On Mon, 13 May 2002 12:29:51 -0400, Bill Verity <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>I'm curious about what other sites do with lists for classes.

At the University of Notre Dame, course-related lists are created upon
receipt of a request from the assigned faculty member or the department.
Most requests are submitted via a web form that is automatically sent to
our problem tracking system and dispatched to a special queue, however,
we occasionally receive requests via email or phone.

We have discussed the possibility of creating a list for every section of
every course, but have not yet worked out all of the logistics. If/when
we take this step, the number of course-related lists will jump from
approximately 600 each semester to approximately 4,000 each semester.

At present, a nightly job processes a data file from the registration
system, and generates template list header files and update jobs for all
sections of all courses. When a faculty member requests a list, the
template header file and the update job are used to create and populate
the list. Existing course-related lists for the current semester are
updated nightly to reflect drop/add changes.

The listname for a course-related list is based on the course name,
section number, and term. The course name consists of a 2-4 character
department code and a 3-4 character course number. For example, a list
for MATH 101, section 01, for the Fall 2002 semester would be named
MATH101-01-FA02.

We use superlists for cross-listed courses, and for instructors who want
to combine multiple sections of a course in a single list. When we create
a superlist, the instructor's initial are used in place of the section
number in the listname.  For example, if John Q. Doe requested lists for
MATH 101, sections 1-4, for the Fall 2002 semester, we would create a list
for each section, plus a superlist. The superlist would be named
MATH101-JQD-FA02.

We leave course-related systems in place for at least 18 months after the
end of the semester for which they were created.

--
Paul Russell
Senior System Administrator
University of Notre Dame