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Term Visibility Settings

If you manage academic terms in DualEnroll, you may have noticed several checkboxes at the bottom of the term settings page that control whether and how a term is visible to different users. These settings — Inactive, Hide from List, Hide from Course Finder, and Show in CA Workflow Steps — each serve a different purpose, and understanding the differences can help you avoid confusion about why courses may or may not be appearing for students or in your administrative views.

This article explains what each setting does, how they differ from one another, and when you might use each one.

The Four Term Visibility Settings

When you open a term's settings page (Admin > Academic Terms > click on the term name), you will see four checkboxes near the bottom of the page:

Inactive Hide from List Show in CA Workflow Steps Hide from Course Finder

Each of these controls a different aspect of the term's visibility. They work independently, which means you can have a term that is active but hidden from the Course Finder, or a term that is visible to students but hidden from your own dropdown filters.

Inactive

What it does: Removes the term from the student registration list entirely. When a term is marked Inactive, students will not see any courses associated with that term. They cannot browse or register for courses in an inactive term.

Who it affects: Students. Courses in an inactive term are hidden from the student-facing Course Finder and registration pages.

When to use it:

  • When a term has fully concluded and you no longer want students to interact with it
  • When a term was created in error and should not be available for registration
  • When you need to temporarily shut down all registration activity for a term

Important: Making a term inactive is a significant action. It is typically better to use Hide from Course Finder if you want to prevent students from seeing courses while keeping the term available for administrative tasks like reporting or workflow management.

Tip: The system documentation recommends making terms inactive rather than deleting them, since terms have relationships to registrations and student records that should be preserved.

Hide from List

What it does: Prevents the term from appearing by name in the dropdown filter menus that administrators use throughout DualEnroll — for example, the Term filter on the Registrations tab, the Courses tab, and elsewhere.

Who it affects: Administrators and college staff only. This setting has no impact on what students see.

When to use it:

  • When older terms are cluttering your filter dropdown menus and making it harder to find current terms
  • When you want to keep a term's data available but don't need to see it in everyday views
  • When a term is no longer actively being worked on but still has historical data you want to preserve

How to still find hidden terms: Even when a term is hidden from the list, you can access it by selecting "All Hidden Terms" from the term filter dropdown. This allows you to retrieve the term and its associated data when needed without it taking up space in your day-to-day views.

Important: Hiding a term from the list does not affect students at all. If the term is still active and not hidden from the Course Finder, students will continue to see and register for its courses as normal.

Hide from Course Finder

What it does: Prevents courses in this term from appearing in the student-facing Course Finder. Students will not be able to browse or register for courses associated with a term that has this setting enabled.

Who it affects: Students. The term may still appear in your administrative filters and views, but students will not see its courses.

When to use it:

  • When you are preparing a term's course data behind the scenes and are not yet ready for students to see it
  • When courses have been imported for an upcoming term but registration has not officially opened
  • When you want the term to remain active for administrative purposes (running reports, managing workflows, tracking ongoing requirements) while keeping it invisible to students
  • When you want a more targeted approach than making the entire term inactive

How it differs from Inactive: A term that is Hidden from Course Finder is still technically active. You can still work with it in your administrative views, run reports for it, and manage registrations or workflows associated with it. An Inactive term, by contrast, is removed from the student registration list and has broader implications across the platform.

Show in CA Workflow Steps

What it does: Controls whether the term appears as an option in Curriculum Alignment (CA) workflow steps. This is relevant if your college uses DualEnroll's instructor credentialing features and the Curriculum Alignment process.

Who it affects: College staff and instructors working within the Curriculum Alignment workflow.

When to use it:

  • When you want a term to be available as a scheduling option during the Curriculum Alignment process
  • When you need to control which terms instructors and reviewers can see when completing CA-related tasks

Note: This setting is only relevant for colleges using the Curriculum Alignment features. If your institution does not use CA workflows, this checkbox will not affect your day-to-day operations.

How These Settings Work Together

Because these settings are independent, it is possible for a term to have different combinations enabled. Here are some common configurations and what they mean:

Standard active term (all checkboxes unchecked except Show in CA if applicable): The term is fully active. Students can see and register for its courses. It appears in all administrative filters. This is the normal state for a current, open registration term.

Active but Hidden from Course Finder: The term is operational for administrators — it appears in filters, you can run reports, and workflows function normally. However, students cannot see or register for its courses. This is useful for preparing an upcoming term before opening it to students.

Active but Hidden from List: Students can still see and register for courses in this term, but the term does not appear by name in your administrative dropdown filters (you can still find it under "All Hidden Terms"). This is useful for decluttering your admin views for older but still-active terms.

Inactive: The term is removed from the student registration list. Students cannot see its courses. This is the appropriate setting for terms that have fully concluded.

Inactive and Hidden from List: The term is fully closed to students and also hidden from your day-to-day administrative filters. This is the cleanest configuration for archived terms — the data is preserved but the term is out of the way for everyone.

A Common Source of Confusion

The most common confusion administrators experience is the difference between Hide from List and Hide from Course Finder:

  • Hide from List is for you, the administrator. It cleans up your dropdown menus. It does not affect students.
  • Hide from Course Finder is for students. It prevents them from seeing courses in that term. It does not affect your administrative views.

If a student reports that they cannot find courses for an upcoming term, check whether Hide from Course Finder is enabled on that term. If you cannot find a term in your own dropdown filters, check whether Hide from List is enabled and try selecting "All Hidden Terms."

Frequently Asked Questions

A student says they cannot see any courses for next semester. What should I check first? Navigate to Admin > Academic Terms and open the term for the upcoming semester. Check whether Hide from Course Finder is checked. Also verify that the term is not marked as Inactive. Either of these settings will prevent students from seeing courses.

I cannot find a term in my dropdown filters. Has it been deleted? Most likely it has been hidden from the list, not deleted. Try selecting "All Hidden Terms" from the term filter dropdown. If the term appears there, it is simply hidden from your everyday view. You can uncheck Hide from List on the term settings page if you want it to reappear in your filters.

If I hide a term from the Course Finder, will it affect existing registrations? Hiding a term from the Course Finder prevents new students from browsing and registering for courses in that term. It does not cancel or modify any registrations that have already been submitted.

What is the safest way to close out a term that has ended? The recommended approach is to first ensure all registrations and workflows for the term are complete, then check Hide from List to clean up your administrative filters. You can also mark the term as Inactive if you want to ensure no further student interaction. Deleting a term is generally not recommended because terms have relationships to student records and registration data.

Can I hide a term from the Course Finder but still allow students who have already started registrations to complete their workflow? Yes. Hiding from the Course Finder only affects the ability to browse and start new registrations. Students with existing in-progress registrations for that term can still complete their workflow steps.