Relevant to: faculty amd staff
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Brightspace courses at SUNY Empire follow standardized naming conventions. These conventions help you tell the difference between:
- Term Sections (Live Teaching Courses): student-facing courses offered in a specific term.
- Primaries (Non-Term Courses): non-student-facing courses used as content sources and/or course development workspaces.
Historically, SUNY Empire used the term “master course” or “master shell.” SUNY Empire now uses Primary as the standard term. In general, if you see PRIMARY in the course code, you’re looking at a non-term primary, not a live course section.
Definitions
Primary (Non-Term Course)
A Primary is a non-term Brightspace course that functions as a content source and/or a faculty-owned workspace.
- Students are never enrolled in primaries.
- Primaries may be centrally managed (adjunct-ready) or faculty-specific (owned by a faculty member).
- How it appears in Brightspace: Course code begins with PRIMARY (e.g., (PRIMARY-SUBJ-####) …).
Term Section (Live Course)
A Term Section is the live Brightspace course offered in a specific semester where:
- Students are enrolled
- Faculty teach, grade, and interact with students
- How it appears in Brightspace: Course code begins with the term and year (e.g., (2026SP-SUBJ-####-01)
Primaries (Non-Term Courses)
Primaries are course templates used to build the content for teaching sections.
You may see several types of primaries depending on your role in Brightspace and their purpose.
Centrally Managed Adjunct-Ready Primaries
These are the approved centrally managed courses used as copy sources for online mode of study term sections. Currently, these are used as copy sources for all online mode of study undergraduate sections, all graduate School of Nursing and Allied Health sections, and select other online mode of study graduate sections. These primaries are only visible to Academic Coordinators, Department Chairs, and Deans.
Naming format:
- (PRIMARY-SUBJ-####) Course Title_C
- (PRIMARY-SUBJ-####) Course Title_C_8wk
What this means:
- SUBJ = subject area
- #### = course number
- _C = Empire Online approved for delivery as an online mode of study
- _8wk = 8-week version of the primary course
Edit Copies of Centrally Managed Adjunct-Ready Primaries
Edit copies are created when Academic Coordinators request access to update a centrally managed adjunct-ready course primary.
These are temporary working versions and are created by request. These primaries are only visible to the Academic Coordinator and any faculty developer(s) they identify.
Naming format:
- (PRIMARY-SUBJ-####) Course Title_C_edit
- (PRIMARY-SUBJ-####) Course Title_C_8wk_edit
Faculty-Specific Primaries
Some primaries are associated with individual faculty members and include a faculty identifier.
Faculty-Pour Primaries (Empire Online Reviewed)
These are Empire Online reviewed for delivery readiness as an Online mode of study and are course versions that are customized for a specific line faculty member. These primaries are only visible to the faculty-owner, Academic Coordinator, Department Chair, and Dean.
Faculty identifiers use:
- first three letters of last name
- first letter of first name
Example: Pat Jones would receive the identifier “JONP"
Naming format:
- (PRIMARY-SUBJ-####) Course Title_C_JONP
- (PRIMARY-SUBJ-####) Course Title_C_8wk_JONP
Faculty-Pour Primaries (Not Empire Online Reviewed)
These courses belong to faculty and are not reviewed by Empire Online. Faculty-owned primaries may not be used as copy sources for undergraduate or School of Nursing and Allied Health online mode of study courses. These primaries are used by faculty teaching graduate, independent study, virtual study group, and residency courses, and are only visible to the faculty-owner, Academic Coordinator, Department Chair, and Dean.
They are coded with F instead of C.
Naming format:
- (PRIMARY-SUBJ-####) Course Title_F_JONP
- (PRIMARY-SUBJ-####) Course Title_F_8wk_JONP
Need help copying content owned by another faculty member?
Submit a Service Desk ticket, and an LMS administrator will assist you.
Term Sections (Live Teaching Courses)
Term sections are the Brightspace courses in which students are enrolled and faculty teach during a specific semester.
Example:
(2026SP-ACCT-3015-01) Federal Income Tax I
Breakdown:
- 2026 = year
- SU / FA / SP = Summer / Fall / Spring
- ACCT-3015 = subject and course number
- 01 = section number
Section Coding
Full Term vs. Express Terms
Section numbers indicate session length:
- Full Term (15-week): no letter prefix (e.g., 01)
- Express Term 1 (8-week): begins with B (e.g., B01)
- Express Term 2 (8-week): begins with C (e.g., C01)
Section Numbering by Mode of Study
Section ranges also indicate instructional format:
- 01–19 = Online
- 20–39 = Independent Study
- 40–49 = Study Groups / Virtual Study Groups
- 50–59 = Residencies
Special Section Codes
Some student populations use a prefix that overrides normal lettering:
- I = International (e.g. I01)
- S = Spanish Language Program (e.g. S01)
- F = Black Male Initiative (e.g. F01)
- E = Educational Opportunity Program (e.g. E01)
- P = Early College Program (e.g. P01)
JIT and TIS Sections
Just-In-Time Independent Studies (JIT) and Totally Independent Studies (TIS) do not follow standard numbering. A J is appended to the section number.
- Example: (2026SP-DIGA-4000-J01)
How These Course Types Relate to Content
Online Sections
- Undergraduate and SONAH graduate online sections use centrally managed adjunct-ready content unless an approved faculty-pour primary owned by the instructor exists.
- Non-SONAH graduate sections may use content from a previous term section or a faculty-owned primary, depending on local practice and Academic Coordinator direction.
Independent Study / JIT / TIS / Virtual Study Group / Residency Sections
- These sections rarely use centrally managed adjunct-ready content, but may do so with Academic Coordinator approval.