[HI] Admin Guide: Course Equivalencies Management

What is Course Equivalencies Management?

Course Equivalencies Management is a feature within the Acadeum Admin Center that provides a centralized place for Home Institutions to upload, manage, and approve course equivalencies for their Home courses.

This tool uses AI-driven recommendations to suggest in-network course matches based on the course information you provide. Administrators can review, approve, reject, and manage equivalencies in one location, ensuring students have access to approved courses with available sections.

Approving a recommended course as an equivalency allows Home students to enroll in that course through Acadeum Course Share.

By maintaining accurate Home course data and approving high-quality matches, institutions can significantly reduce manual course searches and improve the student enrollment experience.

How to Use Course Equivalencies Management

Step 1: Upload or Add Home Courses

1. From the ACS home page, click Equivalencies Management                                                                
   • You can also access this page by selecting Admin Center and clicking Equivalency Management                 
2. Click Upload Course at the top right of the page                                                                                                 

You can add Home Institution (HI) courses in one of two ways:

Option A: Upload Record via Manual Entry

1. Select Upload Record Manually (Image 1)
2. Click Next (Image 2)                                                                                                                                              
3. Enter the following course information:
   • HI Course Code
   • HI Course Title
   • HI Course Description 
     • Important: Adding detailed course descriptions is strongly recommended, as this greatly improves the quality of AI-generated equivalency recommendations
4.   Click Save                                                                                                                     

Option B: Bulk Upload By File

1. Select Bulk Upload by File (Image 1)
2. Click Next (Image 2)                                                                                                                                              
3. Download the provided template
4. Enter the following for each course:
   1. HI Course Code
   2. HI Course Title
   3. HI Course Description
      • Important: Adding detailed course descriptions is strongly recommended, as this greatly improves the quality of AI-generated equivalency recommendations
5. Click Browse a File or Drag & Drop the completed template file (Image 1)
6. Click Upload (Image 2)                                                                                                                                               

Note: Adding detailed course descriptions is strongly recommended, as this greatly improves the quality of AI-generated equivalency recommendations.

Step 2: Review Recommended Equivalencies

After Home Institution (HI) courses are added, ACS automatically generates recommended equivalencies.

1. Locate the HI course you want to review

Click the down arrow next to the course to view recommendations (Image A)

By default, recommended equivalencies:

• Are limited to in-network Teaching Institutions
• Only display courses with available sections
• Represent courses students can enroll in immediately once approved

For each recommendation, you can review:

• Teaching Institution
• Course details
• Term and section availability

Step 3: Approve or Reject Recommendations

Once you have reviewed the recommended equivalencies, you can approve or reject each course.

To Approve a Recommendation

1. Locate the course you want to approve (Image A)
2. Click the green check mark next to the individual course (Image B)

OR

• Click Approve All to approve all recommended courses for that specific Home course (Image C)

Approved courses become available for enrollment by your Home students.

To Reject a Recommendation

1. Locate the course you want to reject  (Image D)
2. Click the red X next to the individual course (Image E)

When a course is rejected, the system automatically generates new recommendations.

This approval and rejection process helps the system learn your institution’s equivalency preferences and improves the quality of future recommendations.

Step 4: Use Filters to Refine Recommendations

You can filter recommendations using options such as:

• Cost threshold
• Specific term
• Section availability
• Other available filter criteria

You can also use toggles to display:

• Section availability
• Existing equivalencies
• Rejected equivalencies

Show No Sections Available Toggle

Turn on the Show No Sections Available toggle to display courses that may be strong academic matches but do not currently have open sections.

If you approve one of these courses, you can:

• Request a section from the Teaching Institution (TI), or
• Select an alternate course with available sections

Step 5: Manage Existing Home Courses

After uploading Home courses, you can review, edit, remove duplicates, or deactivate courses that are no longer offered.

Editing a Home Course

1. From the Course Equivalencies Management homepage, locate the course you want to edit 
2.  Click the pencil icon next to the course
3. Update the information in the pop-up window
4. Click EDIT to save your changes                                                                                                                               

Note: Adding detailed course descriptions is strongly recommended, as this greatly improves the quality of AI-generated equivalency recommendations.

Deactivating a Home Course

1. From the Course Equivalencies Management homepage, select the checkbox next to the course(s) you want to deactivate or remove (Image 1)
2. Click DEACTIVATE when the button appears (Image 2)
3. In the confirmation pop-up, review the listed course(s) 
4. Click DEACTIVATE to confirm                                                                                                                                                                                                           

System Warnings

The system provides visual warnings to help guide your actions:

• Red warnings indicate Home courses that do not yet have any approved equivalencies
  • Add equivalencies to make these courses available to your students
• Yellow warnings indicate courses that were previously mapped, but currently have no available sections from Teaching Institutions

These warnings help ensure students always have viable enrollment options. 

FAQs

Why Am I Not Seeing Certain Course Recommendations?

By default, the system only shows:

• In-network options
• Courses with currently available sections

You may use filters or toggles to expand the results.

What Happens When I Approve a Course as an Equivalency?

Once approved, Home students may request enrollment into that course through ACS.

Can I Remove or Change an Equivalency Later?

Yes. You can edit your courses, remove duplicates, deactivate courses, and reject recommendations at any time.

Why Are Course Descriptions Important?

The AI recommendation engine relies heavily on course descriptions to determine accurate matches. The more detailed the description, the better the recommendations.

What Do the System Warnings Mean?

Warnings help identify:

• Courses that do not yet have equivalencies
• Courses that previously had matches but currently lack available sections

These alerts prompt you to take action to maintain student enrollment pathways.

Who Do I Contact with Questions About This Feature?

Please contact your Acadeum Partner Success Manager for additional guidance.