last Updated: 2025-09-19
Create Courses

Create Courses

  • Set up curriculum management. See Steps: Set Up Curriculum Management.
  • Configure the
    Course Event
     business process and security policy in the Student Records functional area.
  • Security: These domains:
    • Set Up: Curriculum Management
       in the Student Records functional area.
    • Manage: Curriculum Management
       in the Student Records functional area.
    • Manage: Preliminary Course Sections
       in the Student Records functional area.
    • Public Reporting Items
      .
Create courses to build the course inventory for your institution. Depending on your business process configuration, Workday routes the courses for approval, so you can review and edit them if needed. After you approve a course, Workday saves its definition in the course inventory. You can load course information with a web service or add it manually.
  1. Access the
    Create Course
     task.
    The
    Effective Date
     controls which version of the course is available on a given date. For reporting purposes, the effective date should be on or before the standard start date of the academic period for which you're creating the course.
  2. As you complete general information about the course, consider:
    Option Description
    First Available
    The first date that you can offer this course. Course sections can only start on or after this date.
    Last Available
    Controls when to retire the course.
    Academic Level
    The prompt lists academic levels that you configured to offer courses.
    Typical Periods Offered
    The academic period types that you typically offer the course.
    When selecting courses on academic plans for a given academic period, Workday provides a list of course options that are typically offered for the academic period type.
    Hide Course
    Excludes this course from public reports and tasks like
    Find Courses
     and
    Find Course Sections for Saved Schedule
    . Workday automatically hides all the course sections of a hidden course, which you can change on the
    Edit Published Course Section
     task.
    Example: Select the check box when you want to create a generic course for transfer credit that shouldn't be available for student enrollment.
    To register students into hidden courses, select the
    Bypass and Override Restrictions
     check box on the
    Register Student for Course
     task.
    You can use the
    Hidden Course
     report field in condition rules and custom reports to meet your reporting needs.
  3. As you specify academic unit information for the course, consider:
    Option Description
    Academic Unit
    The prompt includes academic units that you configured for the selected academic level.
    Course Inventory Owner
    You can only select 1 academic unit as the owner. Workers secured to this academic unit and superior academic units can edit the course.
    Allowed to Offer
    On the
    Create Course Section
     or
    Edit Course Section
     task, you can only select from the academic units for which you select this option.
    Default Offering Percent
    If more than 1 academic unit offers the course, specify a percentage for each unit that totals up to 100.
    Allowed Locations
    The campus locations where instructors can teach the course. You can configure the locations using the
    Maintain Campus Assignment Policy
     task.
  4. As you specify how to identify the course in Workday, consider:
    Option Description
    Subject
    The prompt includes subjects defined on the
    Maintain Course Subjects
     report.
    Course Number
    An alphanumeric identifier.
    Example: 101, 101L, or 4307.
    Add
    Click to cross-list the course.
    Cross-listing enables you to list the course under different identities. Students can register for the course under the identity they want on their transcripts.
    Example: You cross-list ECON 380 with MATH 310. Students pursuing an Economics degree can register for ECON 380 and Math students can register for MATH 310, although they're both taking the same course.
    Abbreviated Title
    Displays on transcripts with limited space.
    Workday displays the course by combining the subject abbreviation (defined on the
    Maintain Course Subjects
     task), course number, and title.
    Example: BIOL 101 - Introduction to Biology.
  5. As you complete the task, consider:
    Option Description
    Special Topics Course
    Select this check box when the course has 1 or more associated special topics. The topics become available on these tasks:
    • Create Course Section
      .
    • Managing Offerings for Course
      .
    Course Tags
    Defined on the
    Maintain Course Tags
     task.
    Course sections inherit the course tags you select, which you can't change.
    Auto Generate Course Section Numbers
    Select to have Workday automatically generate course section numbers on the
    Create Course Section
     and
    Manage Offerings for Course
     tasks.
    Workday generates course section numbers based on the number of course sections already within the standard period that the
    Academic Period
    , or
    Start Date
     and
    End Date
     belongs to.
    Course Section Overrides
    Course sections inherit certain course attributes automatically. Specify which attributes you can override with these options.
    Competencies
    When students register in the course, Workday evaluates these competencies to satisfy academic requirements that use the Competency-Learning Outcome type eligibility rule.
  6. As you complete the
    Course Components
     grid, consider:
    Option Description
    Instructional Format
    Select from Workday-delivered formats.
    When you select
    Combination
    , the
    Combination Instructional Formats
     grid displays where you can select up to 3 formats and their contact hours.
    Required Format
    Select at least 1 required format.
    • At least 1 section of the course must have this instructional format.
    • All students must enroll in a section with this format.
    Allowed Delivery Modes
    Select 1 or more Workday-defined delivery modes. You can also:
    • Create custom names for delivery modes using the
      Maintain Delivery Mode Values
       task.
    • View your custom names using the
      View Delivery Mode Values
       task.
    Controls Grading
    You can select only 1 instructional format to control grading.
    The course section with this instructional format controls the:
    • Allowed Grading Bases
      .
    • Minimum Units
      .
    • Maximum Units
      .
    Default Instructor Load Percentage
    Assign the default instructor allotment on the course.
  7. As you complete the task, consider:
    Option Description
    Location Not Required
    Workday automatically selects
    Location Not Required
     for all sections of this course, which you can change.
    Example: You might not need locations for an online course.
    Minimum Units
    When this value is different from
    Maximum Units
    , students can change the units on their in-progress course registration.
    Allow Partial Units
    Partial Unit Increment
    When the
    Maximum Units
     is greater than the
    Minimum Units
    , you can:
    • Enable partial units for the course.
    • Specify the partial unit increment.
    Example: If you enable partial units for this course with a 0.25 increment, students can register for the course with 3.75 units.
    Other Unit Values
    Select the check box if the number of units used for billing or calculating financial aid load differs from the number of units earned for completing the course.
    Example: Students receive zero units for completing a remedial course but you can bill them for 3 units.
    Repeatable for Additional Credit
    When selected, students earn credit each time they complete the course. Workday displays the
    Allow Concurrent Enrollment
     check box, enabling students to register for multiple sections of a course within the same standard academic period. Students must register for these concurrent sections in separate registration transactions.
    Workday also displays these fields:
    • Repeat Maximum Attempts
      : The number of times students can repeat the course to receive credit.
    • Repeat Maximum Credits
      : The maximum number of credits students can earn for repeating the course.
    Workday prevents registration when students exceed the
    Repeat Maximum Attempts
     and
    Repeat Maximum Credits
    .
    Even if you select this check box, it might not count for financial aid when a student repeats the course. Make sure to configure the
    FSA Repeat Coursework Configuration
     field on the
    Create Federal Student Aid Rule Sets
     task.
    Unlimited Capacity
    Selecting the check box hides these fields, which you can use to define default capacities for course sections:
    • Default Section Capacity
      .
    • Default Wait List Capacity
      .
    Default Projected Enrollment
    The projected enrollment for a course section, which can be useful for room scheduling and bookstore systems.
    Allowed Grading Bases
    When you select multiple values, students can change the grading basis on their in-progress course registration.
    Eligibility Rule
    Defines the prerequisites for taking the course.
    Example: Student must belong to a certain cohort (such as athletes) to take this course.
    You create eligibility rules using the
    Create Student Eligibility Rule
     task. You can also use condition rules as eligibility rules when you:
    • Create them using the
      Create Student Condition Rule
       task.
    • Use report fields on the Academic Record business object, such as
      Latest Class Standing
       or
      Latest Academic Standing
      .
    Co-Requisite Courses
    Specify the courses that students must take along with this course. Workday prevents students from registering for this course without the corequisite courses.
    For corequisite and prerequisite courses, Workday recommends you use a
    Course Requirement
     type eligibility rule with a
    has completed or is in process of completing
     qualifier. You can configure the eligibility rule on either the course or course section definition.
    Public Notes
    Notes that students can view.
    Example: Formerly BIO-1A.
    Private Notes
    Notes that students can't view.
    Example: Approved for online offering 3/14/19.
  8. Specify the
    Course Materials
     for the course.
    Workday displays the course materials that you created on the
    Create Course Material
     task.
After approval of the course, you can:
  • Create course sections or offerings for the course.
  • View the course from these reports:
    • View Course Inventory
      .
    • Find Course Definitions
      .
    • Course profile (Click the course to access it).
Students can view the course through the
Find Courses
 report.
  • You can edit the course by selecting
    Course
    Edit
     from the related actions menu of the course. For reporting purposes, you should configure effective dates on or before the standard start date of the academic period that the new course versions are for.
  • After approval of the course, you can create course sections.