eGrades Viewing Approval Codes
Navigate to the course page and click “Approval Codes” tab:
Approval codes will display on the following page. Any used approval codes will display in the bottom table with the students' information.
There is additional information on that tab, including that if no codes display, you must contact your department advisor. This is usually because the department has run the approval code extract job out of STAR, so the codes are no longer viewable via eGrades (or some codes need to be generated).
If more approval codes are needed, the department advisor is the point of contact, since there may be other course maintenance/scheduling factors that the department may need to consider. The second point of contact is the Curriculum and Scheduling unit for approval code questions. The department advisor and instructors have the capability of downloading and distributing the approval codes to students. There is a limit to the number of approval codes that can be generated based on max enrollment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a department create approval codes through eGrades?
No, after the initial batch job is run to create codes, approval codes can only be generated through CRES or STAR. See Approval Codes in STAR.
What if an Instructor Accidentally Marked an Approval Code as Distributed?
There isn't a way to retrieve a code once it's marked as distributed, but the department advisor should be able to open the course screen in STAR and create a new code, which should then be available to retrieve via e-grades. If the advisor needs assistance with this piece, they can contact the the Curriculum and Scheduling unit who can either walk the advisor through the process or create the code on their end.
What if the Student Enrollment Exceeds the Max Enrollment?
Without knowing the exact circumstances for this particular section, this can happen if the department/instructor issues approval codes beyond the max enrollment, or if there was some sort of override for a student. Approval codes/overrides bypass just about every restriction, including the set max enrollment of the course.
What if a Student Receives Error Message when Inputting an Add Code into GOLD?
Error message reads 'You cannot Add Primary that has Required Secondary' when student attempts to add the add code in GOLD. Since the student has an Approval Code, they'll need to drop the waitlist and then add the course. At that point, they should stop getting the Units Exceeded message.
What if the Course Faulty Shows 0 Students Enrolled?
Contact the the Curriculum and Scheduling unit who can resolve this in CRES by pushing the F7 button in the course screen to update the enroll total, then the course should reflect the correct number of students enrolled in the course.
Can a student use an add code to join any section of the primary course?
In certain circumstances this may be the perceived result. The approval code will only work for the specified section. Once a student is enrolled in the course, the Switch function in GOLD will allow them to move to any other section with available space. As long as it's before the deadline to add without an approval code, it'll bypass most of the usual checks (including the waitlist check). After the deadline to add without an approval code, an approval code would be required even for the switch function. The only way to prevent this behavior is to close the course.