Schools#

The Schools module allows FlightPath to separate degrees, courses, groups, users, and certain settings into different “schools.” Note that for most institutions, this functionality is not required and may represent an added complexity.

Note: The Schools feature is available only when the Schools module is enabled.

Managing Schools#

Once the Schools module is enabled, you can manage schools from:

Admin Console → Administer Schools

From this page, administrators can add, edit, and remove schools.

What Is a “School” in FlightPath?#

A school does not necessarily represent a separate physical institution. It is a way of organizing and separating data within FlightPath.

For example, an institution might use schools to represent internal academic divisions such as:

Graduate School
Nursing School
Pharmacy School

Schools can also represent separate campuses or institutions that are managed within the same FlightPath installation, such as:

North Campus
South Campus
ABC College
XYZ College

The appropriate use of schools depends on how your institution organizes its academic programs and how you want to separate data within FlightPath.

The Default School#

If the Schools module is not enabled, all FlightPath data is associated with the default school.

The default school has an ID of 0.

Enabling the Schools module does not automatically move existing data into a new school. By default, data continues to belong to the default school unless it is assigned to another school.

Assigning Data to Schools#

When the Schools module is enabled, additional school options appear when creating and editing:

Degrees
Groups
Courses
Users

For example, a degree can be assigned to the school ABC.

By default, that degree cannot use a course or group belonging to another school, such as XYZ.

This separation helps prevent data from one school from being unintentionally used by another school.

Allowing Data to Be Shared Between Schools#

The default separation between schools can be changed from the Administer Schools settings.

This allows an institution to configure whether data can be shared or used across schools when appropriate.

The exact configuration will depend on how your institution has organized its schools.

CWIDs Must Be Unique Across Schools#

CWIDs are required to be unique across the entire FlightPath installation, not just within an individual school.

For example, suppose two schools have students with the following CWIDs:

(Invalid)
100357  -> belongs to School ABC
100357  -> belongs to School XYZ

These would not be valid as separate FlightPath users because the CWID must be unique across all schools.

A common approach is to include a school or campus identifier as part of the CWID.

For example:

ABC100357
XYZ100357

Although both students have the same numerical portion of the CWID, the complete CWIDs are different and therefore unique within FlightPath.

When Should You Use Schools?#

The Schools module is useful when you need to manage multiple distinct sets of academic data within the same FlightPath installation.

Consider using schools when you need to distinguish between:

Different academic divisions within an institution
Different campuses
Multiple institutions
Other groups that need their degrees, courses, groups, or users separated from one another

If all of your FlightPath data belongs to a single institution or academic environment and there is no need to separate that data, the Schools module may not be necessary.

Important Considerations#

Before enabling and configuring the Schools module, consider how your institution wants to organize its data.

In particular, determine:

Which academic divisions, campuses, or institutions should be represented as schools.
Which degrees, courses, groups, and users belong to each school.
Whether any data needs to be shared between schools.
How CWIDs will be structured to ensure they remain unique across the entire FlightPath installation.

A well-planned school structure can help keep data organized and prevent courses, groups, and other information from being used across schools unintentionally.