New terminologies

Some key curriculum terminologies commonly used in Western have been approved to be changed as part of the new SMS implementation. Western Sydney University’s current curriculum terminology largely aligns to the current Student Management System (Callista). Key concepts of ‘course’ and ‘unit’ are exclusively and unambiguously used throughout the Callista Student Management System. For groupings of units, Callista has a system concept of a ‘unit set’. There is a level of flexibility available in Callista in using unit sets which allows these groupings of units to be categorised, labelled and coded in different ways by the institution in order to create distinctly different types of unit sets. The different terms that WSU currently uses for groupings of units, such as Key Programs, Specialisations, Majors and Sub Majors are all easily accommodated in the Callista Unit Set structure and there is capacity to add to or change these terms over time without significant overhead.

Challenges

Banner curriculum terminology does not align to current terminology at WSU. This has the potential to cause significant confusion for staff and students interacting with the Banner solution unless terminology is standardised across the solution. Banner terminologies have been adopted and tested in the new system before it was endorsed by the University Executive, SMS Steering Committee and Project Working Group. This approach is in line with one of the SMS Project's guiding principles - "Adopt and Adapt".

Approved Terminologies

The image below details how the current terminologies in Callista maps into the terminology used in Banner.

Actions to support this change

The curriculum stream are working through building the curriculum for current courses using these terminologies as structures of programs. They have gone through numerous testing cycles to find the terminologies that would best fit WSU's needs as well as Banner's capabilities. More information about how this decision has come about is available in the staff documents (Login required).

The project will be conducting a series of engagements with schools and units to build awareness of these changes. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us through smsproject@westernsydney.edu.au.