Bulk Base Data Uploads
Administrators are able to upload base data (such as faculty, secondary units, and course information) in bulk in order to add a large amount of information with ease. Bulk uploads can also be used to manage and modify existing data. This article will cover how to manually add and manage data using the various bulk upload types. Bulk data can also be uploaded automatically via SFTP. Please reach out to your Interfolio contact for more details on setting up autoloads in Faculty Activity Reporting (FAR, Faculty180).
Notifications are configured at the time of setup in collaboration with the Technical Services team. If you have access to your institution’s SFTP, you can edit recipient notifications directly by navigating to autoloads > notifications.txt in the SFTP, then downloading the file and editing the recipients (separated by a line break between each). You will finalize this process by re-uploading the file. If you do not have access to the SFTP, you can email your request to help@interfolio.com.
Imports will be executed at 3:30 AM EDT/EST daily. If no data is found, or if an Error Message appears, then the import will not occur.
Unit files should NOT, under any circumstances, be loaded through the User Interface (UI). They should be set up manually through the UI.
Upload New File
Required steps before uploading data to production:
- Test the upload when uploading a particular data set for the first time or the first time after a change to the file format. It is recommended to test the upload in a test or development database before uploading to Production.
- Verify the file format and review the column structure for the applicable upload type in the Setup menu. A template is also available in the UI to be downloaded to ensure that the file is formatted correctly.
- Accepted file formats: CSV (comma-delimited), TSV (tab-delimited)
- Accepted character set/encoding: UTF-8.
- Header Row: Clearly describes column content, as seen on the Base Data Models sheets.
- Configure the appropriate form/classification. This may include the Upload form or Faculty Classifications
1. Navigate to Upload Data under Administration
Navigation: Administration > Administration > Upload Data
- Click Administration under the Administration section of the navigation menu.
- Click Upload Data under the Bulk Data section.
The Upload Data page will display a list of the 50 most recent previous data loads including the time generated, load type, semester, unit, number added, existing courses, and errors. The listed results can be narrowed down by using the filters at the top of the page.
2. Upload and Validate new file
Navigation: New Upload > Fill in information > Upload
- Scroll to the bottom of the page and click New Upload.
- Select the Upload Type.
The remaining upload options will change based on the upload type that is specified.
- Complete the remaining fields for the upload. Note the required fields.
Setting whether or not to "Update Existing Records"
When creating a new upload with the new configuration, select the options in the upload form to indicate whether or not to ignore or update existing records. When adding new data points, select Yes when presented with the option to Update Existing Records.
- Yes means that based on the new configuration, the system will match required fields to existing the record and will load values to new data points that have been added and will update the data uploaded previously if those fields are still in the file.
- No means that when the system encounters required fields, the program will determine if that record exists in the system, and if it does, the system will skip that record in the upload file and move to the next one. The system will not process any part of the record.Note that in this context, Update means to update existing columns, plus add some new columns.
Note that the faculty file does not update Faculty Classifications (employment status, faculty rank, tenure status, etc) after faculty are initially loaded regardless of this setting. The Faculty file will only do the initial insert of a faculty classification when a faculty is added. After that, updates must come through a Faculty Classification load.
Check out the Upload Fields section at the bottom of the page for more information on fields and their upload types.
- Click Choose File to select the file to be uploaded.
Check the File Has Header Row box if applicable so that the data in the first row of the file is not included in the upload.
- Click the Validate button to validate the file format.
The Validation process checks for file type (must be in a .CSV or .TSV format) and number of columns. If the file format is incorrect, there are more/fewer columns than available on the upload form, or there is missing required data in any row, the file will not be uploaded and the error reason will be listed. Please note that this process is limited to the above criteria and does not validate the data itself for accuracy.
- Click Upload once the file has been validated successfully.
If the previous configuration had a field marked to show (for example: "billing address" in the first load) and that field is removed for the second load, the system will NOT overwrite. The system will maintain the previously loaded field even though it is not in the current file.
- To delete one of the field values that was loaded previously: ensure that the field is in the configuration for the new upload, and leave the field blank.
Manage Previous Uploads
Once a file has been uploaded, administrators with the necessary permissions, can review the new entries, existing, and errors as well as make any necessary changes. This is particularly helpful if a small number of entries should be updated. If a large number of entries need to be modified, then the recommended course of action is a new bulk upload set to update existing records.
1. Navigate to Upload Data under Administration
Navigation: Administration > Administration > Upload Data
- Click Administration under the Administration section of the navigation menu.
- Click Upload Data under the Bulk Data section.
The Upload Data page will display a list of the 50 most recent previous data loads including the time generated, load type, semester, unit, number added, existing, and errors. The listed results can be narrowed down by using the filters at the top of the page.
2. Review Logs and Dispositions
Navigation: Edit > Choose hyperlinked number
- Locate the applicable entry and click the Edit (pencil) icon.
- To help narrow down the list of records displayed, use the filter options (unit, upload type, and/or semester).
- The list can also be sorted by clicking on the relevant column header. - Click on the hyperlinked number under the Added, Duplicates, or Errors column to review the records for that disposition.
Disposition Types and Available Actions
Disposition Type | Description | Available Actions |
---|---|---|
Added | New records which were uploaded successfully. |
Download File View |
Duplicates |
Duplicate (existing) records which already existed in the system. Please note that existing records which were updated during the upload will still appear under Duplicates and not under Added. |
Download File Edit Resubmit |
Errors | Records which were not able to be added to the system. The cause of the error will be listed in the Reason column, and more details about these error reasons can be found below. |
Download File Edit Resubmit Delete |
Check out the FAR Error Message Glossary for more information on the error dispositions.
Leading Zeros
Information on files supported, naming conventions, and upload fields for Leading Zeros in Faculty Files and Course/Course Prefix Section Numbers can be found below.
Check out this article on how to Add Back Leading Zeros in an Excel/CSV file for more information.
Files Supported and Naming Conventions
- Faculty180_<upload_type>_<yyyy>-<mm>-<dd>_<sequence>.csv
- Faculty180_CoursesTaught_2015-08-11_01.csv
- This indicates a Courses Taught file to be uploaded and was the first upload file of this type received on 2015-08-11
- If a second Courses Taught was to be sent on the same day, the sequence would change: : Faculty180_coursestaught_2015-08-11_02.csv
- Faculty180_CoursesTaught_2015-08-11_01.csv
- Available upload types will include the following:
Supported Import | <upload_type> | Example Filename |
---|---|---|
Faculty | faculty | faculty180_faculty_2019-08-11_01.csv |
Faculty Classifications | facultyclassifications | faculty180_facultyclassifications_2019-08-11_01.csv |
Current Positions | current positions | faculty180_currentpositions_2019-08-11_01.csv |
Current Prefixes | prefix | faculty180_prefix_2019-08-11_01.csv |
Courses | courses | faculty180_courses_2019-08-11_01.csv |
Courses Taught | courses taught | faculty180_coursestaught_2019-08-11_01.csv |
Upload Fields
Please see below for further information on fields and settings available when performing a given upload.
Field | Upload Types | Definition |
---|---|---|
Semester | All | The academic term for which the data is being uploaded. While there is generally only one Semester field to be completed, some upload types will also have the option to include multiple terms based on the file content. |
Unit | All | The unit that the data is being loaded for. Similar to the Semester field, only one unit can be selected for this field, but some upload types will allow for multiple units to be included based on the file content. |
Update Existing Records |
Courses Taught Faculty Courses Course Prefixes Committees Units Scholarly Outlet Metrics Scholarly Outlets Support Accounts |
When the box is checked to update existing records, the system will match each line in the file to any entries which already exists in the system. It will then update any discrepant information in the existing entry instead of creating a new entry.
|
Display Terms in First Two Columns | Courses Taught | If the Courses Taught file contains entries for multiple terms, then this box should be checked so that the system uploads the Courses Taught to the terms specified in the file and not the Semester field selection. If this option is selected, the file will need to be formatted with two additional fields as the first two columns; Semester and Calendar Year. |
Remove Existing Courses Taught For Selected Term | Courses Taught |
There are three options available to manage existing Courses Taught:
|
Check To Inactivate Faculty Not In Upload (for tenants without UID) | Faculty |
|
Disable Login Status for the faculty members not selected above (for tenants without UID) | Faculty |
Checking “Check to inactivate faculty not in upload” displays the following dialog box: ![]() You can elect to inactivate full-time faculty, part-time faculty, or staff (or any combination thereof).
|
Respect Locked Preferred Names | Faculty | If the Preferred Name faculty classification has been locked and Yes is selected for this field, then the faculty file will not alter the name for the applicable faculty members. |
Do Not Send Login Details | Faculty | This box is checked by default and will prevent an email going out to faculty in the uploaded file with login instructions. The content of this email is not modifiable and does not apply to institutions utilizing Platform Single Sign On (SSO), so it is recommended to keep this box checked to ensure that school administration is able to send customized and accurate notification to faculty. |
Display Terms in First Four Columns | Faculty Classifications | The first four columns are required by Interfolio's data model. When this option is selected, the file will need to be formatted with four additional fields as the first four columns; Start Semester, Start Calendar Year, End Semester, and End Calendar Year. |
Remove Existing Position Titles | Current Positions |
There are three options available to manage existing Position Titles:
|
Remove Existing Secondary Assignments | Secondary Unit Assignments |
There are four options available to manage existing Secondary Unit Assignments:
|