Understanding the CourseLeaf Dashboard

The CourseLeaf Dashboard is a central hub that allows you to access all areas of CIM from one location. In addition, users can view your account information, including role assignments and roles groups you manage, as well as the status of proposals/prospectuses you have initiated. Reviewers/approvers also can see and take action on all proposals currently waiting for their review.

Screenshot of the entire CourseLeaf CIM Dashboard.

Top Level Features

The header area of the CourseLeaf Dashboard includes the CourseLeaf logo, a Help icon, and the person icon, which will display a user's CourseLeaf account information. The header appearance is consistent across all areas of the CourseLeaf Dashboard.

Screenshot of the CourseLeaf CIM Dashboard header.

1. CourseLeaf Logo

Clicking on the CourseLeaf logo will return you to the main dashboard screen at: https://psu-next.courseleaf.com/admin/dashboard/.

2. Help

Clicking the Help icon will open the CourseLeaf Help panel on the right side of your screen.

Screenshot of the CourseLeaf CIM Dashboard help icon and panel.

The panel includes a Help-question mark link that will take you to CourseLeaf's instructional website. Please DO NOT follow this link for assistance with CIM. Instead, please follow the step-by-step instructions on this Penn State CIM Help site or email curriculumhelp@psu.edu with your questions. The Penn State instance of CourseLeaf CIM is highly customized; therefore, much of the general documentation found on CourseLeaf's instructional website is either not applicable, not complete, or incorrect for our users.

This panel also displays technical system information including the version numbers of our CourseLeaf products, the environment you're currently viewing, and any system patches.

To close the CourseLeaf Help panel, click on the X in the upper right corner.

3. Account Information

Click the Person icon to open the CourseLeaf Account Information panel on the right side of your screen.

Screenshot of the CourseLeaf CIM Dashboard person icon.
Screenshot of the CourseLeaf CIM Dashboard account information panel.

The panel includes the following information:

  • Logged in as: Displays your name.
  • Current Roles: Displays a list of all workflow roles you are assigned to in Role Management. If you are not assigned to any workflow roles, this box will be blank.
  • Role Groups I Manage: College administrators will see a list of links to all role groups they manage. This box will not be visible for all other users.

To close the CourseLeaf Account Information panel, click on the X in the upper right corner.

CIM Page Links

Users can access the different areas of CIM directly from the CourseLeaf dashboard. These links are represented by a row of clickable cards.

Screenshot of the CourseLeaf CIM Dashboard module cards.

The listed cards are as follows:

Items Tab

The Items tab displays status information about proposals in CIM.

Screenshot of the CourseLeaf CIM Dashboard Items tab.

On log in, the Types dropdown field defaults to My Items so the tab is only showing information about proposals, prospectuses, or PLC/Accreditation forms you have initiated. (The initiator of a proposal is the person who clicks the Start Workflow Button on the proposal form.)

Screenshot of the CourseLeaf CIM Dashboard Items tab with the Types field highlighted.

There is also a Types of "CIM Proposals", which will show information about all proposal, prospectus, and PLC/Accreditation forms in CIM, and several other entries all relate to the management of pages within the University Bulletins.

Status Snapshot and Table

Below the Types field is a color coded Snapshot thermometer that displays four different statuses used to categorize proposals, prospectuses, and PLC/Accreditation forms. Above each status name you will see the number of items that fall within that category.

Screenshot of the CourseLeaf CIM Dashboard Items tab with the Snapshot thermometer highlighted.

The four status categories include:

  • New: Brand new items that have been started but not submitted to workflow (e.g., creation of a new course or program).
  • In Progress: Items that have been edited but not submitted to workflow (e.g., an edit to an existing course or program).
  • Pending: Items that are currently in workflow (i.e., proposals, prospectuses, or PLC/Accreditations forms that have had the Start Workflow Button clicked.
  • Done: Items that have completed all workflow steps and are fully approved.

You can click on each status in the Snapshot thermometer to see information about each item within that category in the table that follows.

Screenshot of the CourseLeaf CIM Dashboard Items tab with the Snapshot table highlighted.

The table columns show the following:

  • Page Title: Title of the form.
  • Page Type: The type of form that has or will be submitted. Types may be either Courses, Programs, Prospectuses, or PLC/Accreditation.
  • Current User(s): The current user or workflow step the form is assigned to.
  • Last Activity: The date of the last action taken on the form.

The Page Title is a link that will take you to that specific form in CIM.

The table can be sorted by clicking on any column header.

Workflow Tab

The Workflow tab sits to the right of the Items tab and can be accessed by clicking on Workflow. The number of proposals, prospectuses, and/or PLC/Accreditation forms sitting in your workflow queue will show on the tab. Any form awaiting your review as either the proposer or as a member of any workflow role will appear here.

Screenshot of the CourseLeaf CIM Dashboard Workflow tab.

On log in, the Role dropdown field defaults to My Roles so the tab is only showing proposals, prospectuses, or PLC/Accreditation forms that currently are in your workflow queue. The My Roles selection automatically adds every role you are assigned to in the Filters Applied area.

Screenshot of the CourseLeaf CIM Dashboard Workflow tab with Filters Applied area highlighted.

Below the filter area is a table displaying the complete list of forms in your workflow queue.

Screenshot of the CourseLeaf CIM Dashboard Workflow tab with the table highlighted.

The table column headers show the following:

  • Page Title: Title of the form.
  • Type: The type of form that has been submitted. Types may be either Courses, Programs, Prospectuses, or PLC/Accreditation.
  • Term: The official effective semester selected on the course proposal form or the official Bulletin edition selected on the program proposal form. If that information has not been selected on the form yet, this column will show n/a. Please note, Prospectus and PLC/Accreditation forms do not have a form field for the official effective semester so will only show n/a.
  • Submitter: The initiator of the form (i.e., the person who clicked Start Workflow on the form.
  • Approver: The current user or workflow step the form is assigned to.
  • Submitted: The date the form entered workflow.
  • Modified: The date the form was last updated or approved.

The table can be sorted by clicking on any column header.

Additional Filter Options

You can filter the workflow table by Role, Type, and Term. As you add or remove filters, the results table will refresh to display forms that meet your filter criteria.

The filter selections between dropdown fields must match both conditions set and can match any condition within a dropdown. For example, you can set Type of Courses and Term of Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 and see results if there are courses with either effective semester. However, if you set a Type of Courses and Term of 2025-2026 (which is a term that only applies to programs), you will never see results because no course proposal will ever be assigned that term value.

Filter by Role

While the Role dropdown field defaults to My Roles, you can add roles you are not assigned to by selecting them in the Role dropdown field. As you select a new role, it will be added to the Filters applied area and the results table will refresh to display forms at that workflow step.

Screenshot of the CourseLeaf CIM Dashboard Workflow tab with the Role filter highlighted.

To remove a role from the results table, click the X next to that role name in the Filters Applied area.

Screenshot of the CourseLeaf CIM Dashboard Workflow tab with the role removal X highlighted in the Filters Applied area.

Filter by Type

The workflow tab defaults to show all form types in the results table. If you would like to limit the type of proposals you are reviewing, you can select one or more form types from the Type dropdown field. As you select a type, it will be added to the Filters applied area and the results table will refresh to only display forms with the type(s) selected.

Screenshot of the CourseLeaf CIM Dashboard Workflow tab with the type filter highlighted.

To remove a type from the results table, click the X next to that type name in the Filters Applied area. To reset the results table to show all types, remove all type filters.

Screenshot of the CourseLeaf CIM Dashboard Workflow tab with the type removal X highlighted in the Filters Applied area.

Filter by Term

The workflow tab defaults to show all forms with all effective semesters and Bulletin editions in the results table. If you would like to limit the proposals you are reviewing to only forms with a certain effective semester or Bulletin edition, you can select one or more semesters from the Term dropdown field. As you select a term, it will be added to the Filters applied area and the results table will refresh to only display forms with the term(s) selected.

Screenshot of the CourseLeaf CIM Dashboard Workflow tab with the term filter highlighted.

To remove a term from the results table, click the X next to that term in the Filters Applied area. To reset the results table to show all terms, remove all term filters.

Screenshot of the CourseLeaf CIM Dashboard Workflow tab with the term removal X highlighted in the Filters Applied area.

Approval Screen

Course and program proposals, prospectuses, and PLC/Accreditation forms can be approved directly from the Workflow tab. Click on any row in the results table to open the Approval Screen for that item.

Screenshot of the CourseLeaf CIM Dashboard Workflow tab with a line item in the results table highlighted.

The Approval Screen appears in a pop-up window in front of the dashboard.

Screenshot of the CourseLeaf CIM Dashboard approval screen.

Instructions on how to navigate and utilize the Approval Screen an be found in the Workflow Management User Guide.