Structure of studies on Sisu

The status of the item is ‘selections done’ when you have made the necessary selections.

The status is ‘selections missing’ if you have not made all the selections needed or if the courses you have selected will not earn you a sufficient number of ECTS credits.

The status is ‘selections against the rules’ if your course selections deviate from the structure of your degree programme. The error notification will disappear when you edit your course selections to comply with the rules of your degree programme.

The most common reasons for the ‘selections against the rules’ status:

• You have selected too many courses and/or the scope in ECTS credits of the courses you have selected exceeds the maximum scope of the item.
• You have used the free edit mode and either added studies not included the structure of your degree programme or removed compulsory studies.

In some situations, you may have to make course selections that are not automatically permitted by the structure of your degree programme. In this case, you have to apply to have them approved. For example, you may have agreed with a teacher-in-charge that

• you may replace a course with another course even if this option is not included in the structure of your degree programme
• you may deviate from a rule defined in the structure of your degree (e.g. ‘select at least 20 cr’ or ‘select a maximum of 15 cr’). 

In these cases, you have to use the free edit mode to select courses and then apply to have your selections approved.

A study module or a grouping module under it may require separate approval (e.g. a minor or elective studies). Before applying for approval, ensure that you have added all the courses you need and that they follow the rules.

How to apply for approval:

1. Click on the study module or grouping module that you wish to have approved.
2. In the selection assistant on the right side, click on the ‘Apply for module content approval’ button.
   • If the button is inactive, your course selections are not complete. Use the selection assistant to go through the courses you have selected.
3. Fill in the form and provide grounds for your application. Click on the ‘Submit application’ button.
4. After your application has been approved, a message will be displayed on Sisu’s front page and in your messages.

In the sections that require approval, you may be able to receive approval for selections that go against the rules. However, you must agree upon them in advance with the administrative staff of your degree programme. For further information, see the section ‘Selections against the rules’ above.

If you have applied for approval for a study module or a grouping module and then edited it afterwards, its status is ‘deviates from the content of the approval application’.

In this situation, you must

1. either withdraw the approval application you sent earlier and send in a new approval application OR
2. edit the structure so that it matches the application you sent earlier. 

Withdrawing the approval application

1. Click on the study module or grouping module that you have earlier applied to be approved.
2. Click on the ‘Show’ button to go to the application.
   • If the 'Show' button doesn't appear, you must have applied approval via another study plan. In this case, find the plan where the button appears and proceed.
3. Select ‘Withdraw the application’ in the lower part of the form.
4. Sisu will ask you to confirm. Select ‘Yes, withdraw the application’.

You can now edit this study module or grouping module and send in a new application for approval if needed.

If you have applied for approval for a study module or a grouping module, got an approval, and then edited it, its status is ‘deviates from approved content’.

In this situation, you must

1. either give up the approval that was given to you earlier and send in a new approval application OR
2. edit the structure so that it matches the structure that was approved earlier. 

Giving up approval

1. Click on the study module or grouping module that has been approved.
2. Click on the ‘Show’ button to go to the approved application.
   • If the 'Show' button doesn't appear, you must have applied approval via another study plan. In this case, find the plan where the button appears and proceed.
3. Select ‘Give up the approval’ in the lower part of the form.
4. Sisu will ask you to confirm. Select ‘Yes, give up the approval’.

You can now edit this study module or grouping module and send in a new application for approval.

If you have completed all courses included in a study module, its status is ‘parts completed’.

The changes you have made have been approved.

Please note that if you make changes to the module from now on its state will change to “Differs from the content of the approval application”. Please see the accordion menu item above for further information.

Conditional approval is usually given when the module contains one or more study drafts.

To get an actual approval:

• Apply for credit via the study draft.
  • Further information about study drafts
• Let go of the conditional approval:
  1. Click the module that you have been given the approval for.
  2. Click 'Show' to see the approved application.
  3. Click 'Give up the approval'.
  4. When asked for confirmation, click 'Yes, give up the approval'.
• Apply for approval in the free edit mode.

Free edit mode

After you have added a minor to your study plan, the selection assistant under the minor study module box displays the following text: ‘Selection requires confirmation’. If you can confirm your selection yourself, the minor will be marked with the text ‘not confirmed’ in your study plan.

1. Click on the ‘show’ button to see the module information.
   • You will see the details of the newly selected minor waiting to be confirmed. You may either confirm the selection or close the module without making any changes. 
   • After you confirm the selection, the selection assistant marks it with the text ‘The selection is confirmed to the study right’.

After you have added a minor to your study plan, the selection assistant under the minor study module box displays the following text: ‘A separate application for a study right is required’. If a minor needs to be confirmed by a staff member, your study plan will display the following text next to the minor: ‘No study right’.

1. Click on the ‘show’ button to see the details of the minor.
   • You will not be able to confirm the minor yourself.
   • You need to submit an application to have this selection confirmed as part of your study right. 
   • At the moment, you cannot apply for a study right for a minor through Sisu. 
     • In addition to the general instructions, you can also see application instructions that specifically apply to the minor study module if a staff member has added them there.

When your right to pursue minor studies has been confirmed, you can click on the ‘Show’ link of the study module in question to make sure that it has been confirmed.

• You can also see the minors that have been confirmed as part of your study right by going to the ‘My profile’ page and opening the ‘Study rights’ tab. The minors are listed according to the degree to which they belong (bachelor’s or master’s degree).
• Note: You may delete a confirmed minor from your study plan but this does not mean that you waive your study right for this minor.
  • In other words, once a minor has been confirmed as part of your study right, you cannot remove it. An administrative staff member can remove minors on your behalf.

How to change the version of a minor:

1. Go to your study plan and click on the underlined code of the minor in question.
2. Switch between versions by clicking on the list of academic years under the name of the minor.
3. Sisu will now display the following notification: ‘You are viewing a version of the study module that is not included in your study your plan. Use this version.’
   • This banner sometimes hides behind other blue banners. For example, if you see a notification of a confirmed minor, close this notification, and the banner informing you about changing versions will appear.
4. Click on the link ‘Use this version’.
5. You can select whether you wish to create a copy of your study plan with the changed version of your minor, or only change the version of your minor without creating a new copy of the entire study plan.
   • If you choose to change the version of your minor without creating a new copy of the study plan, you need to re-add courses to your minor.

How to change the version of an equivalent course:

1. Go to your study plan and click on the underlined code of the course in question.
2. Switch between versions by clicking on the list of academic years under the name of the minor.
3. Sisu will now display the following notification: ‘You are viewing a version of the study module that is not included in your study your plan. Use this version.’
   • This banner sometimes hides behind other blue banners. For example, if you see a notification of a confirmed minor, close this notification, and the banner informing you about changing versions will appear.
4. Click on the link ‘Use this version’.
5. Close the course information sheet before selecting the equivalent course.
6. Click again on the course code in your study plan.
7. Go to the ‘Substitutions’ tab.
8. Go to the ‘Equivalences’ section and select a substituting course there.
   • The selection is usually saved automatically, but please check your study plan to make sure that Sisu saved it. The equivalent course is marked with an icon with two arrows pointing in opposite directions.

If you are completing or have completed your bachelor’s degree at Aalto, choose the bachelor’s and master’s degree corresponding to your study right when creating your study plan on Sisu.

• It is likely that you created your bachelor’s-level study plan according to the curriculum period that was in force when you started to study. However, when you begin master’s-level studies, you may want to change the curriculum period of your master’s-level study plan to a newer curriculum period, i.e. the period of the year when you actually start pursuing master’s-level studies.

How to change the curriculum period:

1. Click on the underlined code of the master’s programme.
   • The curriculum period of your study plan is indicated under its title. Both your bachelor’s- and master’s-level study plans are based on the same curriculum period because, in this case, they are parts of the same degree structure on Sisu.
2. Switch between versions by clicking on the list of academic years under the heading.
3. Sisu will now display the following notification: ‘You are viewing a version of the study module that is not included in your study your plan. Use this version.’
   • This banner sometimes hides behind other blue banners. For example, if you see a notification of a confirmed minor, close this notification, and the banner informing you about changing versions will appear.
4. Click on the link ‘Use this version’.
5. Select whether you wish to create a copy of your master’s-programme study plan.
   • Creating a copy: your original study plan remains unchanged, and Sisu creates a new copy that uses the curriculum period you just selected.
6. After you have changed the curriculum period of your master’s programme in your study plan, the study plan will display the degree structure of the curriculum period you selected.
   • The curriculum period of your bachelor’s-level study plan remains unchanged because you only changed the curriculum period of your master’s-level study plan.

How to go to the free edit mode:

1. Click on the study module or grouping module under it that you want to edit.
2. Click on the three-dots button at the top right corner of the selection assistant.
3. Click on ‘free edit mode’.

In the free edit mode:

• you can add any courses or study modules to your study plan
• you can add courses or study modules that you have already completed
• you can delete courses and study modules
• you cannot add courses or study modules that are a compulsory part of another section in your study plan.

Adding courses and study modules

1. Activate the free edit mode (for instructions, see the section ‘How to go to the free edit mode’ above).
2. The selection assistant on the right-hand side displays the following text: ‘Add to the plan.’ It also displays two search fields, one for courses and the other for study modules.
3. Use them to find the course or study module you want. Add the course or study module to your study plan by clicking on it.

Adding studies you have already completed to your study plan using the free edit mode:

1. Activate the free edit mode (for instructions, see the section ‘How to go to the free edit mode’ above).
2. Two buttons appear in the selection assistant on the right-hand side: ‘Add a course you have already completed’ and ‘Add a study module you have already completed’. Click on one of them to see a list of the courses or study modules you have already completed.
3. The click ‘Add’ next to the name of the course or study module you want to add to your study plan.

If a course you completed does not appear on the list, please contact:[email protected]

Deleting courses and study modules

1. Activate the free edit mode (for instructions, see the section ‘How to go to the free edit mode’ above).
2. In the selection assistant, each course and study module is now marked with a trash (recycle bin) icon.
3. Click on the icon to delete a course or study module from your study plan.

What happens when you edit the structure of your degree programme:

• The status of the study module that you edited often changes to ‘against the rules’. The higher-level study modules that contain the edited module will also have this status.
• If you make changes to a module that you previously have been given an approval for, its state will change to “Differs from the content of the approval application”. You cannot apply for a new approval unless you first give up the approval that was given to you earlier. For further instructions please see:
  Differs from the content of the approval application
• When you add courses not included in the structure of your studies, the courses are marked with the text ‘Not included in the education structure’.
• Your entire study plan will be in an error state and Sisu will display the following red banner above your study plan: ‘The structure of the study plan is against the rules. Please correct your selections.’

After you apply for and receive approval for the changes you have made, the notifications should disappear.

Only apply for approval for the study module or grouping module that you have edited.

• If you apply for approval for study modules or grouping modules that are against the rules but located higher in the hierarchy, the module you actually edited will still be against the rules, and this status will not change. In other words, your application for approval will have been pointless.

You can only apply for approval for studies that correspond to your study right.

How to apply for approval:

1. Activate the free edit mode (for instructions, see the section ‘How to go to the free edit mode’ above).
2. Click on the ‘Apply for approval’ button.
3. Write grounds for the application and click ‘Submit application’.

If/when you apply and get approval for the changes you have made,

• the state of the module will change to ‘Selections approved’ and
• notifications of modules having selections against the rules should vanish.

If needed, the staff of your programme can edit your plan and apply for approval on your behalf in situations when you are not able to so (e.g. in case of technical or accessibility-related problems).

You need to create a primary study plan in order to use the study calendar and register for courses. You can only have one primary study plan per degree. If this is the first study plan you create, it automatically becomes your primary study plan.

• You can make several different personal study plans and try different options to see which one you like best.
• Your studies will progress according to your primary study plan.

If you have created several study plans for the same degree, choose one as your primary study plan:

1. Open the study plan in question.
2. Click the three dots at the right upper corner.
3. Choose ‘Select as the primary plan’.

Have parts of your study plan approved according to your school’s own practices. Contact the learning services of your school if you need help.

•  You can only receive guidance for study plans that correspond to your study right.

You can add general comments that apply to your study plan as a whole or targeted comments that focus on a specific part. Your comments may for example contain information about studies you have completed or plan to complete outside Aalto University.

• General comments apply to your plan as a whole.
• You cannot edit or remove comments after submitting them.
• For now, no comments are printed on your study plan.

How to add a comment:

1. Click on the ‘Guidance’ button at the top right corner.
2. Then select to add either a general comment or a targeted comment.
3. If you choose to add a targeted comment, you must specify what section of the degree structure you want to comment on.
4. Tick the box and click on the ‘Send’ button.

1. Go to the ‘Search’ tab.
2. Find the courses in question.
   •  Remember to switch to the correct university by using the drop-down menu next to the heading ‘Search for studies’. Note: Aalto University is not responsible for the information other universities have entered into Sisu.
3. Add the courses to your course cart.
4. Go to the ‘Structure of studies’ section.
5. Click to open the ‘Add to the plan’ assistant on the left-hand side.
6. Add the courses or study modules to your study plan.
7. Confirm your selections in the selection assistant on the right-hand side.

You can edit your study plan, print it out and even delete it. Note that if you delete your study plan, it cannot be restored.

1. Open the study plan in question.
2. Click the three dots at the right upper corner.