Who this is for
College Administrator
Terms are the calendar the rest of DualEnroll runs on: course sections, registrations, applications and reports are all organized by term, and a term must exist before registration can begin. Read on for how terms are structured, what their date windows control, and what happens when one ends.
Creating and managing terms
You manage terms from College Admin → Academic Terms. A term is a date range you offer courses in, such as Fall 2026, and carries a name, an optional code, a start and end date, and the settings below. Add a term with the button, edit one by clicking its name, or clone an existing term to start the next cycle from a copy.
If your college has an Ellucian Ethos or Banner connection, an Import button also appears here. It lists the academic periods your SIS (student information system) reports; tick the ones you want and DualEnroll creates a term from each, carrying the period's name, code and dates. Imported terms arrive with dates only, so add date windows and other settings afterwards.
Controlling where a term appears
Four settings decide who sees a term. None of them change the term's data.
Setting |
What it does |
Typical use |
|---|---|---|
Inactive |
Removes the term from students' registration lists. Staff keep full access. |
A term that has ended |
Hide from list |
Keeps the term out of filter dropdowns; still reachable through All Hidden Terms. |
Old terms cluttering staff filters |
Hide from Course Finder |
Keeps the term's sections out of the student course search. |
A term being set up that is not ready for students |
Show in workflow steps |
Keeps an inactive term visible inside workflow steps that still need it. |
Finishing work in a term that has ended |
Removing a term
Delete is for terms created in error: it is blocked while registrations, sections or other records depend on the term. For a term you are finished with, make it inactive instead; that takes it out of circulation while keeping history intact.
Warning: Archiving is permanent. Only an inactive term can be archived, an archived term cannot be unarchived or edited, and the confirmation screen shows a count of the records that depend on the term before you commit.
Date windows on a term
A term can carry named date windows that other parts of the product read. Sections can carry their own windows, which override the term's.
Window |
What it controls |
|---|---|
DROP and WITHDRAW |
The deadlines for dropping or withdrawing from the term's sections. As each window closes, that action stops being available. |
REGISTRATION START and REGISTRATION END |
For colleges whose registration workflow includes a holding step: the date range that configuration reads to decide whether a new registration proceeds or waits. You review and release held registrations from the term's screen, per high school or all at once. |
Add Period and Delete Period |
For colleges with an Ellucian Colleague integration: which status code DualEnroll sends to your SIS when a student registers or is removed, based on timing. |
Beyond a single term
Capability |
What it is |
When you need it |
|---|---|---|
Composite terms |
A term that contains other terms, marked with an asterisk in dropdowns. It stands in for all of its contained terms. |
Treating an academic year as one term, such as asking each instructor once for a year-long ongoing requirement instead of once per term |
High school terms |
A separate list of terms matching high school calendars (College Admin → High School Terms). Each names the college term it corresponds to. |
Scheduling against a high school's trimesters or semesters while resolving to the right college term underneath |
Term categories |
Labels you define once and apply to terms so other parts of the product can pick terms out by category. |
Only when your workflows or SIS integration are configured to select terms this way; most colleges never need them |
How terms affect what students see
- Course search. Students see sections only for terms that are active and not hidden from the Course Finder. When students report they cannot find a course, check the term first: one setting removes every section in it from student view at once.
- Registration timing. The date windows above decide whether a drop or withdraw is offered, and whether a new registration proceeds immediately or waits to be released.
- Workflow selection. A term can name which workflow definition category applies to each kind of record it processes, which is how a college runs a different registration workflow in summer than in fall.
- Reports. Most reports filter by term, and a composite term stands in for all of its contained terms.
Common scenarios
Situation |
What to do |
|---|---|
Opening a new enrollment cycle |
Clone last year's term, or import next year's terms from your SIS. Update the dates and date windows, then confirm the term shows in the Course Finder once sections are loaded. |
A term just ended |
Mark it inactive. Students stop seeing it, staff keep full access to its history, and nothing is deleted. |
Students cannot find a course |
Check the term's Inactive and Course Finder settings before checking individual sections. |
A year-long instructor requirement |
Create a composite term for the academic year, add fall, spring and summer to it, and launch the ongoing requirement against the composite. |
Need to change this?
To set the SIS status windows on a term, see Set Add Period dates on an academic term and Set Delete Period dates on an academic term.
Need help with your terms? Contact the Help Desk.