---
title: 'Set course defaults, self-enrollment and ratings for your institution'
description: >-
  Under Settings → Management → Courses, set content block feedback, the
  certificate design, default features for new courses, self-enrollment and
  waitlists, end-of-term archiving, rating schemas and Likert rating templates
  for your whole institution.
sidebar:
  order: 9
---

**Courses** is the Settings page where you set the course rules for your whole institution: content block feedback, the certificate design, the default features of new courses, self-enrollment and waitlists, end-of-term clean-up, rating schemas and Likert rating templates. You find it under **Settings → Management → Courses**; the page itself is titled **LMS (Learning Management System)**.

:::tip
Most switches on this page are only stored when you click **Save** in the **Unsaved changes** bar. Rating schemas, rating templates and turning on the two term-reset switches are different: they are saved as soon as you confirm them.
:::

## Why it matters

These settings decide how every course behaves before a teacher opens it: which tabs a new course starts with, whether students can enroll themselves, what happens when a course is full, and what happens to enrollments when a term ends. Set them once, and course admins only have to handle the exceptions in each course.

## Before you start

| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Permission | Your role needs the LMS settings permission (`read-write:settings-lms`). Without it, **Courses** does not appear under **Settings → Management** |
| Feature | Fuxam LMS with the Learning Journey feature must be active for your institution. Otherwise the page is not available |
| Term-reset switches | Turning on **Auto-archive courses from past terms** or **Reset Course Waitlists** also needs the permission to update settings (`update:settings`) |
| Rating templates | Creating, editing and deleting Likert rating templates needs the `write:likert-scale-template` permission |
| Students | For self-enrollment, the student role needs the **Self-enroll in courses** permission (see [Roles and permissions](/docs/fuxam-web/base/user-management/roles-and-permissions)) |

## What is on the page

Use the navigation on the page to jump to a section:

| Section | What you set |
|---|---|
| **Course** | **Content Block Feedback** and **Completion certificate design** |
| **Course Features** | The default tabs of new courses and whether course admins may change them |
| **Self-Enrollment** | Self-enrollment mode, visible courses, default course distribution, unenrolling, waitlist, self-study and the end-of-term reset |
| **Rating Schemas** | The grading schemas of your institution |
| **User Ratings** | Likert scale rating templates for rating students in a course |

## How to change course settings

1. Open **Settings → Management → Courses**.

2. Change the switches, dropdowns and numbers you need. The sections below explain each setting.

3. The **Unsaved changes** bar appears. Click **Save** to apply your changes, or **Discard** to drop them.

## Course

| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| **Content Block Feedback** | When on, students can leave feedback on the content blocks of a course |
| **Completion certificate design** | Choose **Modern** or **Classic**. This is the layout learners see on the public certificate page. It applies to all completion certificates in your institution |

## Course Features: defaults for new courses

**Course Features** sets which tabs a newly created course has: **Dashboard**, **Learning Journey**, **Calendar**, **Course Chat** and **Drive**. At least one feature must stay on.

| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Feature switches | Turn a tab on or off for newly created courses. Existing courses keep their own settings |
| **Allow course-level overrides** | On: course admins can change the features of a single course in its course settings. Off: every course uses these institution defaults, and the **Course Features** section in the course settings is locked. Course admins see a note that course features are managed by your organization |

How course admins change features in one course: [Configure course features](/docs/fuxam-web/lms/courses/course-settings).

## Self-Enrollment

| Setting | Options | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| **Self-Enrollment Mode** | **Generic**, **Curriculum-Based** | **Generic** (default): any eligible student can browse and self-enroll in courses open for self-enrollment. **Curriculum-Based**: only students who have the module in their curriculum can self-enroll, and only when the module is planned for the current term |
| **Visible Courses** | **All Active Courses**, **Current & Upcoming Terms**, **Current Term Only**, **Upcoming Term Only** | Which courses students see for self-enrollment. Only shown when the mode is **Generic** |
| **Default Course Distribution Strategy** | **Split Evenly**, **Split Every**, **Split Study Programs**, **Pass All Members** | How members are spread across courses when you connect courses to a module. Default: **Split Evenly**. You can still change it per module; existing connections are not changed |
| **Default Split Every Count** | A number (default 25, at least 1) | How many members go into each course. Only shown when the strategy is **Split Every** |
| **Allow Unenrolling Module Courses** | On / off | Users can unenroll themselves from module courses after enrolling |
| **Enable Waitlist** | On / off | Students can join a waitlist when a course is full and are enrolled automatically when a spot opens |
| **Enable Self-study Courses** | On / off | Students can enroll in bookable courses as self-study. They get the course content and content blocks without attending scheduled sessions. Self-study enrollments do not use course capacity and do not create appointment conflicts |

What students see: [Book and unbook courses](/docs/fuxam-web/lms/student-home/book-courses). How course distribution works for a planned module: [Manage course load for a planned module](/docs/fuxam-web/cms/programs-and-planning/course-load-management).

## Archive past-term courses and reset waitlists

Two switches clean up courses at the end of each term:

| Setting | What happens |
|---|---|
| **Auto-archive courses from past terms** | Courses from past terms move to each user's **Archived Courses** section, and the course user list is reset. Archived enrollments no longer count toward the user count or the capacity |
| **Reset Course Waitlists** | The waitlists of courses from past terms are cleared. Students who still want a place must join the waitlist again |
| **Days Before Term End to Archive Courses/Reset Waitlists** | Appears when one of the two switches is on. How many days before the end of the term the archiving and the waitlist reset start (0 or more) |

To turn one of the two switches on:

1. Turn on **Auto-archive courses from past terms** or **Reset Course Waitlists**. A confirmation dialog opens and shows the current term and its end date.

2. Choose when to start. For archiving: **Reset all past terms now** (enrollments from terms before the current one move to **Archived Courses** right away) or **Start after *term* ends on *date*** (past terms stay as they are). For waitlists: **Clear waitlists now** (all current waitlist entries of active courses are deleted) or **Start after *term* ends on *date*** (current waitlists are kept).

3. Type the confirmation text shown in the dialog: **RESET USER LIST** for archiving or **DELETE WAITLISTS** for waitlists.

4. Click **Enable reset**. The switch is saved right away; you do not need to click **Save**.

:::warning
**Reset all past terms now** and **Clear waitlists now** cannot be undone. If you are not sure, choose **Start after … ends on …**.
:::

To turn a switch off again, switch it off and click **Save** in the **Unsaved changes** bar.

## Rating Schemas

**Rating Schemas** lists the grading schemas of your institution. It is the same list as in the Exam Center settings, and the default schema is marked **Default**.

- Click **Create** to add a schema.
- In the **⋯** menu of a schema, **Settings** opens the editor, **Make Default** makes it the default schema and **Delete** removes it. The default schema cannot be deleted; make another schema the default first.

How to fill in a schema: [Configure grading scale](/docs/fuxam-web/cms/exams-and-reporting/exam-types/configure-grading-scale).

## User Ratings: Likert rating templates

With **User Ratings**, you define Likert scale rating templates for rating students. You create the templates here; a course admin then picks one for a course under **User Rating → Likert Scale Template** in the course settings ([Course settings](/docs/fuxam-web/cms/courses-management/course-settings)).

1. Turn on **User Ratings** and click **Save**. The **Rating Templates** list appears.

2. Click **Create**. The **Create Rating Template** panel opens.

3. Enter a **Template Name**, for example *Practical Course Evaluation*.

4. Under **Rating Levels**, define the scale points from highest to lowest. Five levels are prefilled: **Fully applies**, **Mostly applies**, **Partly applies**, **Mostly does not apply** and **Does not apply**. Rename them, add more with **Add Level**, remove one with **×** or drag a level to a new position. The top level always has the highest value. You need at least 2 levels.

5. Under **Criteria**, list what students are rated on. Three criteria are prefilled: **Technical understanding**, **Team collaboration** and **Task execution**. Add more with **Add Criterion**. You need at least 1 criterion.

6. Check the **Preview** and click **Create**. Every level and criterion needs a label; otherwise the template is not saved.

The **Rating Templates** list shows each template's number of levels and criteria and, under **Courses**, how many courses use it (hover to see which). In the **⋯** menu, **Edit** opens **Edit Rating Template** (confirm with **Save**) and **Delete** removes the template.

:::warning
Deleting a template that is assigned to courses removes it from every course and permanently deletes all ratings recorded with it. To confirm, you have to type **DELETE TEMPLATE**.
:::

## Best practices

- **Set Course Features before the term starts.** The defaults only apply to courses created afterwards, so set them before course admins create the new term's courses.
- **Turn off course-level overrides only on purpose.** It locks the **Course Features** section in every course; tell course admins before you do it.
- **Prefer "Start after … ends on …" for the term reset.** It leaves the current term untouched and starts the clean-up at the next term end.
- **Check the Courses column before deleting a template.** A template in use takes all of its ratings with it.
- **Keep one clear default rating schema.** It is marked **Default** in the list and cannot be deleted while it is the default.

## Common pitfalls

| Pitfall | What happens | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Leaving the page without saving | The changes are lost; the bar warns "You have unsaved changes that will be lost." | Click **Save** in the **Unsaved changes** bar before you leave |
| **Visible Courses** is missing | The mode is **Curriculum-Based**, where the setting is hidden | Switch **Self-Enrollment Mode** to **Generic** if students should browse courses freely |
| Students cannot enroll themselves | Their role lacks the **Self-enroll in courses** permission | Grant it under **Settings → Roles & Permissions** |
| Changing defaults and expecting existing courses to change | Existing courses keep their own features | Change the course itself, or turn off **Allow course-level overrides** |
| Course admins cannot change course tabs | **Allow course-level overrides** is off | Turn it on here if courses should differ |
| Choosing **Reset all past terms now** by mistake | Past-term enrollments are archived at once; this cannot be undone | Use **Start after … ends on …** unless you really want an immediate reset |
| Deleting a rating template in use | It is removed from all courses and its ratings are deleted | Check the **Courses** column first |
| **Delete** does not work on a rating schema | The default schema cannot be deleted | Make another schema the default first |

## FAQ

**Do the Course Features defaults change existing courses?**

No. While **Allow course-level overrides** is on, existing courses keep their own settings and the defaults apply to new courses. If you turn the switch off, every course uses the institution defaults.

**Why don't I see Courses under Settings → Management?**

Your role needs the LMS settings permission, and Fuxam LMS with the Learning Journey feature must be active for your institution. Ask an administrator if either is missing.

**What if no current term is set up?**

The confirmation dialog then offers **Start after the next term ends** instead of a named term and date.

**Does a self-study enrollment take a seat in the course?**

No. Self-study enrollments do not use course capacity and do not create appointment conflicts, because self-study students do not attend scheduled sessions.

**Is this the same as the course settings inside a course?**

No. This page sets rules for the whole institution. Capacity, banner, connected modules and the template a single course uses are set in that course's settings.

## Related pages

**[Settings overview](/docs/fuxam-web/settings)**

All institution settings areas at a glance.

**[Course settings](/docs/fuxam-web/cms/courses-management/course-settings)**

Capacity, features and ratings of one course.

**[Configure course features](/docs/fuxam-web/lms/courses/course-settings)**

Turn course tabs on or off in a single course.

**[Configure grading scale](/docs/fuxam-web/cms/exams-and-reporting/exam-types/configure-grading-scale)**

Set up a rating schema step by step.

**[Book and unbook courses](/docs/fuxam-web/lms/student-home/book-courses)**

What students see when they self-enroll.

**[Roles and permissions](/docs/fuxam-web/base/user-management/roles-and-permissions)**

Grant the LMS settings and self-enrollment permissions.