Sections & rostering
Sections are how students reach courses. Get this right and enrolment maintains itself.
What a section is
A group of students taught together. Students belong to sections; sections are linked to courses; enrolment follows the link. That indirection is what stops you enrolling three hundred students into six courses by hand.
Linking a section to a course
Linking enrols every member of the section into the course and keeps them in step: adding a student to the section enrols them; removing them ends the enrolment.
A teacher can still add an individual student to their own course directly. Use that for exceptions — a repeating student, an auditor — not as the primary route.
Section history
Movement between sections is recorded rather than overwritten, so a student who changes section mid-term keeps a complete record of what they were enrolled in and when.
Common problems
A student says a course is missing.
Check their section membership first, then check the section is linked to the course. One of the two is almost always the cause.
A course has students who should not be in it.
The section link is broader than intended. Unlinking removes the enrolments that came from it; individually added students stay.
A student moved section but still sees the old course.
Enrolment ends rather than being deleted, so earlier work is preserved. The course drops out of their active list.