In mid-April, our Curriculum and Student System (CASS) and My Student Admin (MSA) will be moving to the cloud. This is a complex move that impacts not only these essential systems, but other UTS systems that rely on student data from CASS.
When CASS moves to the cloud, CASS and MSA will be completely offline to users from 5pm Friday 12 April to 9am Friday 19 April. Approximately 40 other UTS systems will also be offline or operating without fresh student data. This will be a disruptive period with impacts on processes and services for staff and students, so get prepared with the following information.
1. Know what systems will be affected
From 12 April to 19 April:
- CASS will be completely offline for staff, but you can still access a read-only copy of CASS for emergencies
- MSA, the UTS app, START and MyAccount will be completely offline for students
Canvas will remain online, but Subject Outlines will not be available in their normal spot (the subject outline viewer will not work).
Canvas Admin Tool (CAT) will be completely offline:
- You can still publish results in REVIEW, but those marks will not transfer to Canvas until CAT is back online
- You can’t create, edit or delete assessment tasks in REVIEW until CAT is back online
- GradesPlus will be completely offline (so you can’t submit grades or AVRs)
- You cannot complete any grades submissions or other tasks that rely on CAT until it comes back online.
The AV support request form will be completely offline – you can still log a Service Connect ticket if you need AV support.
The UTS Student Portal (Salesforce) will remain online, but many tasks and applications that students complete there (e.g. applications to study, eRequests) will be delayed while CASS is offline. Students can complete Consent Matters and OPELA modules if they need to, but their results will not flow across to their student record until CASS is back online.
Read the full list of affected systems and consider whether you use any of them in your day-to-day work.
2. Know how to plan ahead of the disruption
You can minimise the impacts of the CASS to Cloud outages by planning ahead and completing a few key activities before 12 April:
- Download the subject outlines for any subjects you teach and either upload them back into Canvas or keep them handy in case a student asks for a copy in April
- Submit any subject/activity changes for the second half of the year well before 12 April to avoid delays
- Request AV support for a teaching space you’ll be using 12-19 April well in advance
There are other tasks you might regularly do that won’t be possible during the outage period. Plan to do these tasks either before Friday 12 April or after 19 April (not during!):
- Submit grades via Canvas Admin Tool (CAT)
- Submit grades or AVRs via Grades Plus
- Publish marks to students or set new assessment tasks via REVIEW
- Change a subject’s Subject Coordinator
3. Know how you can help when systems are offline
Even if you don’t use CASS or other affected systems, please consider other teams in UTS that are heavily impacted by CASS or other systems being offline -– they may take longer than usual to respond to your queries.
If a student gets stuck because of a particular system outage or admin issue, they may need you to:
- Send them a copy of their Subject Outline
- Submit a HIRO report on their behalf if you are responsible for them during an incident and they have trouble logging the report themselves
- Direct them to UTS Campus Security if they have any access issues with their student card
Overall, the best way to help is to share information about CASS to Cloud with your colleagues and with your students, so that everyone is aware that things will operate differently for a week.
4. Know what to communicate to your students
Point students to their UTS emails and the UTS website for the most up-to-date information. You may also need to share key messages with them and be prepared for any questions.
Remind students that there will be:
- a planned outage in MSA and the UTS app
- delays in turn-around for eRequests and other applications in the Student Portal
- delays in Consent Matters and OPELA results flowing back to their student record if they complete during the outages
- no access to subject outlines via the usual PDF in Canvas
- delays in responses for forms submitted via ResearchMaster (HDR students only)
- general delays in student support – remember, the student centre and other support teams are also operating without student data for the week!
You can see what has been communicated to students on the CASS to Cloud project website.
Remember, between 12 and 19 April, there will be a reduction in services across many support teams as staff can’t do anything that requires an offline system, so your advice to students with questions may simply be to wait until Friday 19 April when systems return. Try not to refer students to other teams when you know the issue will be resolved once systems come back online! If you have a situation that is sensitive or urgent, please continue to escalate those directly as normal.
5. Know where to seek help
Students can find information on where to get help via the public website. Staff can find more information about the CASS to Cloud project, including regular status updates between 12 and 19 April on the CASS to Cloud project website.
There’s also an extensive FAQs page – if you can’t find the answer to your question, or you have concerns about any of the impacts and disruptions of the CASS to Cloud project, please contact the project team.