What it does
Graded courses and rotations (GCRs) are the units a program's gradebook attaches grades to, such as "Internal Medicine" or "Surgery." Each has a type, a requirement level, weeks, and credits, and they power the course and rotation views of the gradebook.
Who it's for
Program administrators build and maintain the structure from the Gradebook Setup page. Coordinators and other permitted gradebook staff work day to day in the resulting course and rotation views.
How it works
Each GCR has a Code, a Name, a Type (Course or Rotation), and a Requirement (Mandatory or Elective). Optional fields cover Description, Required Weeks, and Credits. GCRs can nest under a Parent to build categories — a department heading with its rotations underneath, for example.
Each GCR can also carry a link to a clinical-scheduling rotation template, an academic period, and a default rubric, but the create and edit dialog does not expose fields to set them. Those links, when present, come from other setup steps.
Working views. The gradebook presents the structure as a courses view and a rotations view, each with detail pages. A rotation detail page includes tabs for its grades, comments, files, and history. Summary dashboards aggregate results per course so administrators can scan completion and outcomes.
Before you start
You need program-level gradebook management or grade-editing permission to create or edit a GCR. Viewing only needs program-level gradebook view permission.
If a rotation has child GCRs beneath it, delete or move those first — the delete dialog blocks removal until they're gone.
Do this
Open the Gradebook Setup page (
/grades/setup) → you should see the Graded Courses & Rotations tab with the structure tree.Select Add GCR at the top of the card → the Create GCR dialog opens.
Choose a Parent if this unit nests under another, then set Code, Type, Requirement, and Name on the dialog → these are required before you can save.
Add Description, Required Weeks, or Credits in the dialog if you need them, then select Create → the new unit appears in the tree on the Graded Courses & Rotations tab.
To edit a unit, select its row in the tree, then choose Edit → the Edit GCR dialog opens with the same fields pre-filled.
Update the fields you need, then select Update → the tree on the Graded Courses & Rotations tab reflects the new values.
You're done when
The new (or updated) unit shows in the structure tree under the right parent, with its type and requirement level.
The unit is available to select when configuring score types or entering grades for it.
Boundaries and limits
The structure is program-scoped. Viewing it requires program-level gradebook view permission; creating or editing units requires gradebook management or grade-editing permission.
Removing a unit is a soft removal; hard deletion is blocked at the database level so grade history stays intact.
A GCR with child units can't be deleted until the children are deleted or moved out from under it first.
A unit cannot be moved to a different program after creation.
Grades must reference a unit in the same program; cross-program references are rejected at the database level.
Learners do not browse this structure directly. A learner enrolled in a rotation (via their block schedule) can see that rotation's course mapping and required/elective type on their own personal-portal rotation detail sheet, but not its gradebook contents (scores). A learner with an evaluation tied to a rotation can likewise see that rotation's basic identity for the evaluation context.
Unit names are limited to 255 characters.
Common questions
Q: What is the difference between a course and a rotation here? A: They are the same kind of graded unit distinguished by a type marker. Rotations typically link to clinical scheduling templates; courses map to didactic units. Both hold grades the same way.
Q: Can I group rotations under a department heading? A: Yes. Units nest under a parent, so you can build categories such as a department with its rotations beneath it.
Q: What happens to grades if I remove a course? A: Removal is a soft archive. Existing grades and their history are preserved; the unit stops appearing for new grade entry.
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