Retention Policies
Course Site Retention
Sakai course sites are automatically created and populated with course and roster information from LOCUS. This feed occurs twice daily. The Sakai Administrative Schedule provides key dates for each academic term. In May 2018, Loyola increased its course retention practice from 18 months to 2 years for all Sakai course sites. A regular practice of deleting course sites greater than two years old will occur after each spring semester to avoid incremental costs for content that is no longer used. A permanent record of final grades is maintained in LOCUS.
The next 2-year course deletion cycle will occur on Friday, July 26, 2024. It will include the following academic terms:
- Spring 2021 [1212]
- Summer 2021 [1214]
- Fall 2021 [1216]
- Winter 2021-2022 [1218]
- J-Term 2022 [1221]
ID Retention
Faculty, students, and staff are issued a universal ID upon admittance or hire by Loyola. It is identifiable as the first part of a Loyola email address (e.g., uniqueID@luc.edu). This ID is used to access most institutional systems including Sakai. University policy for graduating students is to delete IDs after two years unless a student opts in for Email for Life. The policy is very similar for students who do not complete their program of studies. IDs are deleted two years after the last completed semester. Faculty and staff IDs are deleted immediately after an individual leaves the University. Retirees can retain their ID after employment by submitting the appropriate request with Human Resources.
Student Access to Course Sites
The goal is to keep the Sakai student view focused on the active academic term(s). Twice a year completed course sites are unpublished and removed from the student view. In February, the previous Fall and J-Term courses are unpublished. In October, the previous Winter, Spring, and Summer courses are unpublished. Please refer to the Sakai for specific dates. These courses remain visible to faculty and can be republished within the 2-year window as defined by the Course Site Retention policy above.
Students needing access to course sites that have completed within the last 2 years should contact their instructor and ask for the site to be republished. It is up to the individual faculty member whether to honor the request. Instructions on how to publish a course site.
Recommendations for Faculty
Following University private and departmental storage guidelines, faculty should download and save a local copy of all course content after the conclusion of each course.
Project Site Retention
Sakai project sites will also be reviewed for usage, and those not accessed in 18 months will be candidates for deletion. Sakai project site owners will be contacted via e-mail towards the end of each Fall semester to coordinate the deletion of affected project sites. The deletion of Sakai project sites greater than 18 months old and with no activity will occur in late December.
Back-Up Content
Export the Gradebook
When exporting the Gradebook, faculty will have the option to export Student names, Student IDs, Course Grades, Last Log Dates, Gradebook Item Scores, Gradebook Item Comments, Calculated Course Grades and Grade Overrides.
Download files from the Resources tool
Individual files or folders can be downloaded directly in the Resources tool using WebDAV.
Import course content to a project site
Alternatively, faculty can import their course content into a project site. Select our documentation articles below to preserve your course content in a project site.
Export assessments from Tests & Quizzes
To preserve assessments in the Tests & Quizzes tool on a course site, export the assessments as files and then import the assessments into a course or project site.
Course Site Retention
Sakai course sites are automatically created and populated with course and roster information from LOCUS. This feed occurs twice daily. The Sakai Administrative Schedule provides key dates for each academic term. In May 2018, Loyola increased its course retention practice from 18 months to 2 years for all Sakai course sites. A regular practice of deleting course sites greater than two years old will occur after each spring semester to avoid incremental costs for content that is no longer used. A permanent record of final grades is maintained in LOCUS.
The next 2-year course deletion cycle will occur on Friday, July 26, 2024. It will include the following academic terms:
- Spring 2021 [1212]
- Summer 2021 [1214]
- Fall 2021 [1216]
- Winter 2021-2022 [1218]
- J-Term 2022 [1221]
ID Retention
Faculty, students, and staff are issued a universal ID upon admittance or hire by Loyola. It is identifiable as the first part of a Loyola email address (e.g., uniqueID@luc.edu). This ID is used to access most institutional systems including Sakai. University policy for graduating students is to delete IDs after two years unless a student opts in for Email for Life. The policy is very similar for students who do not complete their program of studies. IDs are deleted two years after the last completed semester. Faculty and staff IDs are deleted immediately after an individual leaves the University. Retirees can retain their ID after employment by submitting the appropriate request with Human Resources.
Student Access to Course Sites
The goal is to keep the Sakai student view focused on the active academic term(s). Twice a year completed course sites are unpublished and removed from the student view. In February, the previous Fall and J-Term courses are unpublished. In October, the previous Winter, Spring, and Summer courses are unpublished. Please refer to the Sakai for specific dates. These courses remain visible to faculty and can be republished within the 2-year window as defined by the Course Site Retention policy above.
Students needing access to course sites that have completed within the last 2 years should contact their instructor and ask for the site to be republished. It is up to the individual faculty member whether to honor the request. Instructions on how to publish a course site.
Recommendations for Faculty
Following University private and departmental storage guidelines, faculty should download and save a local copy of all course content after the conclusion of each course.
Project Site Retention
Sakai project sites will also be reviewed for usage, and those not accessed in 18 months will be candidates for deletion. Sakai project site owners will be contacted via e-mail towards the end of each Fall semester to coordinate the deletion of affected project sites. The deletion of Sakai project sites greater than 18 months old and with no activity will occur in late December.