MyBU Student Basics
This is an introduction for staff and faculty on the foundational concepts of the Student Information System, MyBU Student. These summaries outline how student academic information is organized.
Introduction
The Boston University Student Information System, MyBU Student, facilitates operations for the entire student lifecycle, from admission to graduation. This page explains the system framework referred to as the Academic Structure and is foundational to how students are academically categorized. An additional selection of important concepts that staff and faculty will commonly encounter are also defined here. Refer to the Glossary for a comprehensive resource of system definitions.
Academic Structure
The Academic Structure is the foundational organizing framework of MyBU Student and its data. These conceptual components support BU’s academic components; they define how the schools and colleges, programs, courses, and students relate to each other in the system and provide the basis for a student’s academic journey and credentials.
Below is an overview of Academic Structure components and example graduate and undergraduate paths to illustrate how these components operate. For a downloadable quick reference card, please refer to the Academic Structure page.
INSTITUTION
The Institution is the highest entity in the organization; it confers degrees. The institution will always be Boston University.
ACADEMIC GROUP
The Academic Group refers to the academic units which confer degrees.
- This level of conferring entity will improve reporting and ease the grouping of students and courses.
TIP: Schools & Colleges can be BOTH an Academic Group and an Academic Organization.
ACADEMIC ORGANIZATION
The Academic Organization organizes the course catalog, course schedules, and security roles.
- Identifies ownership of curriculum elements and in some cases, options on a page based on security.
- Responsible for courses and classes.
CAREER
Career categorizes the student type.
- Typically refers to a student’s classification as a Graduate, Undergraduate, or Non-Degree student.
- If a graduate student is at the Medicine, Law, or Dental schools, their career will be Medicine, Law, or Dental, respectively. It will not be the Graduate classification.
- This is due to the different rules configured in order to accommodate the nature of their programs.
- If a graduate student is at the Medicine, Law, or Dental schools, their career will be Medicine, Law, or Dental, respectively. It will not be the Graduate classification.
| Undergraduate (UGRD) |
Graduate (GRAD) |
Dental (DENT) |
Medical (MED) |
Law (LAW) |
Non-Degree (NOND) |
CHARACTERISTICS OF A CAREER
This concept is used to designate all the course work undertaken by a student that is maintained in a single record. Career is the foundation of many elements of a student’s record in the MyBU Student including:
- Grading, calendar, terms (terms are the same as semesters in the legacy system), units of credits.
- Each Career is represented as an ‘academic record’ in the transcript.
- This includes course work, GPA, credits earned, credits attempted, and credits transferred.
- All credit is granted under a common unit type such as semester hours or quarter hours.
PROGRAM
The Program is the entity to which a student applies and from which they graduate.
- A student’s degree status at a school, such as Undergraduate, College of Communication
- Drives the set of policies and rules that students will adhere to.
CHARACTERISTICS OF A PROGRAM
Policies/rules attached to the Program apply to all students in that Program, including items like repeat rules, term honor/awards, enrollment limits, academic level (Ex., Senior or Junior), academic standing (Ex., Good or Probation), incomplete grade lapse, academic Load (Ex., Full time or Part time), eligibility for financial aid, and tuition calculation rules.
PLAN
A Plan is an area of study such as major, minor, or certificate. All students must have an academic Plan, even if it’s Undeclared.
- Establishes completion criteria for a student.
- Plans can have many Sub-Plans, such as a specialization or concentration.
- A Sub-Plan is directly linked to a plan (Ex., Biology major with a concentration in Ecology & Evolution).
- Sub-Plans can be shared between multiple plans (Ex., Philosophy minor [SubPlan] could be associated to both the History and Art majors [Plan]).
CHARACTERISTICS OF A PLAN
- Plan information can appear on a transcript and/or diploma.
- Taxonomies attached to Academic Plans (e.g., CIP codes).
- Plans are used by Academic Advising to build rules to define completion criteria and track degree progress.
DEGREE
The Degree is the qualification awarded upon completion of study.
Below is a table outlining additional examples of student paths and how they would be defined in the Academic Structure:
| Jalen | Maria | Taylor | Lee | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Story | Entered MET at the graduate level | Is a pre-med undergraduate at Sargent | Entered the College of Arts & Sciences at the undergraduate level | Entered the School of Law, pursuing a JD degree. |
| Career | Graduate | Undergraduate | Undergraduate | Law |
| Program | Graduate, MET | Undergraduate, Sargent | Undergraduate, CAS | JD, School of Law |
| Plan | Computer Science | Human Physiology | Sociology | Law |
| Sub-Plan | —- | —- | African American Studies | —- |
| Degree | MS | BS | BA | JD |
Academic Definitions & Translations to Legacy SIS
| MyBU Student Concept | Definition | Prior BU Legacy Equivalent Concept |
|---|---|---|
| Academic Career | All the course work undertaken by a student that is maintained in a single record. (E.g., Undergraduate, Graduate, Law, Medicine, etc.) | N/A |
| Academic Group | Degree granting units at BU. This entity groups School or College students and courses. (E.g., College of Arts & Sciences, School of Public Health). | School or College |
| Academic Load | An indication of full-time or part-time enrollment based on the number of units a student is enrolled in during a particular term. Sometimes referred to as the Approved Academic Load. | Course Load |
| Academic Level | A classification referring to a specific stage within a student’s academic program. It is commonly used to track a student’s progress and determine their eligibility for certain courses, privileges, or academic requirement. (E.g., first year, second year, sophomore). | Class Year |
| Academic Organization | An entity that is part of the administrative structure within BU. Course catalog and schedule of classes are organized by the academic organization. Can be a department or a School/College. (E.g., Sargent College, CAS History.) | School or College; Department |
| Academic Plan | Area of study such as major or minor. All students must have an academic plan, even if it’s Undeclared. | Major, minor |
| Academic Sub-Plan | A specialization or concentration directly linked to a plan (E.g., Ecology & Evolution concentration). | Specialization, concentration |
| Academic Program | Entity to which a student applies to and from which they graduate, and includes a student’s degree status at a school. Program also drives the set of policies that students will adhere to. (E.g., Undergraduate, College of Communication). | College/Program of Application or Admit (on application file) |
| Admit Term | The term that a student is officially admitted to (E.g., Fall 2022). | SEM/YR (on application file) |
| Catalog Number | A number used in combination with a subject code identifying a course. (E.g., CASEN 141, CFAMU 632). | Course Number |
| Class Number | A unique number assigned to a class. (multi digit number). | N/A |
| Class Roster | A list of students enrolled in a class section. | Class List |
| Class Schedule | Class scheduling information by week or term. | Class Schedule |
| Course Attribute | Attributes to further describe courses in the course catalog. (E.g., HUB). | N/A |
| Course Catalog | The repository of all courses offered at the institution. The Catalog maintains the unique attributes of courses including Course titles and course descriptions. | Course Inventory |
| Course Component | Identifies the different section types of a course. (E.g., lecture, lab, seminar, or tutorial). | Instruction Type |
| Degree | Credential awarded upon completion of the Program. (E.g., Bachelor of Science, Juris Doctorate, Certificate, Master of Social Work). | Degree |
| Hub Requirements | Refers to either specific or collective Hub requirements that students must fulfill to complete their general education (BU Hub) requirements. In MyBU Student, Hub Requirements are identified as Course Attributes. | BU Hub Units, Hub Units |
| Location | This is used in conjunction with campus to refer to where the course is being taught. (E.g., Medical Campus, London). | Campus Code |
| Session | A period of time within a term during which BU holds classes. A term must have at least one session. (E.g., Regular, Dynamic). | Sessions (when referring to summer) |
| Subject | Specific areas of study at BU offered by Academic Organizations. (E.g., CASBI-Biology, ENGEKEngineering Core). | Subject |
| Term | A period in which students are enrolled, billed, and academic statistics accumulated. May have one or many sessions. Different careers can have different term structures. (E.g., Fall 2024). | Semester |
| Unit | The number of credit hours a class is worth. | Credit |