Data Retention

Populating Student Data in GradesFirst

Student data is exported from the school's information system and is uploaded directly into the GradesFirst application by a user or agent of the school via automation. After successful authentication into the GradesFirst system, the file is uploaded, the data is validated, and then persisted to the GradesFirst database.  The school does not experience any down time during this process, and the uploaded file is encrypted and kept on the GradesFirst servers in a secured location for 5 days in case they are needed for customer support issues.  After 5 days, the uploaded file is automatically deleted and cannot be recovered.  As with any interaction with GradesFirst, this data is transmitted via an SSL encrypted connection.  Each institution decides how often data is refreshed from the student information system.  Most schools update once daily.

There are a variety of ways to import your data into GradesFirst, and your institution can use whichever one(s) fit your needs best. Non-technical users can easily run one-time imports using the Admin panel inside GradesFirst, or university IT staff can run imports via the GradesFirst API. API imports may use either cURL or SFTP, and they can be run as one-time imports or as automatically recurring imports.  Automatic imports offer the advantage of keeping your data in GradesFirst up-to-date, and they reduce the hassle of manually running imports as the semester progresses.  University IT staff can set up the automated imports or outsource that work to GradesFirst.  Once the automated import is in place, very little if any maintenance is required going forward.

For added security, import files can be encrypted before they are transferred.  GradesFirst provides full documentation and support on setting up encrypted uploads.  Once the file is encrypted, you can upload it to GradesFirst just as you would any other file, and GradesFirst will automatically handle decrypting and processing of the file as normal.

Testing Data Uploads

GradesFirst allows clients to test their data import files on a test system before going to production.  A valid user account will be provided to personnel responsible for testing the data import.  Please contact support@gradesfirst.com for more information on getting your test account set up.

Incorrect

GradesFirst Import Version=6
# Object, Action, External ID, Name, Group ID
category,add,wtrack,Woman's Track, GradesFirst University

Correct

GradesFirst Import Version=6
# Object, Action, External ID, Name, Group ID
"category","add","wtrack","Woman's Track","GradesFirst University" 

• Editing your file in spreadsheet software like Microsoft Excel can automatically reformat and corrupt the data by stripping out leading zero’s, changing numbers to letters, and inserting carriage returns. It is not recommended to edit your data files with Excel unless you are an expert user, because it can cause data corruption and/or failed uploads. For this reason, we recommend editing all CSV files with a plain text editor, such as Notepad on Windows, TextEdit on Mac, or vi on Unix.
  
  
• If any field contains double quotes as part of the actual data, such as a course named: “An In-Depth Study of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet””, you can insert these double quote characters into your data file by replacing each double quote with two consecutive double quote characters. So, the correct field would be: “An In-Depth Study of Shakespeare’s ““Hamlet”””.
  
  

  • Here is an example of enclosing the field in double quotes by concatenating double quote characters to the beginning and ending of the returned string value and checking for double quotes in the field value:

SELECT ‘”’ || replace(field_name, ‘”’, ‘””’) || ‘”’
AS my_field_name
FROM table_name

• If you want to insert the required Header Record or Column Headers into the import file using SQL, one quick way is to use a UNION statement to accomplish this.  (Be sure to account for the syntax of the SQL you are using)
  
  
  • Below is another example.

SELECT “Student ID”, “Student First Name”, “Student Last Name”
UNION
SELECT StudentId, StudentFirstName, StudentLastName
FROM Student_Table;

This will result in the first row to contain the required header record (column headers).

NOTE: The SQL above is an example and the Header Record in the actual import files would need to contain all the columns for each file, respectfully.

Document Header

Each uploaded file should contain the following header on the first line: 

GradesFirst Import Version=6

For Campus members, the header should also contain the institution id:

GradesFirst Import Version=6,Institution ID=99999

Comments and Column Headers

Data files may contain comments by beginning any line with a ‘#’ symbol. Previous GradesFirst imports (version 1 manual imports) used Column Headers instead of a Document Header. Although no longer required, Column Headers can still be done using comments.

# Object, Action, External ID, Name, Group ID

Single Sign-On

If your university is using Single Sign-On, you will need to coordinate with the IT staff who handle the SSO setup to ensure that you are both using the same user identifier. This ensures that GradesFirst and your university SSO can correctly identify users when they log in. This user identifier must be unique, so the most common examples are: University ID, Login, CWID, UMID, RAM ID, C number, G number, SKG number, ONLID, No photo ID, Peoplesoft Empl ID, etc. We do not recommend using e-mail because some schools may allow duplicate e-mail addresses over time. Whatever identifier you end up using, you have two different fields where can choose to insert this identifier in your upload – the Primary ID or the Alternate ID. After you add this field to your upload, coordinate with the university IT staff member who is handling the SSO, let them know which identifier you are using, and let them know if you placed it in the primary ID field or the alternate ID field. Be sure the SSO server can return this value for each user when they attempt to login to GradesFirst.

Manual Imports inside GradesFirst

Perhaps the easiest way to import into GradesFirst is to simply upload your import file using the Admin panel.

1. Log into GradesFirst, click the Admin Tab, and click on Data Import.
2. Select the Term, choose the CSV file, and click Import My Selected File.
3. Verify that the data appears correct, then click Data Sample is Valid.
4. You will receive an email confirmation with the results of your import.

API Imports

You can upload API imports using cURL or SFTP. To be sure your systems allow traffic to GradesFirst servers, please see Firewall Exceptions.

Important Note:  When selecting a time to schedule your automated upload, please do not schedule your file to import between 5:00am – 6:00am CST.   This is our deployment window and all services are stopped during this time.  So please ensure all uploads are finished by 5:00am CST.

API Imports with SFTP

You can set up SFTP imports with the help of your GradesFirst trainer during your school’s implementation of GradesFirst. If your implementation has already been completed, simply contact support and we’ll be glad to help out. Here’s the process:

1. Add GradesFirst’s IP addresses to your school’s firewall whitelist as outlined above.
   
   
2. E-mail us the SSH RSA Public Key(s) for the computer(s) that will be sending the import files via SFTP.
   
   
3. We’ll assign you a username and Internet address where you can send the imports.
   
   
4. (Optional) If you wish to receive import status e-mails after each import, log into GradesFirst, click on the Admin tab, click on School Settings, and enter your e-mail address under “API Imports E-mail Address”. Click the Update Settings button to save.
   
   
5. Upload the import file with SFTP.

API Imports with cURL

You can also run API imports using an open-source command line tool named cURL. (Although we recommend cURL, GradesFirst is not responsible for it, and cannot be held liable for damages due to installing or using it.)

Installing cURL on Windows

1. Download the appropriate version of cURL for your version of Windows.

2. Unzip the file.

3. Copy the curl.exe file into C:\Windows\System32

4. To test cURL:

1. Go to Start Menu > Run

2. Type cmd and hit Enter.

3. Type curl --help and hit Enter.
You should see information about the various options cURL provides.

Basic Automated Upload Example for Windows

1. Create a folder at C:\gradesfirst

2. In the C:\gradesfirst folder, create a folder named current and another folder named archive so that you have a folder structure like this:

C:\gradesfirst\current

C:\gradesfirst\archive

In this example, the current folder is where new files are placed each day by some automated process. The archive folder is where files will be placed after they are uploaded.

3. In the C:\gradesfirst folder, create a file called upload.bat

In this file, you'll want to include your script for uploads.

An example of what this script might look like is:

CD C:\gradesfirst\current
for %%f in (*.csv) do @curl -u <username>:<api-key> -F "data=@%%f" https://<environment>.gradesfirst.com/api/imports
move \-y "C:\gradesfirst\current\*.csv" "C:\gradesfirst\archive\"

Be sure to replace the tokens above in your script:

<username> - the username of the GradesFirst user you'll be using for imports.

<api-key> - the GradesFirst import user's API Key. You can see this key by logging in as the import user and navigating to Admin > View My User's API Key)

<environment> - Your school's GradesFirst subdomain for either the training or production site, depending on the site to which you'd like to send information. 

Training Site Example: coastalcollege-training.gradesfirst.com 

Production Site Example: coastalcollege.gradesfirst.com

So, the curl command in your script might look like:

curl -u johndoe:7rjto38f0swk4j598 -F "data=@%%f" https://coastalcollege-training.gradesfirst.com/api/imports

4. To test your script:

1. Place one of the sample import test .csv files in the C:\gradesfirst\current folder 

2. Go to Start Menu > Run

3. Type cmd and hit Enter.

4. Run your upload.bat file by typing C:\gradesfirst\upload.bat

Within a minute or two, your file should show up in GradesFirst on the Data Import screen (Admin > Data Import).

5. Create a Windows scheduled task so that the upload occurs automatically on a schedule of your choosing. We recommend uploading once a day between the hours of 10 PM and 5 AM central time.

How to create a scheduled task on Windows 7 (or higher):

1. Open Task Scheduler by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Security, clicking Administrative Tools, and then double-clicking Task Scheduler.   If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
   
   
2. Click the Action menu, and then click Create Basic Task.
   
   
3. Type a name for the task and an optional description, and then click Next.
   
   
4. Select a schedule based on the calendar by clicking Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or One time, click Next; specify the schedule you want to use, and then click Next.
   
   
5. To schedule a program to start automatically, click Start a program, and then click Next.
   
   
6. Click Browse to find the program you want to start (your upload.bat file at C:\gradesfirst\upload.bat), and then click Next.
   
   
7. Click Finish.

GradesFirst Data Layouts

The following are the formats for the different types of records within GradesFirst.  The easiest way to run your imports is to create a single CSV file that contains all the different types of records, but you can also import one file for each type of record if you wish.  In either situation, you need to follow a set order as you are importing your records. This order is outlined below – if you are using a single CSV file for your entire upload, place the records in this order. If you are using one CSV file for each upload type, you need to run the imports in this order.

Important Note:  If you are using the data integration guide version 1 to import your student records, and only using version 4 (or higher) to supplement the import, you do not need to import all of the below required record types.  For example, if you were simply using version 4 (or higher) to import your Student/Advisor assignment, you would simply need to create, and import, the Relationship file.

1. Term *
2. Major
3. Category
4. Course *
5. Section *
6. User *
7. Grouping *
8. Authorize
9. Registration *
10. Enrollment *
11. Instruction *
12. Declaration
13. Categorize
14. Tag
15. Absence
16. Relationship
17. Note
18. Reminder
19. Alert

* Signifies required record types for using version 6 to import all your student information.

Instruction Conventions

Below are tables that describe the various object imports. Descriptions include:

• Columns: easily referable column name; has no purpose as imports are column order specific
• Required: Either “yes”, “no”, or a list of actions for which the field is required.
• Description: simple description of the content for the column

Anytime you see “External ID” for an object, that is the Unique Key at the University.  Anytime you see “<object_name> ID”, that is a reference to the other object’s “External ID.”

Combining multiple types of records in a single file

If you don’t want to run one import of each type, thereby having 10-20 different imports, it is much easier to simply include multiple types of imports in a single file. As long as you follow the correct order noted on the previous page, you’ll be fine.

Example

GradesFirst Import Version=6
#All types of imports in this upload
"term","add","spr2015",'Spring 2015","01/07/2015","05/25/2015"
"major","add","ENG","English"
"category","add","fbl","Football","GradesFirst University"
"course","add","ENG101","ENG101","English Composition","3"
"section","add","ENG101-spr2015-001","ENG101","spr2015","English Composition"
"user","add","905123",Y","Y","Y","Tony","Stark","","Student","tony.stark@gradesfirst.com"
"user","add","905456",Y","Y","Y","Kim","Weston","","Professor","kim.weston@gradesfirst.com"
"user","add","905789",Y","Y","Y","John","Doe","","Advisor","john.doe@gradesfirst.com"
"grouping","add","GradesFirst University","905123"
"authorize","add","tutor","905477"
"registration","add","spr2015","905123","GradesFirst University","SR","4.0"
"enrollment","add","905123","ENG101-spr2015-001","505123","605123"
"instruction","add","ENG101-spr2015-001","905456"
"categorize","add","fbl","905123"
"tag","add","linebackers","GradesFirst University","905123"
"absence","add","905123","ENG101-spr2015-001","01/07/2015","This is an excused absence","Y"

Clearing Data Fields

To enable capturing certain data points via manual data entry, as well as combining imports from disparate systems, certain data fields require adding a dash ("-") to the import file in order to clear the value from the system. Those fields are:

Classification

• Overall GPA
• Term GPA

Enrollment

• Midterm Grade
• Final Grade

User:

• SSO ID
• First Name
• Last Name
• Email
• Alternate Email
• Home Phone
• Cell Phone
• Work Phone
• Address 1
• Address 2
• City
• State
• Zip
• High School Zip
• Household Income
• Total Credit Hours
• Total Credit Hours Attempted
• Gender
• Ethnicity
• Date of Birth
• Enrollment Status
• Enrollment Goal
• User PIN
• Alternate External ID

Types of Imports (Alphabetical)

Absence

This is the file that will be used to assign absences to students for an enrollment.   Not required.  The unique key for this record type is the combination of Primary User ID, Term ID, Course External ID, Section Name, and Date.

 Example

GradesFirst Import Version=6
# Object, Action, User ID, Term ID, Course ID, Section Name, Date, Comment, Excused
"absence","add","905123","Spring2012","ENG101","13","01/07/2010","You are ok because this is excused.","Y"

Attendance

This is the file that will be used to assign absences to students for an enrollment.   Not required.  The unique key for this record type is the combination of Primary User ID, Term ID, Course External ID, Section Name, and Date.

 Example

Example:
GradesFirst Import Version=6
# Object, Action, User ID, Term ID, Course ID, Section Name, Date, State, Comment, Excused
"attendance","add","905123","Spring2012","ENG101","13","01/07/2010",“absent”, "You are ok because this is excused.","Y"

Alert

This is the file that will be used to create alerts for students. Not required. There is no duplication checking, so alerts imported multiple times will result in multiple alerts being created. To associate the alert with a specific course, you must include the Term ID, Course External ID, and Section Name.

 Example

GradesFirst Import Version=6
# Object, Action, Group ID, User ID, Alert Reason, Issued By, Term ID, Course ID, Section Name, Comment
"alert","add","GradesFirst University","905123","Alert123","908761","Spring2012","ENG101","13","This student is having trouble in my class"

Authorize

This is the file that will assign users to a specific Role. Sets a particular user to be a student, advisor, professor, etc. in GradesFirst. Not required.  The unique key for this record type is the combination of Role ID and Primary User ID.

Example 1

GradesFirst Import Version=6
#Object, Action, Role_Id, User_Id
"authorize","add","tutor","905123"

Example 2

GradesFirst Import Version=6
#Object, Action, Role_Id, User_Id
"authorize","delete_all","","905123"

Category

Creates categories in GradesFirst and assigns them to a group.  For example, our athletic clients use categories to identify which team their students are on (e.g. Football, Baseball, Softball). See “Categorize” for instructions on assigning students to categories.  Dropping a category will cause all users to be removed from that category.  Not required.  The unique key for this record type is the External ID.

Example

GradesFirst Import Version=6
#Object, Action, External_Id, Name, Group_Id
"category","add","fbl","Football","GradesFirst University"
"category","delete","fbl"

Categorize

Links the students to the categories.  Categories must be previously defined in GradesFirst either via import “Category” above or manual via the website.  Not required.  The unique key for this record type is the combination of Category ID and Primary User ID.

Example 1

GradesFirst Import Version=6
#Object, Action, Category_Id, User_Id
"categorize","add","fbl","905123"

Example 2

GradesFirst Import Version=6
#Object, Action, Category_Id, User_Id
"categorize","delete_all","","905123"
"categorize","delete_all","fbl"

Course

Creates a record of a Course. Required.  The unique key for this record type is the External ID.

Example:

GradesFirst Import Version=6
#Object, Action, External_Id, Name, Title, Credit_Hours
"course","add","133425","ENG101","English Composition","3"

Declaration

Links the student to additional majors not listed in the User record.  Majors must be previously defined in GradesFirst either via import “Major” or manual via the website.  Not required.  The unique key for this record type is the combination of Primary User ID and Major ID.

Example

GradesFirst Import Version=6
#Object, Action, Primary_User_Id, External_Id
"declaration","add","905123","ENG"

*This record type was previously known as “user_major.” While this terminology may still be used, we encourage our users to use the terminology “declaration” moving forward.

Enrollment

Links the students to the course Section.  Required.  Use the “drop_all” action to drop all enrollments for a user for a term.  This is typically used to drop all enrollments for a student, then subsequently add back the “undropped courses.”  Using “drop_all” ensures the university doesn’t have to track “dropped” enrollments, and only has to track those students still enrolled.  The unique key for this record type is the combination of Primary User ID, Term ID, Course External ID and Section Name.

The following version of the enrollment record will drop all the enrollments in a term.  This is used for when the school cannot create explicit drop records for students who have dropped enrollments.

Example

GradesFirst Import Version=6
# Object, Action, User_ID, Term_ID, Course_ID, Section_Name, Midterm_Grade, Final_Grade, Dropped_At, Withdrawn
"enrollment","add","905123","Spring2012","ENG101","13","A","B","10/20/2017","N"
"enrollment","drop_all_for_term","Spring2012"

Grouping

Links the students to a specific Group. Students may be linked to multiple groups. Required.  The unique key for this record type is the combination of Group ID and Primary User ID.

Example

GradesFirst Import Version=6
#Object, Action, Group_Id, User_Id
"grouping","add","GradesFirst University","905123"

Instruction

Links professors as instructors for course Section.  Required.  The unique key for this record type is the combination of Term ID, Course External ID, Section Name and Primary User ID.

Example

GradesFirst Import Version=6
# Object, Action, Term_ID, Course_ID, Section_Name, User_ID
"instruction","add","Spring2012","ENG101","12","905456"

Major

Creates a record of a Major, but does not link the Major to any students.  That is done during the User import.  The Majors must be imported first or appear ahead of the Users.  Not required.  The unique key for this record type is the External ID.

Example

GradesFirst Import Version=6
#Object, Action, External_Id, Name
"major","add","ENG","English Literature"

Notes

Creates a Note record for a student. The unique key for this record type is the combination of Primary User ID, Group ID, and Note Body.

Example

GradesFirst Import Version=6
#Object, Action, Primary_Student_Id, Group_Id, Is_Private?, Student_View?, Show_on_Reports?, Created_On, Created_By, Body, URL, Note Reasons, Rich_Text
"note","add","905123","GradesFirst University","Y","Y","Y","01/07/2015","905789","Andrew received excellent tutoring at our tutor center","www.gfu.org","Success Coaching,Academic Plan","Y"

Registration

Creates a link between a Student and a Term.  If students are showing under classes, yet do not show in searches, typically there are errors in the Registrations. Required.  The unique key for this record type is the combination of Term ID, Primary User ID and Group ID.

Example

GradesFirst Import Version=6
#Object, Action, Term_Id, Primary_User_Id, Group_Id, Classification, Overall_GPA, Term_GPA
"registration","add","spr2015","905123","GradesFirst University","SR","3.86","3.97"

Relationship

Creates a relationship between a single parent Advisor / Coach / Professor / Tutor and a child Student.  This file is used to link students to an advisory type user.  For example, if you wish to import your student’s advisor assignment from your SIS (Student Information System) so you do not have to manually assign those in GradesFirst.  Typically you would not use this file to assign professors to students unless you are using faculty advising in GradesFirst.  Not a required file.  The unique key for this record type is the combination of Name, Parent Primary User ID, Child Primary User ID and Group ID.

Example 1

GradesFirst Import Version=6
#Object, Action, Type, Parent_User_Id, Child_User_Id, Group_Id
"relationship","add","advisor","905789","905123","GradesFirst University"

Example 2

GradesFirst Import Version=6
#Object, Action, Type, Parent_User_Id, Child_User_Id, Group_Id
"relationship","add","advisor","905788","905111","GradesFirst Athletics"
"relationship","delete_all","advisor","","","GradesFirst Athletics"
"relationship","delete_all","advisor","905788","","GradesFirst Athletics"
"relationship","delete_all","advisor","","905111","GradesFirst Athletics"

Reminder

Creates a Todo record for a student.  Todos are for faculty and staff to keep up with things they want to do for students.  There is not a unique key for this record type, todos can only be created.

Example 1

GradesFirst Import Version=6
# Object, Action, Staff_ID, Student_ID, Created_Date, Due_Date, Cleared_Date, Description
"reminder","add","2938949","2598579","10/10/2015","10/20/2015","10/20/2015","Buy Anthony a birthday present."

Example 2

GradesFirst Import Version=6
# Object, Action, Staff_ID, Student_ID, Created_Date, Due_Date, Cleared_Date, Description
"reminder","add","2938949","2598579",,"10/20/2015",,"Buy Anthony a birthday present."

Section

Creates the course Section for each Course.   Courses must be created prior to creating the course Section.  Required.  The unique key for this record type is the combination of Term ID, Course External ID and Section Name.

Example

GradesFirst Import Version=6
# Object, Action, Term ID, Course ID, Section Name, Tags
"section","add","Spring2012","ENG101","1","xyx,abc","Lecture"

Section Meeting

Creates meeting times for each section.   Sections must be created prior to creating the Section meeting times.

Example

GradesFirst Import Version=6
"section_meeting","add","Spring2012","ENG101","1","01/07/2012","03/01/2012","08:00","09:15","MWF","Bruno Hall"
"section_meeting","add","Spring2012","ENG101","1","03/15/2012","05/01/2012","08:00","09:15","MWF","Bruno Hall"

In the example above, the English course has a 2 week break from 3/1 to 3/15

Tag

Creates and assigns Tags to particular students in a particular Group. Tags can be used to identify types of students. For example, an Athletic department might have a Category of Football, but if they want to be even more precise, they could create a tag called “Linebackers”, and assign these players this tag. This would allow them to do things like e-mail all their Linebackers at the click of a button. Not required.  The unique key for this record type is the combination of Tag, Group ID and Primary User ID.

Example

GradesFirst Import Version=6
#Object, Action, Tag, Group_Id, User_Id
"tag","add","linebackers","GradesFirst University","905123"

Term

This record set creates terms in GradesFirst.  Required.  The unique key for this record type is the External ID.

Example

GradesFirst Import Version=6
#Object, Action, External_Id, Name, Begin_Date, End_Date
"term","add","spr2015","Spring 2015","01/07/2015","05/25/2015"

User

Adds, modifies, or deletes users in GradesFirst. Does NOT assign the user to a Group or Term, which is performed in Grouping and Registration respectively. Simply importing students does not make them viewable.  Required.  The unique key for this record type is the Primary User ID.

Example

GradesFirst Import Version=6
#Object, Action, Primary_User_Id, Is_Active?, Can_Login?, Send_Activation_Email, F_Name, L_Name, Alt_User_Id, Role_Id, Email, Alt_Email, Add1, Add2, City, State, Zip, H_Phone, C_Phone, W_Phone, Gender, Ethnicity, DOB, Total_Credits, Total_Credits_Att, Major_Id, Enroll_Status, Enroll_Goal, PIN, SSO_Id, ACT_Total, ACT_Eng, ACT_Read, ACT_Math, ACT_Sci, SAT_Total, SAT_Verbal, SAT_Math, HS_GPA, 1st_Gen?, F_Ed, M_Ed, HS_Zip, Income, Single_Family, 
Transfer_GPA, Home_College, Rec_Text?, Pell_Eligible, Unmet_Need, Pronouns, Last_Fafsa_Year, Legal_First_Name

"user","add","905123","Y","Y","N","Frank","Dux","FD5123","Student","frank.dux@gradesfirst.com","alt.email@gradesfirst.com","100 Main Street","Apt 200","Home Town","AL","35004","205-123-1234","205-987-9876","","M", "Caucasian","04/03/1971","60","62","ENG","Full Time Student","Graduate","1234","SSO_1234","30","29","31","30","30","2100", "2200","2000","4.10", "Y","BS","BA", "35004","120000","Y","","","Y","Y","10000.00","he/him","2010","Franklin"

Visit

Represents a visit or check-in to the system for the specified user, location, service, and course.

Example

GradesFirst Import Version=5
#Object, Action, Location_Name, Primary_User_ID, Student_Service_Name, Group_ID, Check_In_DateTime, Check_Out_DateTime, Course_Name
"visit","add","Student Center","012345","Career Counseling","GradesFirst University","01/23/1984 12:30","01/23/1984 13:30","Mathematics"

Changes From Version 5

Section Meeting

1. Added a new record type for section meetings.

Section

1. Removed the Begin Date column.
2. Removed the End Date column.
3. Removed the Start Time column.
4. Removed the End Time column.
5. Removed the Meeting Days column.
6. Removed the Location column.