Prerequisites & Corequisites

Course Management and Vergil have a structure for connecting courses as co-requisites (must be taken together) and prerequisites (must be taken before). There are currently 3 types of relevant course associations. 

  • Prerequisites
  • Prerequisite+
  • Corequisite


Information about setting Prerequisites, Prerequisite+, and Corequisites in the Class Schedule is below. More information about the uses of each can be found here - https://sishelp.sis.columbia.edu/content/fields-proposal-and-inventory#!#cu_accordion_item-231

A few things to note when considering and setting up Course Associations: 

  • You must first set your associations on the Course level in the Course Inventory before you can complete class-level associations in the Semester Schedule.
  • Both courses must be approved and mounted before you can create associations between them in the Course Inventory.
  • Both classes must be mounted before you can enforce associations between them in the Class Schedule


For any further information on your Class/Course Associations email [email protected].

Setting Class Associations

Prerequisites are requirements that must be taken before students can register for a course. These can either be enforced during registration or set as a recommendation for students. Non-course prerequisites (e.g., AP exam scores, exception courses) cannot be considered technically during student registration. Student may Appeal to register for a course if they do not meet enforced Course prerequisites. 

Prerequisites are set at the Course level. You must choose to enforce it for each class using the toggle highlighted in Step 3. 

To enforce pre-requisites for a class follow the steps below: 

  1. Select 'Course Associations' to open the course association menu.
  2. Click on the dropdown arrow to expand and view the details for the prerequisites.
  3. Click on the toggle to enforce prerequisites for students or make it informational.
  4. Click the 'Save' button to save your changes. 
This image contains the menu in the semester schedule and numbers to highlight the steps users can take to choose to enforce prerequisites that are already set at the course level. Step 1: Select 'Course Associations' to open the course association menu. Step 2: Click on the dropdown arrow to view the details for the prerequisites. Step 3: Click on the toggle to enforce prerequisites for students.
image of registration showing prerequisite not met
image of registration showing prerequisite not met

Prerequisite+ are requirements that a student must be registered for in a current or prior semester, before a student can register for a Course. The can include Lectures that a student must be in before joining a discussion section or a prepatory course taken at the beginning of a term. 

Prerequisite+ are set at the Course level. You must choose to enforce it for each class using the toggle highlighted in Step 3. 

To enforce prerequisite+ for a class follow the steps below: 

  1. Select 'Course Associations' to open the course association menu.
  2. Click on the dropdown arrow to expand and view the details for the prerequisites.
  3. Click on the toggle to enforce prerequisites for students or make it informational.
  4. Click the 'Save' button to save your changes. 


An important note when considering and setting up Prerequisite+: 

  • Prequisite+ will NOT show in Vergil Course Search. They may be hidden Courses that students are preregistered in.
  • Prerequisite+ are designated with a $ (dollar sign) in the Course Associations formula
image of class schedule record with prereq+
image of student registration wtih prereq+

Corequisites are courses that must be taken together in the same semester. These can be Lectures with a Lab or Lectures with a Discussion section. Courses must first be set as corequisites on the Course level and then Departments can select which sections to require students take together on the Semester Schedule as highlighted in the image below. 

A few things to note when set up corequisite sections: 

  • You must first set your associations on the Course level in the Course Inventory before you can complete class-level associations in the Semester Schedule.
  • Both classes must be mounted before you can enforce associations between them in the Class Schedule. Corequisites can be 1:1 or 1:N; e.g., A Chemistry Lecture can be linked to 10 different Lab Sections. 
     

To enforce Corequisites for a class follow the steps below: 

  1. In your Class record, select 'Course Associations' to open the course association menu.
  2. Click on the dropdown arrow to expand and view the details for the Corequisites.
  3. Click on the 'New Section' Button to expand the menu to select the class section to pair.
  4. Click on the drop-down menu for a list of class sections to choose from. If a class has no available section to choose from, then that indicates that a class section has not been created yet.
  5. Click the 'Add' button to add your section(s) to the list highlighted in yellow.
  6. Click the 'Save' button to save your changes.
  7. Add another section (optional). 
This image details the steps to set co-requisite sections for a class in the semester schedule and the 5 steps to do so. Step 1: Select 'Course Associations' to open the course association menu. Step 2: Click on the dropdown arrow to view the details for the prerequisites. Step 3: Click on New section to open the menu. Step 4: click the dropdown menu to view the list of available sections for the term. Step 5: Click add to add the sections to the list highlighted in yellow.
pic of student registration showing a corequisite
pic of student registration with missing coreq

Meets Together Associations are for courses that will be taught at the same time, location, and by the same instructor. They may have different titles, and possibly different requisites, owners, Schools, syllabi, assignments, subjects, and points (e.g., SIPA 4000 & Law 4000 or Math 4005 & Math 6005). Meets Together Class Associations can be set on an ad-hoc basis, which means the courses do not have to be associated at the course level before users can add sections on the class level.

Please note - Meets Together Associations will only be informational to students. Eventually, we would like to use this data to tie rosters in Courseworks for Grading, Rosters, and room scheduling. 

The steps below outline how to add a Meets Together Class Association: 

  1. Click on the 'Course Associations' button to open the course association menu. 
  2. Click on 'New Section' to open the menu where you will enter the ad-hoc class identifier. 
  3. Enter a keyword or the class identifier for the class. 
  4. Click 'Add' to add the class to Meets Together Associations. 
  5. Click the 'Save' button to save your changes. 
  6. Add additional sections (optional).
The image depicts the steps to create a Meets Together Class Association in the semester schedule numbered with steps 1-5. Step 1: Click on the 'Course Association' button. Step 2: Click on 'New Section' to open the menu where you will enter the ad-hoc class of choice. Step 3: enter the class you wish to add to the association. Step 4: Click Add to place the class in the listed Meets together associations. Step: 5 Click 'Save' to save your changes.

Multi Term Course Associations are for courses that are broken into two courses and taught over a year (e.g., SOCWT7811 and SOCWTT7812). Each course will have separate points, hours, and syllabi but will meet the requirements when they're taken together. Additionally, Multi Term Associations can only be set for current and past terms, they cannot be set for future terms.

Please note - Multi-Term associations are not enforceable and will only be informational to students. 

To set up your Multi-Term Associations, please follow the steps below: 

  1. Click on the 'Course Associations' button to open the course association menu. 
  2. Click on 'New Section' to open the menu where you choose the term and section for the associated course. 
  3. Click on the drop arrows to open a list of terms and sections that are available for the associated course that you may choose from. 
  4. Click 'Add' to add the class to the listed Multi-Term Associations. 
  5. Click the 'Save' button to save your changes. 
The image depicts the steps to create a Meets Together Class Association in the semester schedule numbered with steps 1-5. Step 1: Click on the 'Course Association' button. Step 2: Click on 'New Section' to open the menu where you will select the class term and section. Step 3: Click on the dropdown arrow to select the term and class section for the associated class. Step 4: Click the 'Add' button to add the class information to the listed Multi-Term class. Step 5: Click 'Save' to save your changes.