CougarGrades.io Developer updates

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🎉 1.1.3 Update, Refreshed Data, and the Future

This announcement will cover a couple different areas.

🔧 1.1.3 Update

Changes in this update:

  • SimpleSyllabus Integration:
    • Added the “X Syllabi Found” button on the Course page
    • This button will show if any syllabi were found to be currently available on the official UH Syllabus website.
    • This feature was requested by @uhislam. Thanks for the great idea!
    • Disclaimer:
      • Past versions of syllabi are not stored by CougarGrades.
      • The availability of syllabi through SimpleSyllabus is subject to their data retention policy.
      • Syllabi made available by UH prior to the instruction of SimpleSyllabus through their PeopleSoft system, Blackboard, or Canvas are not accessible by this feature.
      • Due to the nature of this feature, it may break at any time if SimpleSyllabus decides to change how their website API works or blocks CougarGrades servers from accessing their service.
  • Added the “Latest Data” field to the site footer for visibility on how up-to-date the grade data is
  • Updated FAQ to reflect how data will be updated moving forward
  • Updated sitemap.txt for search engines like Google

đź“Š Data Refresh

  • Grade Distribution data from Summer 2022 to Fall 2024 has been added thanks to the volunteer work done by @adamnelsonarcher

  • Core Curriculum data has been updated from the 2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog
  • Course Descriptions have been updated from the 2024-2025 Catalog
  • Data about the individual colleges at UH has been updated
    • Ex: College of Education, Hobby School of Public Affairs, etc
  • Subject data have been updated from the 2024-2025 Catalog
    • Ex: “POPH” → “Population Health”, “SGNL” → “American Sign Language”, etc

đź”­ New Policy: Future Data Refreshes will be driven by volunteers

Previously, the acquisition of all data was done by me. Since I graduated from UH 4 years ago now in 2021 (wow, time flies), I don’t have the time to see this process through anymore.

After receiving assistance from @adamnelsonarcher in adding long-awaited data from Summer 2022 to Fall 2024, I’ve been persuaded to stop trying to run a one-man-show anymore.

All future refreshes to grade distribution data on CougarGrades will need to be performed by volunteers.

As of Update 1.1.3, this process and instructions are documented in our FAQ. If you contact me about any missing data in the future, I will refer you to this page.