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About the Platform

The Platform
  • PLEASE NOTE: ITS completed server-migration and upgrade of the University's DocFinity system to version 12.4.8 Sunday, 21 April 2024. If you are coming back to DocFinity after this date, for example to file a Temporary Tag request before curricular review functions migrate to the new CourseLeaf CIM, you will probably need to clear your browser cache before logging in to DocFinity. If you use DocFinity Desktop (for Scanning, Send-To, and Print-To functionalities), you will want to obtain a DocFinity Desktop Installation Guide V12 from ITS or at this link and update accordingly.
  • DocFinity is a web-based Enterprise Content Management System. The CAS-AC DocFinity Platform uses DocFinity to regularize and centralize the documentation with which the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences, through the College’s representative Academic Council, oversees curricular change in the College. Consistent formatting facilitates efficient review, collaboration, and accuracy. The information requested is needed
    • to evaluate curricular requests
    • to advise on them constructively
    • to pass them on for approvals needed beyond the College
    • to process them so they will operate smoothly as intended after they have been approved
  • Centralized, complete records clarify reviews and facilitate any problem-solving that may become needed later.
  • Access the CAS-AC DocFinity Platform from a campus terminal or through Loyola Secure Access; Legacy Edge is no longer supported for the DocFinity platform (the one whose logo is a white stylized e on blue background), but the newer Chromium Edge works (stylized e in blues and turquoises).
The Summary Memo and the Unique ID
  • The Summary Memo initiates the process of applying for official approval.
    • The Summary Memo is an eForm resident in the CAS-AC DocFinity Platform.
    • Begin a new Summary Memo by double-clicking on "CAS_AC_SummaryMemo" in the Forms panel in the CAS-AC DocFinity Platform. The eForm will automatically record your UVID as the Submitter, and automatically generate a Unique ID for the application-package.
    • The Summary Memo performs three vital functions within the CAS-AC's curricular-review process:
      • As an eForm, the Summary Memo generates a Unique ID for the application-package. The Unique ID enables DocFinity to identify documents as belonging to the package: it is critical information for the Search function. 
      • The complete Table of Contents the Submitter includes in the Summary Memo as its item 2 (see model on the Instructions page) enables co-signatories to the applications and reviewers of the package to navigate the package efficiently and attend to specific elements requiring their concern.
      • Together with the information in the heading, the information in the Summary Memo's final sections about additional academic units with interests in the proposed curricular change(s), library needs, and the type(s) of request included, controls the routing of the application-package to all who will need to approve it before the Curriculum Committee and Academic Council begin their review. Ensure that all information in the heading and items 3 and/or 4, 5, and 6 is complete and correct *before* clicking the "Submit" button. If any of this information is incorrect or missing, DocFinity will not be able to route the application-package correctly.
  • When the completed Summary Memo is submitted in DocFinity, the system will send the Submitter an e-mail message confirming the Unique ID for the application-package associated with the Summary Memo.
    • The Unique ID of the application-package will have the form UVIDmmddyyyy, according to the Submitter’s UVID and the submission-date, e.g., mlettie05162017. In the rare event a single Submitter submits multiple packages of curricular-change applications on the same date, please add to the automatically generated Unique ID a number after the date so as to differentiate separate submissions, e.g., mlettie05162017-1.
    • The Submitter should enter the Unique ID of the application-package on every Application-form and on every Supporting Document in the package, before uploading them.
    • After uploading all documents in the application-package, the Submitter should index them with the Unique ID and all metada pertinent to each individual item, document by document.
Applications
  • Each of the main types of permanent curricular change requested in the College of Arts and Sciences has evolved, over decades, its own Application form. The CAS Academic Council, the CAS Dean’s Office, the Provost’s Office, and Registration & Records all variously need information about proposed curricular changes. Their needs have directed the questions the application forms ask and the information they require. The forms are
    • New Major/Minor
    • Change in Major/Minor
    • New Course
    • Course Change
    • Permanent Tag and Inclusion in an Interdisciplinary Major/Minor
    • Permanent Cross-Listing and Inclusion in a Departmental Major/Minor
    • (Temporary Tag/Cross-List: see Instructions for Temporary Tag/Cross-listing Requests)
  • Occasionally the Council’s approval is needed for other types of curricular change, such as creating specialized academic programs outside Loyola’s established locations: when making such a request, please consult with the Dean's Office about fitting your documentation to the nature of your curricular request.
  • An application-package submitted under a single Unique ID may contain multiple applications of the same or of different types, according to the submitters’ curricular designs: a new major or minor may involve several new courses or course-changes, or a new course may be incorporated in different majors and minors.
    • Please note: for clarity of communication and processing, if a new, changed, or unchanged course is to be incorporated in a departmental or interdisciplinary major or minor not "belonging" to the course's home academic unit, the second unit must submit a Permanent Cross-Listing and Inclusion in a Departmental Major/Minor application (or Change in Major/Minor if the course will not be cross-listed) or Permanent Tag and Inclusion in an Interdisciplinary Major/Minor, as appropriate. The second-unit's applications may be packaged with the course's home-unit's application, or the second-unit may file its application separately. If the second-unit's application is filed for review at the same Council-meeting as the home-unit's application, the home-unit should note the second-unit's planned use of the course on its own application and associated grids. (Rule of the Academic Council in effect since AY 2019-20.)
    • Please note: if an application will add or remove courses from an interdisciplinary major or minor that uses tags to facilitate searching in the Class Schedule, submitters are responsible for securing the courses' home-units' approval and Course Inventory Forms adding or removing tags accordingly. (NOTE: dowload current CI Form from R&R's Administrative Forms list)
  • Each individual application requires its own supporting documents: the Provost’s Office requires a specifically-formatted proposal for new majors and minors, for example, and a Program Modification Form for changes of programming in an existing major or minor (including new inclusions of courses in an interdisciplinary major or minor). See links.
  • So that co-signatories and reviewers can navigate the application-package efficiently and attend to specific elements requiring their concern, the Summary Memo must identify in its specific questions and in the Table of Contents:
    • all applications in the package
    • all stakeholders concerned in each application
    • all supporting documents associated with each application
  • All applications and all supporting documents must include the Unique ID of the application-package and must be indexed with the same Unique ID, so that DocFinity can make complete information available to all users who need it. Additional metadata also assists searches.
Supporting Documents
  • Every application requires its own supporting documents. Every supporting document in an application-package, like every application, must include the Unique ID of the application-package and must be indexed with the same Unique ID, so that DocFinity can make complete information available to all users who need it.
  • Required supporting documents, according to application-type (a minimum list; submitters may determine, independently or in consultation with the Dean’s Office, AC Curriculum Committee, or other entities, that additional documents will clarify and support specific applications; such additional documents should be uploaded and indexed too, and included in the table of contents in the Summary Memo):
    • New Major/Minor:
      • Before proposing a new major or minor, please pursue the Intent phase as outlined in the Provost's Office's Intent document; the Intent document will not be required in the eventual application since the Academic Affairs Proposal (below) will develop and confirm the information the Intent form initially offers.
      • Academic Affairs Proposal for New Program required by the Provost's Office
      • If the new major/minor is interdisciplinary and will use tags to designate courses it includes, a Course Inventory Form for each such course providing for the addition of the appropriate tags (NOTE: dowload current CI Form from R&R's Administrative Forms list)
      • Letter(s) endorsing the new program from each Dean and Program Director implicated in the proposal
      • Grid for the proposed major/minor (see further below about grids)
    • Change in Major/Minor:
      • Program Modification Form required by the Provost's Office
      • If the change in an interdisciplinary major/minor adds or removes courses, a Course Inventory Form for each such course as appropriate (NOTE: dowload current CI Form from R&R's Administrative Forms list)
      • Before-and-After Grid (see further below about grids)
    • New Course:
      • Syllabus
      • a Course Inventory Form (NOTE: dowload current CI Form from R&R's Administrative Forms list)
      • Before-and-After Grids for each major and for each minor in which the new course will be included - including any major(s)/minor(s) of second units (see further below about grids)
    • Course Change:
      • Syllabus (unless proposed change has no bearing on course-content or instruction)
      • a Course Inventory Form providing for the changes involved (NOTE: dowload current CI Form from R&R's Administrative Forms list)
      • Before-and-After Grids for each major and for each minor in which the changed course will be included - including any major(s)/minor(s) of second units (see further below about grids)
    • Permanent Tag and Inclusion in an Interdisciplinary Major/Minor:
      • Program Modification Form required by the Provost's Office
      • Syllabus of the existing course
      • a Course Inventory Form providing for the interdisciplinary tags required (NOTE: dowload current CI Form from R&R's Administrative Forms list)
      • Before-and-After Grid for the interdisciplinary major/minor proposing to add the existing course (see further below about grids)
    • Permanent Cross-Listing and Inclusion in a Departmental Major/Minor:
      • Syllabus of the existing course
      • a Course Inventory Form creating a new child course fully corresponding to the existing parent course, except that the new child course is in the second-unit department’s Subject Area Code (NOTE: dowload current CI Form from R&R's Administrative Forms list)
      • Before-and-After Grid for the departmental major/minor proposing to add the new, cross-listed course (see further below about grids)
Link to the CAS-AC DocFinity portal

https://docfinity10.luc.edu/docfinitylogin/login.htm

Legacy Edge is no longer supported for the DocFinity platform (the one whose logo is a white stylized e on blue background), but the newer Chromium Edge works (stylized e in blues and turquoises).

If you need access to the CAS-AC DocFinity Platform but do not already have it, please e-mail Jacqueline Long, jlong1@luc.edu

Logging in to DocFinity
  • If you need access to the CAS-AC DocFinity Platform but do not already have it, please e-mail Jacqueline Long, jlong1@luc.edu.
  • Access the CAS-AC DocFinity Platform from a campus terminal or through Loyola Secure Access.
  • Legacy Edge is no longer supported for the DocFinity platform (the one whose logo is a white stylized e on blue background), but the newer Chromium Edge works (stylized e in blues and turquoises).
  • Go to the DocFinity Login page.
  • Enter your regular Loyola Username and password.
  • Click the "Login" button.
  • If you are new to DocFinity or if you have access to more than one platform within DocFinity, you may need to (re-)select the CAS-AC Platform: from the Workspaces tab, select the Searching option, then from the pull-down menu at the top of the Search panel, select CAS - Academic Council Curriculum Change Checklist Query (to look up packages by Unique Number) or one of the other CAS - Academic Council options (to search using other metadata)
Drafting the Summary Memo and creating the Unique ID for your application-package
  • Preliminary steps:
    • Design curricular changes.
    • Consult with all interested parties: inform them fully, collaborate, and secure consent by the appropriate internal processes of their academic units.
    • Prepare all individual application-forms and supporting documents.
  • The Summary Memo initiates the process of applying for official approval.
    • Log into the CAS-AC DocFinity Platform.
    • Begin a new Summary Memo by double-clicking on "CAS_AC_SummaryMemo" in the Forms panel. This action will generate a new eForm with your UVID automatically recorded as the Submitter, and a Unique ID of the form UVIDmmddyyyy automatically generated (item 1). If you will be submitting more than one package of curricular-change requests today, please add to the automatically generated Unique ID a number after the date so as to differentiate separate submissions, e.g., mlettie05162017-1.
    • You can always use the "save" icon in the menu-bar to save your draft of the Summary Memo while you are working on it. If at any point you need to exit the form before you are ready to "submit" it (for which, see below), use the "close form" icon in the menu-bar; you will be able to re-open the saved form from the "saved forms" section of the Forms panel in DocFinity.
    • Please complete the rest of the heading: select from the pull-down menu the Department or Interdisciplinary Program on whose behalf you are submitting the application-package. If you are not the Chairperson of that Department or Director of that Interdisciplinary Program, add the Chairperson/Program Director's name and UVID in the box "Proposer (if other)."
    • For the Table of Contents (item 2), list the applications of which your application-package consists, briefly sketching for each the parties concerned and main goal of the individual application and listing the application-form and the supporting documents associated with it. A model on the Instructions page illustrates the format. A well-drawn Table of Contents enables co-signatories and reviewers to navigate the application-package efficiently and attend to specific elements requiring their concern. (Rationales on the individual applications, by contrast, should explain and justify the requested curricular changes fully.)
    • Whereas the application-package's "home" academic unit is included in DocFinity's routing by the heading information of the Summary Memo, items 3 (interdisciplinary programs) and 4 (departments) between them identify all partnering "second units" to the various applications included. Select in the first entry-box of either question the total number of interdisciplinary programs/departments joining the home unit in the application (zero may be selected if it is the correct number) in order to generate input-boxes for the specific entries. The information completing the input-boxes enables DocFinity to send the application-package to all its parter chairpersons/program-directors for their approval.
    • If the application-package is to include any New Major/Minor request(s), or if any other question of library-resources will be involved, select the bibliographers appropriate to the applications' field for item 5: they too need to review the proposal, and this item includes them in DocFinity's routing.
    • For item 6, check the box for every type of curricular-change application included in the application-package. This information is the final element that determines whether DocFinity will route the application-package correctly to all the co-signatories who need to approve it.
    • After drafting the whole Summary Memo, proofread it carefully to ensure the information it contains is complete, correct, and mutually consistent with the applications and supporting documents that will make up the rest of your application-package. Now is your last best chance to ensure DocFinity's routing will work as desired: all information in the heading and in items 3 and/or 4, 5, and 6 must be complete and correct before you click the “Submit” button.
    • Only after completing all the instructions above and double-checking your draft of the Summary Memo, click the "submit" button at the bottom of the Summary Memo - once.
  • The Summary Memo's "submit" button causes DocFinity to send the Submitter an e-mail message confirming the Unique ID to be used for the application-package. (It also initiates other processes in the system: because they cannot be repeated without causing problems, do not ever click the "submit" button of a Summary Memo more than once. If you have to change text in a Summary Memo after this initial submission, use the "edit" and "save" commands in the menu-bar, record any notes about your edits in the Diary, and communicate with stakeholders and reviewers by e-mail, outside DocFinity's routing system.)
    • After receiving DocFinity's confirmatory e-mail, the Submitter should enter the Unique ID of the application-package on every application-form and on every supporting document in the package, before uploading them.
    • After uploading the applications and supporting documents, the Submitter should index all items in the application-package with the Unique ID and all metada pertinent to each individual item, document by document.
    • The Unique ID enables DocFinity to identify documents as belonging to the package: it is critical information for the Search function.
Uploading documents to DocFinity and Indexing documents in DocFinity
  • Preliminary steps:
    • Design curricular changes.
    • Consult with all interested parties: inform them fully, collaborate, and secure consent.
    • Prepare all individual application-forms and supporting documents.
    • Compose the Summary Memo and submit it in DocFinity: the Submitter will receive an e-mail from DocFinity confirming the Unique Number assigned for the application-package.
  • Add the Unique Number to all application-forms and supporting documents.
  • Log in (again, if need be) to the CAS-AC DocFinity Platform.
  • At the "Workspaces" tab, select "Indexing": panels labeled "Batches" and "Index" will open.
  • In the menu-bar of the Batches panel, select the "Upload files" icon: a dialogue-box will invite you, "Add files by browsing or dragging and dropping them, then upload to add them to DocFinity. Uploaded files are added to your My Uploads batch."
  • Click the "browse" button in the dialogue-box: a window will open through which you can browse your computer and select files to upload. Navigate to the specific file you wish to upload, click on it, and click the "open" button (to upload multiple files in a single folder, click on the first then either CTRL-click each second selection or SHIFT-click at the far end of a range, then click "open"). The system will return you to the dialogue-box, which will now list the file(s) you selected. Click the "upload" button. (Or, click the "x" at the end of an individual item's line so as to de-select it, or click the "close" button at this point to get out of the upload-routine.) When the font of the file-names turns green and a green check-mark signifying "done" appears to the right of the file-names, click the "close" button. The newly uploaded files will appear in the Batches panel marked "incomplete" and "unindexed."
  • Click on the check-box of a specific file in the Batches panel, and it will become readable in the Document Viewer.
  • In the Index panel, select "CAS - ACADEMIC COUNCIL" from the menu as the selected document's "Category." This step will load the CAS-AC's list of document-types into that menu.
  • Select the correct "Document Type" for the file you wish to index. This step will load that document-type's set of input-fields into the Indexing panel. (Some document-types include the "Curriculum Change" among the indexing-fields - for example, a syllabus might be submitted in connection with a New Course application. But identifying the correct Document Type will enable DocFinity to identify the document usefully in its Search Results boxes.)
  • Fill in the correct information to the various fields of the Indexing panel. The items flagged by a little asterisk, like "Unique Number," must be completed in order for the Index to accept your entries. Please also fill in all the other fields for which it is possible now to supply correct information - obviously some, like "Date Approved," will have to wait for you to come back to them later. But the more you can complete correctly now, the easier it will be for anyone to use DocFinity's Search function and find your applications, even if they don't know or confuse some of the other information.
  • When you have completed the indexing information to the extent it's presently possible, click the "commit batch" icon in the menu-bar of the Indexing panel. A cautionary dialogue-box will double-check with you about proceeding: select either the "commit" or the "cancel" button, as appropriate. The document you have "committed" will vanish from the Batches panel, but now the Search function will be able to find it.
Advancing your Application-Package for Review
  • Preliminary steps:
    • Design curricular changes.
    • Consult with all interested parties: inform them fully, collaborate, and secure consent by the appropriate internal processes of their academic units.
    • Prepare all individual application-forms and supporting documents.
    • Compose and submit a Summary Memo for your application-package.
    • Enter the Unique Number generated by your Summary Memo onto all application-forms and supporting documents, upload them, and index them.
  • Now your application-package is ready to be launched formally into the CAS-AC review process. The approval in DocFinity of the "home" academic unit's Chairperson (of an academic Department) or Director (of an Interdisciplinary Program) is the first step.
  • The Submitter should log in (again, if need be) to the CAS-AC DocFinity platform.
  • If the screen following login does not include the "Job Views" panel, select "Job Assignments" from the Workspaces tab.
  • In the Job Views panel, double click on "Common Queue for CAS-AC Curriculum Change BPM": the Job Queue of application-packages will appear in a second panel.
  • Identify the application-package you are ready to have begin review. Either click on its check-box and then "Check out Job" in the menu-bar, or double-click on the item itself: the Job Views panel will be replaced by the Tasks panel, and an additional panel of Search Results will open showing the documents, by type, within the application-package.
    • Consult any document within the application-package by either clicking on its check-box and then "View" in the Search Results menu-bar or double-clicking on the item itself: the Summary Memo will open in a Forms panel, or an uploaded document will open in a Document Viewer window.
    • You can edit a Summary Memo by clicking on the "Edit" icon in the Forms panel's menu-bar, making changes in the document, clicking the "Save" icon, and then clicking the "Close" icon to exit the eForm. Stay away from the "Submit" button - it will cause heartbreak.
    • If you wish to edit an uploaded document from DocFinity, click the item's check-box in the Search Results panel, then the "Download" icon in the menu-bar. Edit the document outside DocFinity, save, and then use the "Replace" icon in the Search Results panel's menu-bar in order to swap your edited document for the one that had been posted previously.
    • To view the Diary of any document in the application-package (whether or not you are currently "View"ing the document itself), select the item's check-box in the Search Results panel, then click the yellow "View Document Notes" icon in the menu-bar: a new panel will open showing the document's Diary a.k.a. Notes.
    • If you wish to add a Diary Entry to the document, click the "Add Note" bar in the Diary/Note panel's menu-bar: an input-window will open in the panel. The drop-down menu below the input-window lets you select whether your Note is a "Comment" or for the "Diary." Type in the input-box to add your text, then click the "Add" button: your time-stamped entry will then be recorded in the Diary.
  • When you have completed any review or intervention you want to make in the documents of the application-package, close any opened documents and return to the Tasks panel. Click on the next Task awaiting Completion and its check-mark: a dialogue-box will open, offering you a choice of appropriate responses for the Task in question. Select the response that describes the application-package accurately as-is.
    • When you are ready to advance the application-package for review, answer the Task-question, "Is the Submission Complete?" that, yes, it is Complete.
    • The answer to the question, "Does this require approval from a Chairperson/Director?" depends who, besides the Submitter, you are. If you are the Chairperson of the application-package's submitting home-department, or if you are the Director of the application-package's submitting home-interdisciplinary program, answer "no," because you as Submitter are doubling up roles and your approval stands for your academic unit's approval. But if you are submitting the package from a different position within the application-package's home unit, answer "yes," so that DocFinity will send the application-package to the Chairperson/Program Director next. The Chairperson's/Program Director's authority is needed for the review to proceed.
  • When you have completed all Tasks for this Job, click the "Complete Job" icon in the menu-bar of the Jobs panel. This step will record your responses in the Diary of the application-package's Summary Memo, and advance the application-package to the next reviewers whose approval it needs.
  • If at any point you need to exit the Job without Completing it, click the Return Job icon in the Jobs panel's menu-bar. (If you exit DocFinity without either Completing or Returning any opened Job, DocFinity will refuse to open the Job to any other users until an administrator clears the queue.)
Approving Applications in DocFinity
  • When an application-package has been advanced by its Submitter for review, DocFinity will send an automated message to the Chairperson of the application-package's home Department or to the Director of the application-package's home Interdisciplinary Program (if this person is not also serving as the Submitter), notifying the Chairperson/Director that an application-package under the specified Unique Number awaits its "Chairperson Review"; ALSO
  • When an application-package has received formal approval in DocFinity from the Chairperson/Director of its home academic unit, DocFinity will send automated message(s) to the Chairperson(s)/Director(s) of all partnering academic unit(s) identified in the Summary Memo as initially Submitted, notifying the Chairperson(s)/Director(s) that an application-package under the specified Unique Number awaits "Affected Department Review."
  • The Chairperson/Director receiving such a message should log in to the CAS-AC DocFinity platform.
  • If the screen following login does not include the "Job Views" panel, select "Job Assignments" from the Workspaces tab.
  • In the Job Views panel, double click on "Personal Queue for CAS-AC Curriculum Change BPM" or "Personal Queue for CAS-Affected Department BPM," as applicable: the Job Queue of application-packages will appear in a second panel.
  • Identify the application-package you have been requested to review. Either click on its check-box and then "Check out Job" in the menu-bar, or double-click on the item itself: the Job Views panel will be replaced by the Tasks panel, and an additional panel of Search Results will open showing the documents, by type, within the application-package.
    • Use the Table of Contents presented in item 2 of the Summary Memo to identify which documents within the application-package pertain to the academic unit whose approval you are authorized to grant. (The Submitters should have consulted your academic unit while they were designing the curricular change(s) their application-package requests, and secured the unit's consent through the appropriate processes of the unit.)
    • Consult documents within the application-package by either clicking on one check-box and then "View" in the Search Results menu-bar or double-clicking on an item itself: the Summary Memo will open in a Forms panel, or an uploaded document will open in a Document Viewer window.
    • If you have questions, corrections, problems, or recommendations concerning any element of the change(s) proposed that relate(s) to your academic unit, briefly note your concern in a Diary Entry to the relevant document(s: see below) and send e-mail to or otherwise communicate with the Submitters outside DocFinity, letting them know what items need their attention. Depending, naturally, on the nature and gravity of your concern, please try to work with the Submitters so as to resolve any difficulties in good time for the Curriculum Committee's and Academic Council's review.
    • To view the Diary of any document in the application-package (whether or not you are currently "View"ing the document itself), select the item's check-box in the Search Results panel, then click the yellow "View Document Notes" icon in the menu-bar: a new panel will open showing the document's Diary a.k.a. Notes.
    • If you wish to add a Diary Entry to the document, click the "Add Note" bar at the top of the Diary/Notes panel: an input-window will open in the panel. A drop-down menu below the input-window will enable you to select whether your text is a "Comment" or for the "Diary." Type to add your text, then click the "Add" button: your time-stamped entry will then be recorded in the Diary.
  • If you wish to exit the Job before you are ready to approve it, close any opened documents and click the Return Job icon in the Jobs panel's menu-bar. (If you exit DocFinity without either Completing or Returning any opened Job, DocFinity will refuse to open the Job to any other users until an administrator clears the queue.)
  • When you have completed your review and any concerns you have raised have been resolved, close any opened documents and return to the Tasks panel. Click on the next Task awaiting Completion and its check-mark: a dialogue-box will open, offering you a choice of appropriate responses for the Task in question. Select the response that describes the application-package accurately as-is.
  • When you have completed all Tasks for this Job, click the "Complete Job" icon in the menu-bar of the Jobs panel. This step will record your responses in the Diary of the application-package's Summary Memo, and advance the application-package to the next reviewers whose approval it needs.
How can one see the additional items in a given indexing-category, when DocFinity's display in the Search Results shows only the first ten of them?
  • It's mystifying, and the mystification gets even stranger in the unpacking, but the full set of items can be eventually be seen: summon patience.
  • Scroll all the way to the right of the Search Results display-screen. In the margin above the list of the first ten items in the indexing-category you are trying to view, there will be a blue link saying "VIEW ALL" followed by the total number of documents in the application-package that belong to that particular indexing-category. Click that link.
  • Then do exactly the same thing a second time: scroll all the way to the right of the Search Results display-screen and click the blue "VIEW ALL ([number])." This second time, DocFinity will take you to a Search Results list for all the documents of the particular indexing-category. You can then click on the individual documents to view them, as usual.
  • You will have to re-open the application-package in a fresh search in order to get back to the first search-results list, with all the indexing-categories represented with their first ten items of each particular indexing-category.
  • I have no idea why it works only this way. It doesn't seem to be possible to make it work differently. I'm sorry.
Approving curricular-change applications for Loyola's Libraries
  • If an application-package includes any New Major/Minor application(s) and/or other applications where a question of library-resources arises, the Submitter should indicate the Bibliographers concerned in item 5 of the Summary Memo. DocFinity will accordingly send an automated message to the bibliographers when the application-package has received formal approval in DocFinity from the Chairperson/Director of its home academic unit.
  • The Bibliographer receiving such a message should log in to the CAS-AC DocFinity platform.
  • If the screen following login does not include the "Job Views" panel, select "Job Assignments" from the Workspaces tab.
  • In the Job Views panel, double click on "Personal Queue for CAS-AC Library Affected Department BPM": the Job Queue of application-packages will appear in a second panel.
  • Identify the application-package you have been requested to review. Either click on its check-box and then "Check out Job" in the menu-bar, or double-click on the item itself: the Job Views panel will be replaced by the Tasks panel, and an additional panel of Search Results will open showing the documents, by type, within the application-package.
    • Use the Table of Contents presented in item 2 of the Summary Memo to identify which documents within the application-package pertain to library resources.
    • Consult documents within the application-package by either clicking on one check-box and then "View" in the Search Results menu-bar or double-clicking on an item itself: the Summary Memo will open in a Forms panel, or an uploaded document will open in a Document Viewer window.
    • If you have questions, corrections, problems, or recommendations concerning any element of the change(s) proposed, briefly note your concern in a Diary Entry to the relevant document(s: see below) and send e-mail to or otherwise communicate with the Submitters outside DocFinity, letting them know what items need their attention. Depending, naturally, on the nature and gravity of your concern, please try to work with the Submitters so as to resolve any difficulties in good time for the Curriculum Committee's and Academic Council's review.
    • To view the Diary of any document in the application-package (whether or not you are currently "View"ing the document itself), select the item's check-box in the Search Results panel,  then click the yellow "View Document Notes" icon in the menu-bar: a new panel will open showing the document's Diary a.k.a. Notes.
    • If you wish to add a Diary Entry to the document, click the "Add Note" bar in the Diary/Note panel's menu-bar: an input-window will open in the panel. The drop-down menu below the input-window lets you select whether your Note is a "Comment" or for the "Diary." Type in the input-box to add your text, then click the "Add" button: your time-stamped entry will then be recorded in the Diary.
  • If you wish to exit the Job before you are ready to approve it, close any opened documents and click the Return Job icon in the Jobs panel's menu-bar. (If you exit DocFinity without either Completing or Returning any opened Job, DocFinity will refuse to open the Job to any other users until an administrator clears the queue.)
  • When you have completed your review and any concerns you have raised have been resolved, close any opened documents and return to the Tasks panel. Click on the next Task awaiting Completion and its check-mark: a dialogue-box will open, offering you a choice of appropriate responses for the Task in question. Select the response that describes the application-package accurately as-is.
  • When you have completed all Tasks for this Job, click the "Complete Job" icon in the menu-bar of the Jobs panel. This step will record your responses in the Diary of the application-package's Summary Memo, and advance the application-package to the next reviewers whose approval it needs.
Reviewing Application-Packages in DocFinity
  • Once application-packages have received approval from the Chairperson of their home academic department or the Director of their home interdisciplinary program and from the Chairperson(s)/Director(s) of any partnering second units concerned in constituent application(s), DocFinity will route them to the Common Queue for CAS-Academic Council Members BPM. Members of the Curriculum Committee, members of the Academic Council, and any other reviewers can identify application-packages awaiting review by logging in to the CAS-AC DocFinity Platform, selecting Job Assignments from the Workspace tab, selecting the Common Queue for CAS-Academic Council Members BPM in the Job Views panel, and noting the Unique Numbers of the application-packages listed in the Job Queue.
  • If an application-package is not presently checked out as a Job (the Checked Out Date and Checked Out By columns of the Job Queue will show), reviewers may click on an application-package's check-box and then "Check out Job" in the menu-bar or double-click on the item itself; if this method is used it will be vital to use the "Return Job" icon when you exit your review, or DocFinity will block other reviewers from opening the package. Alternatively, reviewers may enter the application-package's Unique Number in the entry-window of the Search panel and call up the documents without checking out the package as a Job.
  • Having either checked out the application-package as a Job or Searched for it directly, DocFinity will display the documents within the package, by type, in a Search Results panel. Reviewers may open individual documents by either clicking on one check-box and then "View" in the Search Results menu-bar or double-clicking on one item itself: the Summary Memo will open in a Forms panel, or an uploaded document will open in a Document Viewer window.
  • Use the Table of Contents the Submitter has supplied in item 2 of the Summary Memo to understand the application-package as a whole in overview and to identify how individual documents require your attention.
  • Consider the merits of the curricular change(s) proposed for purposes of the submitting academic unit and any partnering unit(s), the College and its students, and the University as a whole. Do the changes as designed appear likely to produce good results by the most effective means, or what improvements should be considered? If you have questions, corrections, problems, or recommendations concerning any element of the change(s) proposed, briefly note your concern in a Diary Entry to the relevant document(s: see below) and send e-mail to or otherwise communicate with the Submitters outside DocFinity, letting them know what items need their attention. Depending, naturally, on the nature and gravity of your concern, please try to work with the Submitters so as to resolve any difficulties in good time for the Academic Council's next meeting and consideration of the request(s).
  • To view the Diary of any document in the application-package (whether or not you are currently "View"ing the document itself), select the item's check-box in the Search Results panel, then click the yellow "View Document Notes" icon in the menu-bar: a new panel will open showing the document's Diary a.k.a. Notes.
  • If you wish to add a Diary Entry to the document, click the "Add Note" bar in the Diary/Note panel's menu-bar: an input-window will open in the panel. The drop-down menu below the input-window lets you select whether your Note is a "Comment" or for the "Diary." Type in the input-box to add your text, then click the "Add" button: your time-stamped entry will then be recorded in the Diary.
Editing, Correcting, and Amending application-documents in DocFinity
  • It is at all points the responsibility of the Submitters to ensure that all documents in the application package are complete, correct, and consistent.
  • While application-packages are being reviewed and approved, reviewers (and submitters) may note all kinds of errors, inconsistencies, unclarities, concerns, and other queries about documents in the application-package or the requests they make, from the formal and minor to the substantive and serious. Reviewers should please briefly note their concern(s) in a Diary Entry to the relevant document(s: see below) and send e-mail to or otherwise communicate with the Submitters outside DocFinity, letting them know what items need attention. Depending on the nature and gravity of the concern, Submitters should consult with their home academic unit and partners in the application so as to resolve the query in good time for the Academic Council's next meeting and consideration of the request(s), or withdraw the application for more extensive consultation and revision.
    • Consult any document within the application-package by either clicking on its check-box and then "View" in the Search Results menu-bar or double-clicking on the item itself: the Summary Memo will open in a Forms panel, or an uploaded document will open in a Document Viewer window.
    • Edit a Summary Memo by clicking on the "Edit" icon in the Forms panel's menu-bar, making changes in the document, clicking the "Save" icon, and then clicking the "Close" icon to exit the eForm. Please also add a note to the Diary confirming that the reviewer's concern has been addressed.
    • To edit an uploaded document from DocFinity, click the item's check-box in the Search Results panel, then the "Download" icon in the menu-bar. Edit the document outside DocFinity, save, and then use the "Replace" icon in the Search Results panel's menu-bar in order to swap your edited document for the one that had been posted previously. Please also add a note to the Diary of the document in question confirming that the reviewer's concern has been addressed.
    • To view the Diary of any document in the application-package (whether or not you are currently "View"ing the document itself), select the item's check-box in the Search Results panel, click the yellow "View Document Notes" icon in the menu-bar: a new panel will open showing the document's Diary a.k.a. Notes.
    • To add a Diary Entry to the document, click the "Add Note" bar in the Diary/Note panel's menu-bar: an input-window will open in the panel. The drop-down menu below the input-window lets you select whether your Note is a "Comment" or for the "Diary." Type in the input-box to add your text, then click the "Add" button: your time-stamped entry will then be recorded in the Diary.
    • After making any changes to one document in an application-package Submitters also should ensure the changes are carried through to all other pertinent documents so that the application-package remains consistent.
    • If the Submitters decide instead to withdraw the application-package, they should notify the current head of the Curriculum Committee, the current Chair of the Council, their academic unit's/s' current Representative(s) on the Council, the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and any partners in the proposal.
  • At the Academic Council's monthly meeting application-packages submitted for the month normally are discussed and voted on. Submitters should always consider themselves invited. The Council may with the submitters' consent choose to make its approval conditional on specified amendments, but it may require the application(s) involved to be tabled, revised, and returned to the Council for consideration at a later meeting. Representatives of academic units related to each proposal should coordinate with the Curriculum Committee to ensure the submitters are informed promptly after the meeting of their applications' approval-status and especially of any amendments or other alterations required. Submitters have a brief period to complete any changes in the application-package requested by the Council; they should then double-check all documents in the application for consistency and other proofreading (see how-to above), and update the index. Finally submitters notify the Chairperson of the Council the application-package is ready for processing.
    • To update a document's indexing, whether or not you are "View"ing the document itself, click on the "Re-index" icon in the Search Results panel's menu-bar: a re-indexing window will open with the document's input-boxes. Add the appropriate information and click "save" to save the edited indexing.
Document-Diaries in DocFinity
  • DocFinity's Diary function makes it possible to maintain a record of curricular and technical discussions, permanently associated with individual documents, but not part of the documents themselves. Such records assist the collaborative review of documents in application-packages and clarify curricular changes' permanent records.
  • To view the Diary of any document in the application-package (whether or not you are currently "View"ing the document itself), select the item's check-box in the Search Results panel, then click the yellow "View Document Notes" icon in the menu-bar: a new panel will open showing the document's Diary a.k.a. Notes.
  • If you wish to add a Diary Entry to any document, after opening the Diary for viewing, click the "Add Note" bar in the Diary/Note panel's menu-bar: an input-window will open in the panel. The drop-down menu below the input-window lets you select whether your Note is a "Comment" or for the "Diary." Type in the input-box to add your text, then click the "Add" button: your time-stamped entry will then be recorded in the Diary.
  • DocFinity automatically adds notations in the Diary of an application-package's Summary Memo when approvers, in the Job Views panel, check off their Tasks and then sign off by clicking the Complete Job icon. (If no further Approvals remain outstanding at the stage of the review-process the application-package has reached, this step will also move the package forward to its next queue.)
  • Please note, DocFinity's Diary function does not generate any additional notices. If you as a reviewer are raising a concern about any element of an application-package, or if you as a submitter are addressing a reviewer's concern or making other changes in your application-package, please in addition to making the Diary Entry(ies) appropriate to your work, communicate directly with the parties who should be aware. Your Diary Entry(ies) will help direct your correspondents when they return to the application-package. They will also preserve a record that can help sort out any confusion that arises later.
After the Council approves: Submitters' final updates in DocFinity and Council Chairperson's sign-off
  • Representatives of academic units related to each proposal should coordinate with the Curriculum Committee following each month's Council meeting to ensure submitters are informed promptly of their applications' approval-status and especially of any amendments or other alterations required.
    • If the Academic Council has tabled an application-package so that it may be revised and returned to the Council for consideration at a later meeting, the Council Chairperson should log into the CAS-AC DocFinity Platform, select the "Job Assignments" panel, identify the application-package's Unique Number, click on its check-box in the Job Queue and Check Out the job, in the Tasks panel respond that the application-package has been Tabled, and Complete the Job. Submitters determine how best to address the Council's concerns about the application-package, consult and secure the consent of all partners, revise, and submit a new application-package that is complete and freestanding, but which makes reference as needed to the tabled application-package in explanations of how the applications are revised.
    • If the Academic Council has approved an application-package on the condition of specified amendments, representatives should inform the submitters and the submitters should work with the Curriculum Committee, their partner-units in the application-package, and others as needed so as to ratify and incorporate the amendments, consistently across all the documents of the application-package, as swiftly as possible. Submitters have a brief period to complete the changes requested by the Council and all other updating consistent with the Council's approval; they also should update all documents' index. Finally submitters notify the Chairperson of the Council the application-package is ready for processing.
      • Consult any document within the application-package by either clicking on its check-box and then "View" in the Search Results menu-bar or double-clicking on the item itself: the Summary Memo will open in a Forms panel, or an uploaded document will open in a Document Viewer window.
      • Edit a Summary Memo by clicking on the "Edit" icon in the Forms panel's menu-bar, making changes in the document, clicking the "Save" icon, and then clicking the "Close" icon to exit the eForm. Please also add a note to the Diary noting the Council's concern and confirming it has been met.
      • To edit an uploaded document from DocFinity, click the item's check-box in the Search Results panel, then the "Download" icon in the menu-bar. Edit the document outside DocFinity, save, and then use the "Replace" icon in the Search Results panel's menu-bar in order to swap your edited document for the one that had been posted previously. Please also add a note to the Diary of the document in question noting the Council's concern and confirming it has been met.
      • To view the Diary of any document in the application-package (whether or not you are currently "View"ing the document itself), select the item's check-box in the Search Results panel, then click the yellow "View Document Notes" icon in the menu-bar: a new panel will open showing the document's Diary a.k.a. Notes.
      • To add a Diary Entry to the document, click the "Add Note" bar in the Diary/Note panel's menu-bar: an input-window will open in the panel. The drop-down menu below the input-window lets you select whether your Note is a "Comment" or for the "Diary." Type in the input-box to add your text, then click the "Add" button: your time-stamped entry will then be recorded in the Diary.
      • Submitters should ensure all amendments and other changes are carried through to all pertinent documents so that the application-package remains consistent.
      • To update a document's indexing, whether or not you are "View"ing the document itself, click on the "Re-index" icon in the Search Results panel's menu-bar: a re-indexing window will open with the document's input-boxes. Add the appropriate information and click "save" to save the edited indexing.
    • If the Academic Council has approved an application-package without amendment, representatives should inform the submitters. Submitters have a brief period for final proofreading and cross-checking documents across the application-package; they also should update all documents' index. Once they can guarantee the application-package is complete, consistent, and free from errors, submitters notify the Chairperson of the Council the application-package is ready for processing.
      • Consult any document within the application-package by either clicking on its check-box and then "View" in the Search Results menu-bar or double-clicking on the item itself: the Summary Memo will open in a Forms panel, or an uploaded document will open in a Document Viewer window.
      • Edit a Summary Memo by clicking on the "Edit" icon in the Forms panel's menu-bar, making changes in the document, clicking the "Save" icon, and then clicking the "Close" icon to exit the eForm. Please also add a note to the Diary noting the Council's concern and confirming it has been met.
      • To edit an uploaded document from DocFinity, click the item's check-box in the Search Results panel, then the "Download" icon in the menu-bar. Edit the document outside DocFinity, save, and then use the "Replace" icon in the Search Results panel's menu-bar in order to swap your edited document for the one that had been posted previously. Please also add a note to the Diary of the document in question noting the Council's concern and confirming it has been met.
      • To view the Diary of any document in the application-package (whether or not you are currently "View"ing the document itself), select the item's check-box in the Search Results panel, then click the yellow "View Document Notes" icon in the menu-bar: a new panel will open showing the document's Diary a.k.a. Notes.
      • To add a Diary Entry to the document, click the "Add Note" bar in the Diary/Note panel's menu-bar: an input-window will open in the panel. The drop-down menu below the input-window lets you select whether your Note is a "Comment" or for the "Diary." Type in the input-box to add your text, then click the "Add" button: your time-stamped entry will then be recorded in the Diary.
      • Submitters should ensure all amendments and other changes are carried through to all pertinent documents so that the application-package remains consistent.
      • To update a document's indexing, whether or not you are "View"ing the document itself, click on the "Re-index" icon in the Search Results panel's menu-bar: a re-indexing window will open with the document's input-boxes. Add the appropriate information and click "save" to save the edited indexing.
  • On receiving notice from the Submitters that the application-package is complete, error-free, and consistent with the Council's approval, the Council Chairperson should record the Council's approval and move the application-package forward for the next levels of approval and processing (see the Chart of Reviews and Approvals for Academic Matters).
    • Log into the CAS-AC DocFinity Platform.
    • If the screen following login does not include the "Job Views" panel, select "Job Assignments" from the Workspaces tab.
    • In the Job Views panel, double-click on the Common Queue for CAS-Academic Council Members BPM.
    • In the Jobs Queue, identify the application-package's Unique Number, click on its check-box, and Check Out the Job.
    • Click the check-box for the next Task; respond that the application-package has been Approved.
    • In the menu-bar of the Jobs Queue containing the Tasks list, click the icon for Complete Job.
    • Log out.
Checking on the progress of an application-package
  • Log into the CAS-AC DocFinity platform.
  • Using the Search function, call up your application-package by its Unique ID.
  • In the Search Results panel, look at the column marked "Status," specifically on the line for the Summary Memo: 
    • if it says "initial submission," you have not yet recorded your initial submission of your package: double-check that all its items are present, complete, and correct (including all information about the routing it will need, in the Summary Memo's heading and in its items 3, 4, 5, and 6) before hitting the "submit" button.
    • if it says "department head/chairperson review," your application-package is awaiting review and approval by the departmental chairperson or interdisciplinary program-director you identified on the Summary Memo as the Submitter or Proposer (if other) of the application's "home" unit.
    • if it says "affected department reviews," your application-package is awaiting review and approval by one of its co-signatories: open the Summary Memo and open its Diary, and look to see whose sign-offs are recorded and thus by elimination for whose approval the package is still waiting.
    • if it says "Academic Council review," your application-package is awaiting review and approval by the Academic Council.
    • if it says "non-AC review," your application-package is awaiting review and approval by the Associate Dean.
    • if it says "final approval complete," your application-package has been approved by the Council (or by Associate Dean for non-AC requests in separate packages), and has passed out of the stages where DocFinity keeps track of it.
  • After calling up the application-package you are looking for, you also can open its Summary Memo and, from the menu-bar, the View Notes icon to see its Diary: approvals and other general comments are recorded there. Depending on the process the application-package is following, reasoning by elimination of the completed steps already recorded in the Diary should show what steps remain.